Always a thrill to see Spieth excel

Watching Jordan Spieth win the British Open was fun for a few reasons.

That shot on the 13th was reason enough to get overly excited about golf this weekend.

On a personal level, I always enjoy seeing Spieth win.

I have since 2010 when I saw him play for, and win, his second UIL Class 5A state title. (He went on to win a third the next year.)

I was still covering some high school sports for the Chronicle at the time and signed up for state golf (one of my favorite events of the year) because it was going to come down to two exceptional golfers — one from Houston and one from Dallas.

Memorial’s Cory Whitsett and Dallas Jesuit’s Spieth.

The last day of the tournament took 12 hours thanks to hours of rain delays. Some golfers finished the round. Others could not by the time they called it at 7:30 p.m.

The UIL counted 27 holes instead of 36, giving Whitsett and Spieth a tie and a co-championship.

Whitsett would have won by a stroke if all 18 had been counted and was visibly upset at the UIL’s decision.

The situation was really awkward, but Spieth handled it with complete class. He spoke eloquently to the media (a handful had showed up to see the young phenoms.) I thought then, ‘This kid is going to be special.’

It’s been fun following his career since that time.

A few years ago, while on vacation with my husband and some friends in Singapore, we caught Spieth in the Singapore Open.

It was a beautiful course, stunning scenery and the tournament was packed.

Everything was set up for a perfect event.

Except for the rule-following aspect of golf. Despite posted signs stating “No cell phones” and arrows and ropes directing spectators to not block walking paths for the golfers, hundreds were very much in Spieth’s personal space.

Fans were walking alongside him, taking selfies while he prepared to tee off, taking photos of his swing.

A lot of golfers would have lost their cool in that situation.

On the 10th tee box, Spieth set up and looked around. We thought maybe he’d finally had enough and would say something to the fans about their behavior.

Instead, he said, “Everyone have their cameras ready?” and flashed a smile before teeing off.

He could tell how excited all those people from another country were to see him and decided to go with the flow and play along rather than lose his cool.

It was another example of Spieth being the kind of guy you can really get behind and support. He’s as genuine as he seems.

I hope to see this play continue from him.

It’s a great time for golf right now and Spieth is a big reason why.