Tiger Woods’ inability to be competitive in major championships had created a huge void for the PGA Tour over the last few seasons.
Golf became less exciting as a result, and while rising stars such as Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson and Adam Scott were able to produce moments of brilliance, none of them have come close to consistently competing at a high level the way Woods did for a large portion of the last 15 years.
Jordan Spieth, at just 22 years old, is the real deal, and he appears to be the heir to Tiger’s dominance after one of the finest single-season performances in major tournaments.
Spieth finished second at the 2015 PGA Championship after a 4-under-par final round Sunday. He was 17 under for the tournament, which would have been good enough to win about 95 percent of the time, but Jason Day’s record-setting 20 under stole the show and the Wanamaker Trophy.
Years from now, it will be difficult to fathom that Spieth didn’t win the Grand Slam in 2015. He won the Masters by four strokes, got a little lucky at the U.S. Open for his second major win, and then shot 14 under at the British Open and 17 under at the PGA Championship but won neither.
Spieth’s 54-under mark in the four major tournaments is the lowest combined score for a calendar year in the history of the sport. He also joined Jack Nicklaus (1973) and Woods (2005) as the only players ever to finish fourth or better in each of the four majors in one calendar season since 1934.
Spieth now is the No. 1-ranked player in the world, and it’s hard to imagine him losing that title for quite some time. He doesn’t just shine under the bright lights of major championships. He has earned three wins and 11 top-10 finishes in 18 non-major PGA events this season for a tour-leading $10,399,715 in earnings.
The sport of golf needs superstars to attract both television viewers — Spieth’s triumph at Augusta resulted in the Masters’ highest ratings since 2011 — and new fans. Woods’ dominance and the passion he displayed on the biggest stages were instrumental in golf’s growth since the mid-1990s, and Spieth has the opportunity to make a similar impact for the next 15 years.
Spieth is a polite, approachable and hard-working golfer. That makes him a role model in every sense and someone able to carry the torch from Woods as the sport’s most popular and successful player.
Thumbnail photo via Ian Rutherford/USA TODAY Sports Images
