American fans are once again excited: they have a new idol who can make up for the disappointment caused by the glittering foreign figures since Tiger Woods fell in disgrace and lost his magic and the throne of world golf. At last, a compatriot is showing signs of being a hero. The new messiah of American golf is Jordan Spieth, a young man who with his two victories on the PGA Tour at the age of 21, has put himself on a par statistically with Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Robert Gamez.
These three were the only ones so far in the last seven decades to have achieved two victories before turning 22.
In addition to the Valspar Championship he won a few weeks ago and the John Deere Classic in 2013, Spieth, a native of Dallas (Texas) and professional since 2012, has won two other tournaments. Curiously, the one that has provided him with the most emoluments (one million dollars) is not a PGA Tour scoring competition, although it appears as unofficial in the circuit’s calendar: the Hero World Challenge. He won it last year and he did it in a big way, with ten strokes ahead of the second classified, Henrik Stenson. His only victory abroad so far was the Australian Open played last season.
Apart from the record of two tournaments won on the PGA Tour before the age of 22, Tiger’s aspiring successor has another similarity with the Californian: both are the only two players to have won the US Junior Amateur twice. Woods, by the way, has praised the great golfing qualities of his young colleague.
If with his first victory in the American Tour, the John Deere Classic, at just 19 years of age, he already caused a sensation, no less a stir was generated by his great performance in last year’s Masters when he became the youngest runner-up in the history of the tournament, due to Bubba Watson, who won his second Green Jacket.
Despite his youth, Spieth has shown great mettle in the decisive moments of the competition. Not in vain, his two victories in the PGA Tour were decided in playoffs. In the John Deere Classic he got rid of David Hearn and Zach Johnson, and in the Valspar Championship he left Sean O’Hair and Patrick Reed in the dust. Curiously, the latter beat Spieth in the playoff of the 2013 Wyndham Championship.
Spieth says that years ago, when he was a teenager, his father taught him that he had to set goals. “That’s been my philosophy, to set goals and work hard, stay focused and reach them as quickly as possible. At every level I always reassess my goals and set new ones; I don’t want to become complacent.” He has a clear short-term goal: to become the world number one (he already was as an amateur). At the moment he’s on the right track: thanks to his victory at the Valspar Championship he climbed four places in the world ranking, up to sixth. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick… the countdown is on.
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