It’s a tiring question that gets asked whenever a young golfer seems to catch fire, but it’s worth another try with Jordan Spieth.
Is he the next big thing in the sport?
Measuring the next star in any sport is an inexact science and open for debate. But one thing you can’t debate is Spieth’s historic start to the 2014-15 PGA Tour season. That has many wondering if he can take over as the new face of golf.
Since turning pro in 2012, Spieth has five PGA Tour wins. Four of those came in the first half of this season, and two came in the year’s first two majors — the Masters and U.S. Open. Now he is in search of the third leg of golf’s Grand Slam at the British Open when he tees off at historic St. Andrews this weekend. And this is all happening before he turned 22 years old.
Sure, his is still far away from Tiger Woods’ 14 majors and 79 PGA Tour wins, but the fact that Spieth is accomplishing what he is at such a young age has the golf world wondering if he can bring the sport back to the popularity it had in the late 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s when Woods was at his best.
But Spieth says he is just trying to focus on the task at hand this weekend, rather than the outside implications.
“I like to study the history of golf, and I think it’s extremely special what this year has brought to our team. And to have a chance to do what only one other person in the history of golf has done doesn’t come around very often,” Spieth told USA Today’s Steve DiMeglio after his practice round Wednesday. “I’m sure embracing that opportunity, but by the time I start on Thursday, it won’t be in my head. It’ll be about how can I bring this Open Championship down to just another event, and get out there and try and get myself into contention.”
Spieth is also aware of the comparisons to Woods, and he says he isn’t a fan.
“I think the parallels that are drawn between me and Tiger are unfair,” Spieth told The Guardian’s Ewan Murray on Wednesday. “That’s not something that, in my mind, is necessary. I think that’s something that people are looking for but is not there with anybody right now because it’s something I don’t think that can be compared until at least midway through their career.”
Whether he likes it or not, those comparisons are happening. Golf fans have heard the links between Woods and young stars before, but none of those players had the chance to win a Grand Slam like Spieth does. So this time certainly has a different feel to it.
Spieth enters this weekend’s British Open after winning the John Deere Classic and the U.S. Open all in the past month. If he wins at the historic Old Course, he would take over Rory McIlroy’s spot as the world’s No. 1 player. A win would also give him the year’s first three majors, which no one has done since Ben Hogan in 1953.
So history is there for Spieth to grasp, and so is potentially the role as the next big thing in golf. Maybe this time that title won’t lead to a flash in the pan.
Thumbnail photo via Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports Images
