Jordan Spieth burst onto the PGA Tour scene last year when he holed out a bunker shot to win the John Deere Classic. This year, he nearly won the Masters at 20-years old. For the past 15 months or so, it seemed inevitable that Spieth would become a superstar and possibly win multiple times this year.
Jordan Spieth leads US Ryder Cup team rookie class
If the underdog American team should win on European soil, rookie Jordan Spieth, and his sometimes shaky putter, will be a reason.
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But things haven’t exactly gone to plan for Spieth. While he definitely remains a candidate to be a face of USA golf for the next decade or more, it’s possible we were a bit premature in crowning Spieth the “next big thing.” Since his second place finish at the Masters, it’s been an underwhelming march at times for Spieth. He has a few top ten finishes (the Players, John Deere, and BMW Championship), but also has struggled and not really contending since TPC Sawgrass. He failed to gain any major championship momentum after his Masters performance, finishing 17th at the U.S .Open, 36th at the British, and missing the cut at the PGA Championship.
The good news for Spieth is that he is still VERY young, and any grand pronouncements one way or the other are premature. Jordan just celebrated his 21st birthday in July and is 4 years younger than Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler, who are probably the best young players in the game.
The up-and-down nature of Spieth’s season should be expected for someone his age. Take McIlroy’s 2010 season, when he was also 21. He won at the Quail Hollow Championship and challenged at the Open Championship. But he also missed four cuts. McIlroy then played in his first Ryder Cup that fall, compiling a 1-1-1 record for a victorious European side.
Could a similar scenario play out for Spieth this year? He will make his first Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles and could provide a spark for a US team that features an interesting mix of newcomers and veterans. Spieth has shown that he can go head to head with the best and has the ability to play every shot. His passion for the game has also been on full display this year and at last year’s Presidents Cup. That can be good -- mostly good, but it can also be a negative. He said he lost it in a match play loss at the WGC earlier this year, and apologized the next day. You typically want the emotive types for these team competitions, and he is definitely that.
But that emotive kind of attitude and disposition can help infuse life into some of the veteran US players. If he can get his putter working, it could be a successful week for Spieth.
Speaking of his putter, he ranks inside the top 20 for strokes gained-putting this year on the PGA Tour. I am a little concerned, however, about one stat: putting from inside five feet. Spieth has the tendency to be a little too casual with these putts and ranks 97th on Tour in the category. It may end up being a moot point as a lot of putts inside 5 feet are conceded in match play, but Spieth will still need to make a few short putts with the pressure turned all the way up. Hopefully for Tom Watson and the American side, this doesn’t become an issue but it is something worth keeping an eye on when he’s out there.
Expect Spieth to get paired up with a veteran and not one of the other rookies early in the week.
Age: 21
World ranking: 13
Ryder Cup record (Win-Loss-Halve): 0-0-0
Past Ryder Cup appearance: None
How he qualified: Automatic spot -- 7th in standings (4,835.827 points)
