SAN ANTONIO – Texas is proud of its golf heritage, and for good reason. Names like Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Burke Jr., Jimmy Demaret, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite and Justin Leonard are among the notable golfing natives of the Lone Star State.
Jordan Spieth arrives at this week’s Valero Texas Open as the obvious candidate to continue that lineage. He hopes to pick up his first pro win in his home state this week, and that a fortnight in front of partisan patrons will give him good vibes before his first Masters.
Spieth, 20, has been competing in PGA TOUR events in Texas since he was a teenager. This is his first time playing here as a full PGA TOUR member, though.
“This is a stretch I’ve been looking forward to since the beginning of the year,” Spieth said of these back-to-back Texas TOUR events. The Shell Houston Open is next week. “Obviously, my first Masters (is soon) but also to start in the home state getting ready for it. It’s a great way to get confidence, to kind of feel the support of the fans as well as getting your game ready on very difficult golf courses.”
He’s been big in the Lone Star spotlight since he was 11 years old, said John Fields, who coached him at the University of Texas. That’s when Spieth won the Starburst Junior Golf Classic in Waco, one of the state’s most prestigious junior events. His profile has expanded beyond Texas’ borders. He was a Captain's Pick for the 2013 U.S. Presidents Cup team and started this week 13th in the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking.
He hasn’t let the success go to his head, though. Spieth’s humility has been as impressive as his play. “I very rarely will ever watch or read anything (written about myself),” Spieth said. “I just don’t see the need for it.”
Two-time Valero champ Zach Johnson played alongside Spieth at the Presidents Cup and lost to him in a playoff at the John Deere Classic.
“Unfortunately he's really good,” Johnson said jokingly. “Fortunately, he's a really good kid."
Spieth arrived at last year’s Valero Texas Open having just earned special temporary membership on the PGA TOUR. That allowed him unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season, but starts still were not guaranteed. Now he’s a PGA TOUR winner, the reigning Rookie of the Year and a participant in last year’s Presidents Cup and TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.
“It was a great jump start that maybe happened faster than I thought,” Spieth, who turned pro in January 2013, said of his early career, “but there’s only more and more goals to set and more places to go.”
He has one new destination in his near future. He’s playing his first Masters in two weeks. He said this week’s site, TPC San Antonio’s AT&T Oaks course, is good preparation for Augusta National.
“It’s really good preparation for it as far as the second shots, the angles coming in and what ball flights you need to play,” Spieth said.
Next week’s Shell Houston Open, which Spieth also is expected to play, is set up to mimic Augusta’s fast putting surfaces and tightly-mown areas around the greens. He’ll compete in the TOUR’s two Dallas-area stops, the HP Byron Nelson Championship and Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, in May.
Spieth, the home-state hero, is in one of this week’s featured groupings, playing alongside Presidents Cup teammate Phil Mickelson and defending champion Martin Laird. Spieth finished 41st in this event in 2012, months before leading the state’s beloved University of Texas Longhorns to their first NCAA Championship since 1972. He missed the cut last year after struggling with short putts.
He’s made the cut in eight of nine starts this year, including seven top-25s. He was runner-up at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and has two other top-10s. He last played at the Valspar Championship, finishing 20th at the event where he earned his special temporary membership for last year.
Spieth first competed on the PGA TOUR in 2010, contending in the HP Byron Nelson Championship after being given a sponsor exemption. The then-16-year-old finished 16th while competing as the reigning U.S. Junior champion.
That was nearly four years ago, but one thing remains the same: he’s looking forward to giving his hometown fans something to cheer about.
“He loves that,” Fields said.