For one extraordinary year, Jordan Spieth provided an uncanny flashback to early Tiger Woods: a year of surpassing brilliance that even reintroduced the Grand Slam to serious discourse.
Spieth, 22, could have been the PGA Tour Player of the Year by acclamation. Instead, he was voted the honor by his peers in a year in which he had, in reality, as few as one: Jason Day.
Spieth won five times, including the first two legs of the Grand Slam, the Masters and the U.S. Open. He missed a playoff at the Open Championship by a shot and finished second in the PGA Championship. He set a PGA Tour earnings record with more than $12 million and won the FedEx Cup and its $10-million bonus.
Spieth, meanwhile, repaid the bonus in kind by achieving all that without ever spiking the ball, so to speak. Humility generally does not partner with success in sports, yet Spieth won (and lost) with such grace and dignity that he did not leave a single enemy in his wake. How refreshing as well that the best player in the game is Rated G, with “gosh” his go-to four-letter word?
Who could have seen this coming? Obviously, Spieth was good, but good does not provide separation from the majority on the PGA Tour. He was potentially great, but potential and reality don’t always align, especially in professional golf. Coming into this season, he had only one tour victory on his scorecard, the John Deere Classic in 2013.
Yet there were signs, none of them advising to proceed with caution. He led the 2014 Masters in the final round only to finish tied for second. He earned $4.3 million last year and made the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Then he went to Australia and put the golf world on notice, winning the Australian Open with a final-round 63 that made him realize that Sundays weren’t an enemy, either.
“In Australia, I putted incredibly well on Sunday,” he said, “and proved to myself that I could do that when I was in contention. Prior to that I struggled with those five-, six-footers or even four-footers that I needed.”
2015 PGA TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
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It might have been Jordan’s first visit to Australia but not his first connection with Australia. His coach Cameron McCormack is from Melbourne and joined Jordan on the trip to Sydney
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Starting off the day sharing the lead with Greg Chalmers and Brett Rumford, Jordan quickly pulled away from the Australians with the best round of the tournament — and his career.
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Jordan sinks his birdie putt on 18 and celebrates his first title of 2014, becoming the first American to win the Australian Open since Brad Faxon in 1993, when the 21-year-old Spieth was four months old
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Jordan holds the Stonehaven Cup, the trophy awarded to the winner of the Australian Open. Seeing that his name will go right under Rory McIlroy, last year’s Open winner, Jordan said, "If I had the follow-up year that Rory had this year, I'd be pleased this time next year”
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Jordan flew directly from Australia to Florida for Tiger Wood's event at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club. The jet lag didn't seem to bother Jordan as he delivered a 26-under performance over the four days that earned him a 10-stroke victory over Henrik Stenson
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Jordan's 26 under par total broke Tiger Woods’ Hero tournament record of 22 under in 2007. Jordan’s margin of victory also set a record at this tournament, and he was the first wire-to-wire winner
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After the Hero World Challenge, Jordan said, “This caps off the best golfing year that I’ve ever had. Each year has been a little better than the last. Hope it continues in 2015”
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Tiger and Jordan talk together at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Shooting a final round 65, Jordan would finish T7 at TPC Scottsdale
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For the second year in a row, Jordan got to play with country superstar Jake Owen at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
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Jordan was 16-under for the tournament and finished T7
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Jordan had another Top 10 finish at the Northern Trust, barely missing a playoff after an aggressive pitch on the final hole.
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Jordan got his first win of 2015 at the Valspar Championship. A clutch putt on the final hole put Jordan in a playoff with Patrick Reed and Sean O'Hair. He won the tournament with a 28-foot birdie putt on the third hole of the playoff
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It was Jordan's second win in his PGA Tour career and fourth worldwide
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Jordan is presented with his trophy after winning the Valspar Championship. Jordan became the fourth player since 1940 to win twice on the PGA Tour before his 22nd birthday
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After Jordan's second place finish at the Valero Texas Open, Jordan moved to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings
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Jordan, the hottest player on the PGA going into the Masters, got into his second playoff and three weeks at the Shell Houston Open
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After finishing T2 to Bubba Watson in last year's Masters, Jordan would get more than a green jacket at Augusta National. He would get redemption
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He would also get a place in the history books by setting the 36-hole scoring record at the Masters
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Jordan's full-swing flop shot off the 18th green captivated the gallery and media alike, allowing him to save par and maintain momentum. Joe Posnanski of the Golf Channel called it, "a shot that buckles the knees of every player of every skill level around the world." Read the story.
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Jordan made 26 birdies, a Masters record, and was the first PGA golfer to get to -19 in a Major
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In addition to his 36 hole scoring record, he also had the lowest 54 hole total and tied for the 72 hole scoring record. Jordan also became the first wire-to-wire winner in Masters history
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"This was the ultimate goal in my golf life," Jordan said in his remarks to the members of Augusta National, patrons and media
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Jordan reacts after making a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 1. Watch the putt.
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Jordan hits his tee shot on the 15th hole.
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Jordan watches a putt on the 12th green. Jordan started slowly on the front nine but the Masters champion compensated with a dramatic stretch, announcing his arrival with three straight birdies starting on No. 11 to put him squarely in the mix going into Friday. Read the story.
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With his caddie looking on, Jordan reacts after his clutch par putt on the fourth green. For Michael Greller, a resident of nearby Gig Harbor, this was a Father's Day with special significance.
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With his third victory this year — fourth since embarking on his pro career in 2013 — Jordan will head to the British Open in St. Andrew’s, Scotland, in search of more history. Jordan's grand slam chances? As Ian O'Connor wrote in ESPN, don't bet against him.
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The condition of the greens was a major topic of conversation on and off the course, but Jordan gives his respects to the grounds crew who worked relentlessly through the tournament.
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Jordan follows up his hole-out eagle on 17 with a birdie on the final hole.
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After taking his sand wedge and spinning it back into the hole for eagle on the par-5 17th, Jordan shares the crowd's excitement.
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Jordan Spieth pats the back of Tom Gillis while walking off the 18th green after their pars on the first playoff hole.
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Chad Everitt, Chairman of the Volunteer Board of the John Deere Classic, presents Jordan with the trophy during the final round of the John Deere Classic.
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Jordan watches his drive from the second tee during his first round on the opening day of the 2015 Open Golf Championship on The Old Course at St Andrews. Conditions were perfect for low-scoring out on the Old Course on the first morning as play began.
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Jordan plays out of a fairway bunker on the 5th hole.
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Jordan reacts to his putt on the 7th green while Jason Day lines up his putt in the background.
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Jordan acknowledges the crowd on the 18th green after missing a putt and a chance to join the playoff.
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Jordan lines up a putt on the first green. Jordan was first in putts per round during the four days at Firestone. He averaged 25.5 putts per round.
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SHEBOYGAN, WI - AUGUST 14: Jordan Spieth of the United States lines up a putt on the 11th green during the second round of the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits on August 14, 2015 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
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Jordan reacts to his birdie putt on the final hole. It capped a bogey-free round of 65 that vaulted him to second place behind Jordan.
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Jordan and Michael celebrate a birdie on the 10th green.
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Jordan watches his birdie drop on the 18th green. It would give him the outright tournament lead going into Sunday's final round.
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Jordan gets a fist bump from Henrik Stenson after he sinks a 43-foot birdie putt on the 11th green.
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Jordan walks up to the 18th green, two putts from a victory at East Lake.
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Jordan celebrates on the 18th hole green as fans watch after his four stroke victory in the final round of the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.
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Jordan poses on the 18th green with the FedEx Cup and TOUR Championship trophies.
Winning begets winning -- he won the unofficial Hero World Challenge by 10 strokes the following week -- and given how often Spieth was in contention in tour events this season (15 top 10s in 25 starts), it was no longer whether he would win again, but how often. He won the Valspar Championship in March, the Masters in April, the U.S. Open in June, the John Deere Classic in July and the Tour Championship in September.
His break-out season provided a reason to pay attention to golf in the absence of Woods, to help fill the void created by the realization that Tiger is mortal. Spieth is not yet the transcendent star that Woods still is, even in infirmity, but if this year proves closer to the rule than the exception, Jordan just might get there.
It’s a tall order. Spieth is not long by tour standards, not the most accurate iron player. He has a swing that he did not learn from a textbook. But what he does have is a world-class short game and a determination to bludgeon his opponents with it.
This also warrants noting, only as a public service: Spieth, who won’t turn 23 until July 27, 2016, already has six victories, two of them majors. When Woods turned 23 he had seven wins, two majors.
It would be unreasonable to expect Spieth to maintain the pace Woods set in the years that followed. That said, underestimate Spieth’s ability at your own risk. Just ask the players who he dusted in 2015, the same ones who voted him the PGA Tour Player of the Year.