The kid looked me dead in the eye and said: I wantto be best in the world...
INCREDIBLE RISE OF JORDAN SPIETH, AMERICA’S GOLFING SUPERSTAR
THE PAVEMENT in front of Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas was briefly stained green in April. A downpour had caused the ink to bleed from a replica flag hoisted above the main entrance to mark former pupil Jordan Spieth’s victory in the Masters.
It was soon removed and the school’s enthusiastic golf coach Cathy Marino campaigned for a banner like the one displayed a few miles away at his old primary school, St Monica’s, which reads ‘Jordan Spieth — we are proud of you!’
But the school resisted. Their motto is Men for others, leaders for
the world, and with surgeons, attorneys and chief executives numbering among their graduates, they did not want one person’s achievements prized above all others. Not even those of a 21-yearold who became the youngest US Open winner since 1922 and only the sixth to capture the US Open and the Masters in the same year, all less than four years after sitting his final exams.
After June’s US Open, Spieth was asked about the possibility of winning all four majors in the same year — the next leg being The Open at St Andrews on Thursday. ‘You can’t win them all unless you win the first two,’ he said with an air of confidence that surprised some people.
With chief rival Rory McIlroy missing, his chances are improved, but not since Ben Hogan in 1953 has anyone won the first three majors of the season. To win all four in the same year is unprecedented.
Spieth’s swing coach Cameron McCormick was not surprised, having known his designs on greatness for a decade. ‘I first met him in the summer of 2003 when he was 12,’ said McCormick, an Australian who came to Texas to play college golf 22 years ago and has remained here.
‘What impressed me most was his demeanour, his willingness to tell a stranger who asked him a question about his golf that he had high aspirations. In the first two minutes of expressing his goals, he said: “I want to win the Masters and be one of the best players in the world”. He looked me dead in the eye as if to say: “This is something I’m going to achieve and you’re going to help me get there”.
‘He feels like he can do things that others haven’t done, whether that means winning four majors in the same year or becoming one of the best players that has ever played the game. Those are the things he sees in his future. Is that normal? No, it’s not normal, and that’s why he’s so special.’
Three times a week between 12.50pm and 12.55pm, the 1,100 teenage boys who attend Jesuit secondary school, which costs £10,500 a year in tuition fees, fall silent and the tannoy system kicks in, beginning an Ignatian prayer called Examen in which, amongst other things, pupils are required to ‘Recall the gifts we often take for granted — health, family, friends, faith, work.’
But those who know Spieth best say he has never needed much encouragement to keep a sense of perspective. The reason for that is his sister Ellie, a 14-year-old who was born with a neurological disorder that left her with developmental disabilities.
Spieth’s mother Christine recalled to the New York Times a moment earlier this year when he was playing in the Byron Nelson, his home town tournament. Ellie, who was standing against the gallery ropes, screamed Spieth’s name as he was about to hit a shot. His mask of concentration slipped and he walked over to give her a hug before hitting his next shot. Marino, who coached Spieth to three successive high school state titles between 2009 and 2011, remembers his patience with and displays of affection towards Ellie, who would often be sitting in the back of the car when his mum dropped him off to practise.
McCORMICksaid: ‘Jordan had an everpresent role model in his parents in dealing with whatever life throws at you.
‘That’s probably the most important reality check a young person can have growing up, that there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who have a worse go than the everyday American kid, so just appreciate the blessings and don’t get caught up in the hailstone of activity around you.’
Where Tiger Woods, his predecessor as the face of American golf, is tainted by scandal, Spieth is as squeaky clean as they come, apparently uninterested in the trappings of celebrity. In 2013 he was playing an event in southern California when Olympic decathlon gold medallist Bruce Jenner approached him and tried to set up Spieth with his daughter kendall, one fifth of the kardashian sisters. Spieth walked away baffled, unaware of who the kardashians are.
He has been dating Annie Verret, who attended Jesuit’s sister school Ursulas, since he was 17 and his closest friends are a trio he knows from high school, nicknamed ‘the three musketeers’.
Despite more than £5million in tournament winnings alone this season, he remains seemingly unaffected by his wealth.
‘If you find a person with a bad word to say about Jordan then let me know because I’d like to know them,’ said McCormick. ‘ He’s carried a burden of expectation and he’s done that so damn well.’
Childhood sweethearts, his parents Christine and Shawn met at high school in Pennsylvania and both were sports- mad, encouraging their kids to play a number of sports.
Jordan, their oldest, was a left-handed pitcher in baseball and played basketball in the front yard of the family home in north Dallas with his brother Steven, who now plays for Brown University.
There were at least 10 golf
He was set up with a Kardashian sister — he didn’t know who she was
courses within seven miles of their home but it was at Brookhaven Country Club where Spieth was first identified as a future world-beater.
Unlike some of the more exclusive clubs in this area it is not stuffy — children play in the pool and adults dip their feet in the water, seeking some respite from the 100 degree heat that makes Dallas pretty unbearable at this time of year.
Spieth comes back to Brookhaven when he is not on the road, although nowadays mainly to go to the grill restaurant and to cheer the Jesuit high school golf team.
In May, Marino asked Spieth to give a pep talk to the current team before they set off for the state championships. ‘I contacted his mum right after the Masters and Jordan showed up in a cart to surprise them. We stopped on one of the holes and they all gathered around. I just asked if he could come out real quick but he stopped for more than an hour. If he’s got the time, he’ll give back.’
impact on golf in this part of Texas and beyond is untold. At its most basic level, his success means Joey Anders, his first coach at Brookhaven who taught him from the age of eight to 12, is in high demand as a private tutor. ‘I’m working six days a week and part-time on the seventh day,’ said Anders. ‘The way Tiger Woods affected golf’s popularity in the 1990s is the way he is doing it for north Texas right now. Hopefully that can happen across the country.’
Anders sees no reason why Spieth cannot emulate Woods in winning 14 majors or more. ‘I’ve learned a long time ago that you can’t put a ceiling on it,’ he said. ‘Jordan’s game is meant for majors because the courses are so much tougher so there’s much more strategy involved. In majors where the brain counts, he will be a contender for many years.’
‘Determined’ is a word which recurs when discussing Spieth and what makes him great.
He went fishing on a holiday to the Bahamas recently and caught a 12-foot shark, battling with it for two-and-a-half hours. That unwillingness to accept defeat was evident from an early age.
‘When he was nine he wanted to learn how to spin a ball out of the bunker,’ said Anders. ‘The practice one wasn’t in very good shape, it didn’t have any sand in it. Most people would have hit five balls and said “Impossible”, but he did it for over an hour, hundreds of times.
‘I said. “Let’s try a proper bunker” and we walked over to the 18th hole. He was spinning them out straight away.’
Spieth’s preparation for The Open has been unconventional. Forgoing the Scottish Open or extended practice on a links course, he instead played the John Deere Classic. Being Spieth, he won it after a play-off on Sunday night.
But it was a sign of the young star’s work ethic that last night, as darkness began to fall on the Old Course just before 9pm, Spieth was out practising.
It seems nothing much, even jet- lag and the unpredictable Scottish weather, can faze the unflappable Spieth.