Spieth’s brain becoming must-see TV
The most compelling player in golf turns only 24 on Thursday. This counts as terrific news for fans who savor the type of riveting entertainment Jordan Spieth offered Sunday in winning the British Open.
Here’s the most impressive part: Spieth has become mustsee TV without swinging for the heavens, practically a 21st century prerequisite. He leans on his brain, poise and putting, as the victory at Royal Birkdale vividly illustrated.
Even now, as the PGA Tour’s traveling circus reaches its next stop (the Canadian Open outside Toronto), Spieth’s wondrous charge remains fresh and fascinating. Did his drive on No. 13 really stray so absurdly off line? Did he really hit his next shot from the practice range? Did he really save bogey before unleashing an electrifying birdieeagle-birdie-birdie run? Yes on all counts, of course. Spieth occasionally smacks his tee shots 300-plus yards, like every tour pro these days, but his swing reflects his personality: controlled, measured, calm. Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy lash at the ball with power and fury, to great success. That’s just not Spieth.
This could prove vital in avoiding back and knee injuries over the long haul. Consider the lingering damage Tiger Woods’ ferocious swing caused.
At any rate, Spieth’s composure and intelligence surfaced after his wayward tee shot on No. 13, an adventure that revealed much about him.
First, know this: The intensity in the final round of a major championship is imposing, and difficult to fully understand watching on television. The air crackles with electricity and tension. Thousands and thousands of people line the fairways and circle the greens, with all their focus on the players.
One enduring image from covering majors for more than a decade was watching the way spectators watched Woods. They stared at him as if he were a museum piece on display. It was disconcerting, in all honesty.
Tiger belongs in his own category, but the atmosphere at majors still can prove intimidating. So it would have been easy for Spieth to become flustered as he teetered on the brink of collapse. Instead, he declared his ball unplayable, shrewdly asked if the range was out-of-bounds (it wasn’t) and realized he could take a drop there.
He still had to hit two good shots and make a clutch putt to salvage bogey, but Spieth averted disaster by thinking his way out of trouble. His caddie, Michael Greller, described the scene as “absolute chaos” when they arrived, with hundreds of fans searching for Spieth’s ball.
“There wasn’t a sense of panic,” Greller said this week on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “For him to have the thought process to think, ‘Is that range in play or out of play?’ you would just assume it’s out of bounds.
“But he asked the question and found out it was in play, so he knew he could go back as far as he wanted. … The reason it took so long was, it was a tricky ruling.”
Spieth’s ensuing stretch, playing four holes in 5-under-par, showed his distinctive ability to rise to the moment. The 48-foot eagle putt to take the lead on No. 15, especially, was one for the ages.
We’ve made the comparison before, but it still works: Spieth’s long-distance putting is akin to Stephen Curry’s three-point shooting. Just as we’re not surprised when Curry makes a preposterous 30-footer, we almost expect Spieth to sink similar putts.
Or, say, a bunker shot to win in a playoff, as he did June 25 at the Travelers Championship.
This summer spree makes Spieth the favorite for Player of the Year — remember, he also won at Pebble Beach in February — and puts him one step from the career Grand Slam. He needs a PGA Championship victory Aug. 10-13 in Charlotte, N.C., to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods as the only men’s golfers to win all four professional majors.
And if Spieth doesn’t win the PGA in the next three years, he could seize his slice of history at Harding Park in 2020. Just a thought. U.S. Girls’ Junior: Redwood City’s Lucy Li is doing her thing again.
Li, who burst into prominence when she qualified for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at age 11, rolled to a 7-and-6 victory over Belinda Hu of San Ramon in Wednesday’s first round of the U.S. Girls’ Junior in Augusta, Mo. Li, now 14, earned strokeplay medalist honors by shooting 71-66 on Monday and Tuesday.
Yealimi Noh of Concord also advanced to match play; she lost to South Korea’s So Whi Kang (1-up) in the first round.