Jordan Spieth gets his wish: Tom Brady vs. Cowboys in October

NORTON, Mass. -- Jordan Spieth may be a die-hard Dallas fan but he wished no ill will on his Cowboys’ four-time Super Bowl-winning, totally exonerated opponent in week five of the upcoming NFL season.

“You always want to beat the best when they’re playing the best. And so I think that the Cowboys are fully capable of beating the Patriots, whether they’re in full strength or not,” the 22-year-old Texas native said on Thursday from TPC Boston, site of this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.

Spieth, who’s a favorite to win the second of four FedEx Cup playoff events, said he had paid little attention to the so-called DeflateGate soap opera that has consumed the sports world for months. So, the winner of two major titles this year and current world No. 2 could not have known that, virtually as he chatted with reporters, the long, national nightmare had finally come to an end with a judge overturning the NFL’s four-game suspension of the New England QB.

Spieth has gotten to know Brady through the two superstars’ mutual sponsor, Under Armour, but his rooting interests remain in the Lone Star State.

“As far as the Cowboys are concerned, we’d like to beat every team playing their best, just play a little bit better,” he said.

The Brady news was the talk of the tournament that will start on Friday on a track that’s about a pitch and putt from Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium where the Pats were scheduled to play their fourth and final preseason game on Thursday night. So, it’s no surprise that the other two members of today’s so-called “Big 3” who followed Spieth to the press center weighed in on the sports happening of the day.

Extremely pleased for his buddy was Rory McIlroy, who played a practice round with Brady earlier this year at Augusta.

“It was the right decision,” the world’s top player said. “I’m very happy for him ... There was no evidence to suggest he did anything wrong, so it’s great. It’s great for the area, it’s great for him, it’s great for the team.”

McIlroy said he would text Brady about the good news, while Australian Jason Day wondered if sports fans in his country even knew about Brady vs. commissioner Roger Goodell. Assured they did by a reporter from Down Under, Day said he could not help but notice the charged atmosphere out on the grounds.

“Everyone is buzzing here in New England, in this area at least,” he said.

A couple of players with New England roots took to Twitter to share their jubilation over the Brady ruling.

Bradley, who has his own reason to celebrate after his long-time girlfriend, Jillian Stacey, announced their engagement, needs a strong showing to advance to next week’s BMW Championship. No. 71 in FedEx Cup points, the Vermont native, who missed the cut last week at The Barclays, needs at least a 26th-place finish on Monday to move on to Conway Farms.

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