The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Spieth wary of Nicklaus and Woods comparison
Open champion Jordan Spieth remains wary about comparisons with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, despite his remarkable achievements continuing to make them inevitable.
Spieth’s dramatic victory at Royal Birkdale saw him join Nicklaus in becoming the only players to win three different majors before the age of 24.
The World No 2 can surpass Tiger Woods as the youngest winner of a career Grand Slam by claiming next month’s US PGA at Quail Hollow.
Woods was aged 24 years, seven months and 25 days on winning the 2000 Open at St Andrews by eight shots, part of the ‘Tiger Slam’ of the US Open, Open and US PGA that year and the 2001 Masters.
Spieth celebrates his 24th birthday on Thursday, a fortnight before the US PGA gets under way in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Asked by Press Association Sport about being in such exalted company following this threeshot victory over Matt Kuchar on Sunday, Spieth said: “I’ve answered this question a few times a couple years ago, so I’ll be careful with my answer.”
“It’s amazing. I feel blessed to be able to play the game I love, but I don’t compare myself. And I don’t think that they’re appropriate or necessary,” he said.
“What those guys have done has transcended the sport. And in no way, shape or form do I think I’m anywhere near that, whatsoever. So it’s a good start, but there is a long way to go.”
Spieth came agonisingly close to having the chance to complete an unprecedented calendar Grand Slam in 2015, when he won the Masters in record-breaking fashion and then edged out Dustin Johnson in the US Open at Chambers Bay.
A month later he arrived in St Andrews on the back of a victory in the John Deere Classic and missed out on a play-off for the Open title by a single shot, having four-putted the eighth hole during the final round.
This year, three shots ahead of Kuchar starting the final round, Spieth found himself a shot behind after his fifth bogey of the day on the 13th, which involved a 20-minute ruling and playing his third shot from Royal Birkdale’s practice ground.
That evoked memories of Seve Ballesteros playing from a temporary car park on the 16th at Royal Lytham on the way to a first Open win in 1979.
Although Spieth could only make bogey from his unorthodox occasion, it proved to be a turning point on his path to fittingly becoming the youngest Open winner since the 22-year-old Ballesteros.
Spieth played the next four holes in five under par with a barely believable run of birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie and will be the first of three players to have a chance to complete the career Grand Slam in the next three majors.
Rory McIlroy needs to win the Masters to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Nicklaus and Woods in having won all four major titles, while Phil Mickelson’s trophy collection is missing only the US Open.
“What those guys have done has transcended the sport. JORDAN SPIETH