Nicklaus: Spieth will only get better
Young golfer ‘way beyond his years in development’
When legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus watches Jordan Spieth compete, he sees it playing out one of two ways.
“Well, Jordan has been really, really good, or he really struggles,” Nicklaus said.
Sunday had hints of both but ultimately fell into the former category, as Spieth made a stunning hole-out from a greenside bunker on the first playoff hole to win the Travelers Championship.
Nicklaus wasn’t on hand for Spieth’s electrifying win. He was hosting a charity golf tournament in Aldie that raised more than $1.4 million for children’s pediatric health care programs.
But Nicklaus has followed Spieth’s quick ascent over the years.
“I first saw Jordan play, I suppose, when he was probably about 17 or 18 years old, and I thought he was very impressive then,” Nicklaus said.
Spieth has been a regular at Nicklaus’ Memorial tournament, giving the Golden Bear a chance to further analyze his game.
“He’s not the best ball striker on tour, but he knows how to play and he knows how to not make a lot of dumb mistakes,” Nicklaus said. “He’s way beyond his years in development. And to top it all off, he’s a really nice kid.”
While “kid” might be an exaggeration, Spieth’s age is noteworthy. He turns 24 next month, and with the Travelers title, he became the second-youngest player to tally 10 PGA Tour wins. Tiger Woods was the youngest, at 23 years and 6 months.
The golfer who previously held second? Nicklaus.
“Four or five years from now, we’ll find out just how good he’s gonna get, because he’s gonna be a force to reckon with, all the time,” Nicklaus said. “I only see him getting better.”
Nicklaus knows as well as anyone about that colossal trajectory. June 17 marked 55 years since he won his first major, the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, at 22.
Nicklaus would win a record 18 major titles, but he found that first major to be significant in a few ways.
“I got there, I found there was a young guy who lived pretty close to there named Arnold Palmer ... and realized he might be a little bit of a fan favorite, which he was, and so that’s who I had to fight and try to beat,” Nicklaus said.
“It was a big deal back then; it still is a big deal — to win in Arnold’s backyard.”
Palmer might have been the fan favorite in 1962, but Nicklaus sees that as another title Spieth will collect moving forward.
“He has a great short game, as I’m sure everybody realizes. I think he has some room for improvement in other parts of his game, but we all have room for improvement,” Nicklaus said.
“He’s a gallery favorite because he deserves to be a gallery favorite.”