One of the world’s top amateurs when he was in high school, Jordan Spieth could have gone to college anywhere he wanted.
Schools pulled out all the stops during the recruiting process, and among the colleges Spieth seriously considered was Southern California, which offered him one of its four playing memberships at storied Riviera Country Club as an enticement.
Spieth didn’t take the offer, opting instead to stay closer to his Dallas home and play at Texas. But a year later he was back at Riviera, leading the Longhorns to the 2012 NCAA crown a few months before he turned pro midway through his sophomore season.
Counting the NCAAs, this week marks Spieth’s fifth appearance at The Riv and the world No. 1 has a score, of sorts, to settle on the course that counted celebrities like Humphrey Bogart, Walt Disney and Dean Martin among its members and annually hosts the PGA TOUR’s best.
A year ago, Spieth was in contention on Sunday, and he came to the 18th hole thinking he needed to birdie to keep pace with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and James Hahn. His approach landed on the fringe of the green at the majestic, uphill par 4.
“If it lands on the green, I've got probably about 18 feet for birdie, which I'm going to make,” Spieth said Tuesday, joking and flashing a self-assured smile.
...for me to win on a golf course that I consider one of the top few in the world, I mean, that's always a goal. Yeah, it would be amazing.
Instead, Spieth chipped a tad too aggressively, and the ball he didn’t want to leave short scooted about 8 feet past the hole. He missed the putt, which would have put him in a playoff after Johnson and Garcia both bogeyed the par-5 17th.
“So a little bizarre, but that just kind of teaches you how it works sometimes,” Spieth said. “Sometimes it's not birdies to win. Sometimes on harder golf courses, even on a TOUR event and it's a non-major championship, sometimes par is a really good score.
“Unfortunately it's rare, but fortunately, it happens here. So it would mean a lot to win this tournament.”
Spieth has already won once this season, capturing the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January. That victory brings his total in the last 12 months to six worldwide – including two majors -- and solidified the reigning FedExCup champ’s position at the top of the game.
That said, Spieth struggled a bit last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finishing in a tie for 21st at an event where the tournament’s sponsor honored its client with his own bobble head doll. One of his two rounds in the 60s came on Sunday, though, in a bogey-free 66 that sent him to Los Angeles on a more positive note.
The 22-year-old Spieth, who has played Riviera in competition more than most TOUR events outside of Texas, got in 18 holes during the second annual Collegiate Showcase on Monday. He played with Texas’ Beau Hossler, the top-ranked player in college golf, and reminiscing with his coach, John Fields, who was on the bag,
“It's always fun being back here,” Spieth said. “I know Coach gets on property here and he has such a big smile on his face. I think in his mind, kind of the coolest moment of his professional career, and you could see it and hear it as what comes out of him as we're out here.
“It's just fun being part of; I love that event yesterday.”
Tuesday, it was back to business. After his pre-tournament interview, Spieth planned to hit the range, working on more lofted shots than the kind he practiced for the wind at Pebble. The poa annua at Riviera is different than on the Monterey Peninsula so getting his speed dialed in is important, too.
Spieth will play the first two rounds with his good friend Justin Thomas – who Spieth beat at the 2012 NCAAs -- and the ageless Fred Couples, the two-time champion who is playing in the Northern Trust Open for the 34th time.
To say Spieth is looking forward to the week at The Riv would be an understatement. And a win would be extremely special.
“It's one of the very few with the history that it has, past champions, not only just the champions, but just those who have walked these fairways,” he said.
“And then for me to win on a golf course that I consider one of the top few in the world, I mean, that's always a goal. Yeah, it would be amazing.”