The Zone Interactive Golf Magazine (UK) The Zone Issue 26 | Page 28

JORDAN SPIETH

to make the cut at a PGA Tour event. He
was tied for 7th place after the third round,
and finished in a tie for 16th place. He
was offered another exemption into the
tournament the following year, when he
again made the cut and finished in a tie for
32nd.
Spieth earned a spot in the U.S. Open in
2012 as an alternate after Brandt Snedeker
withdrew; he tied for 21st and was the low
amateur.
He became the number one amateur in
the World Amateur Golf Ranking after his
performance in the U.S. Open and Patrick
Cantlay's decision to turn professional.
His victory in the John Deere Classic
made him the youngest winner on the
PGA Tour for 82 years – not even Woods,
Rory McIlroy or Phil Mickelson managed
to claim a professional victory at such a
tender age.
And he did it the hard way, holing a
bunker shot at the final hole to force his
way into a three-man playoff alongside
Zach Johnson and David Hearn. Spieth
described the bunker shot as the luckiest
of his life, but a certain T Woods has made
a habit of producing such shots when he
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really needs them, and luck has nothing
to do with it. It took five holes for him to
clinch the victory, rolling in a 25-foot putt
from off the green to do so.
“I don't know what I did to deserve all
those breaks,” he said.
The remarkable thing was that he had
only been given full status on the tour a
few weeks earlier on account of his earlyseason form, when he achieved five top-10
finishes and banked more than $1m. Now
he is fully exempt for 2014 and 2015 – but
that will be the least of this young man's
concerns.
He is comfortably within the top 60 in
the world rankings and will play in all
four majors next season, and can plan his
schedule.
Being brought up in Texas means that
Spieth knows how to cope with playing
in the wind, which means he will surely
be a real threat at The Open in the nottoo-distant future. And many people who
know about these things also believe that
Augusta will suit him down to the ground.
Jordan Spieth – remember the name. You
are going to be hearing a lot more of it.
THEZONE / ISSUE 25