Spieth clearly is Player of the Year
Jason Day deserves unrestrained admiration and praise for his scintillating stretch of four wins in six starts. He’s the No. 1 golfer in the world at this moment, no question. He’s Player of the Late Summer, absolutely. Player of the Year? Nope.
Jordan Spieth deserves the PGA Tour’s equivalent of the Most Valuable Player award, because major championships still matter most. They unfold on the most demanding courses and carry abundant historical cachet.
And Spieth, as you might recall, owned the majors in 2015.
That’s easy to forget in this Twitter-centric, what’s-happening-right-now culture, where six weeks is practically an eternity. Who is Jordan Spieth again?
He did win the Masters and U.S. Open. He did make a captivating run at the Grand Slam, foiled by a Road Hole bogey and 72nd-hole par in the final round of the British Open.
And he was the only player to hang with Day at the PGA Championship. Spieth’s final results in the majors: Win, win, tie for fourth (one shot out of playoff ) and second.
Spieth enters this week’s Tour Championship with four victories on the season, one fewer than Day. Spieth also has nine top-three finishes (to six for Day) and 14 top-10s (to 10 for Day).
This debate stretches deeper than numbers. Golf savors its rich history, and Spieth stirred visions of Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods (well, in his prime) during the spring and early summer.
Day’s torrid run simply occurred later in the season, and thus remains fresh in our minds.
“I still think it’s Jordan,” Day told reporters Wednesday, calming his groundswell of support for Player of the Year. “People are forgetting what he’s done this season.”
Rory McIlroy, last year’s winner, didn’t forget. He said Spieth essentially locked up the award in the British Open at St. Andrews, where he came tantalizingly close to picking up the third leg of the Grand Slam.
McIlroy didn’t expect Day to shift into another gear in August and September, but this won’t change McIlroy’s vote. And, yes, the Player of the Year is determined by players, not the media.
No matter their choice, the Spieth/Day intrigue is refreshing. Woods has won the award a staggering 11 times, including five straight years (1999-2003). The past five years featured more variety, from Jim Furyk and Luke Donald to McIlroy, Woods and McIlroy again.
Now it’s easy to picture a lively, annual conversation about who merits recognition as the tour’s top player. Spieth and Day aren’t going anywhere, nor are McIlroy and Rickie Fowler. This is pretty cool.
Day can find solace in his spot atop this week’s world ranking, and his strong submission for quote of the year. Asked about his recent hot streak, Day said, “It’s like Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy had a baby, and I was it.”
Spieth probably won’t top that one. First Tee at Pebble: Colin Montgomerie has some history at Pebble Beach.
He shot an impressive, finalround 70 in blustery conditions in the 1992 U.S. Open there. That vaulted Montgomerie into contention, and no less an authority than Jack Nicklaus congratulated him on an apparently imminent victory.
Not so fast, Jack. Tom Kite ultimately snatched the title, an early omen for Montgomerie’s long and unsatisfying history in PGA Tour majors.
He returns to Pebble Beach this week for his debut in the First Tee Open. The Champions Tour’s annual visit to the Monterey Peninsula takes place at Pebble and nearby Poppy Hills on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday’s final round at Pebble.
Montgomerie and fellow Hall of Famer Vijay Singh are making their inaugural starts in the tournament, which pairs Champions Tour players with accomplished juniors from First Tee programs across the country.
Among the other tour pros in the field are fan favorite
Fred Couples, seeking his first win of 2015; Davis Love
III, who will try to become the fourth player ever to win PGA Tour and Champions Tour events in the same year; and
Jeff Maggert, whose four wins this season include the U.S. Senior Open in Sacramento.
Briefly: Stanford’s Maverick McNealy took over the No. 1 spot in the world amateur ranking this week, after winning the individual title at the Illini Invitational outside Chicago. The Cardinal finished fourth as a team. … Cal’s men’s team won the Inverness Invitational on Tuesday in Toledo, Ohio. KK Limbhasut tied for fifth in the individual competition.