Jordan Alexander Spieth (/ˈspiːθ/; born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.[2]
Spieth's first major win came in the 2015 Masters Tournament, when he shot a 270 (−18). He tied the then 72-hole record set by Tiger Woods in 1997 and became the second youngest golfer (behind Woods) to win the Masters. He then won the 2015 U.S. Open with a score of 5-under-par.[3] He was the youngest U.S. Open champion since amateur Bobby Jones in 1923. He followed up with a win in the 2015 Tour Championship, which clinched the 2015 FedEx Cup. Two years later, Spieth won his third major at the 2017 Open Championship, by three shots at 12 under par.[4]
Early life
Spieth was born in 1993 in Dallas, Texas, to Shawn Spieth and Mary Christine (née Julius) Spieth.[5] He attended St. Monica Catholic School and graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School in 2011.[6][7] He learned to play golf at Brookhaven Country Club.[8]
Amateur career
In 2009 at Trump National Bedminster and 2011 at Gold Mountain, Spieth won the U.S. Junior Amateur and joined Tiger Woods as the tournament's only two-time winners.[5] Before turning 18 in July 2011, he was No. 1 in the AJGA Golf Rankings, which promotes the best junior golfers in the world.[9] He finished second in the 2008 and 2009 Junior PGA Championship.[10] The American Junior Golf Association named him the Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2009.[11] Spieth accepted an exemption to play in the PGA Tour's HP Byron Nelson Championship in 2010. It was the event's first amateur exemption since 1995.[12] The tournament's previous exemptions had included Trip Kuehne in 1995, Justin Leonard, and Woods in 1993.[12] He made the cut, becoming the sixth-youngest player to make the cut at a PGA Tour event.[13] Spieth was tied for seventh place after the third round, and finished the tournament in a tie for 16th place.[14] He was offered another exemption into the tournament in 2011, when he again made the cut and finished in a tie for 32nd.[6]
Spieth played college golf at the University of Texas.[15] Spieth was a member of the 2011 Walker Cup team and played in three of the four rounds; he halved his foursomes match and won both singles matches.[16] In his freshman year at Texas, Spieth won three events and led the team in scoring average.[17] He helped his team win the NCAA championship, was named to the All-Big 12 Team, Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year, and was a first-team All-American.[18][19] In 2012, Spieth earned a spot as an alternate in the U.S. Open after Brandt Snedeker withdrew from the tournament;[18] he tied for 21st and was the low amateur.[20] 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.[21]
Professional career
In 2012, after failing to advance to the Final Stage of PGA Tour qualifying school,[22] 19-year-old Spieth turned professional midway through his sophomore year at Texas.[23] He partnered with Under Armour for sponsorship in January 2013[24] and with BioSteel Sports Supplements in March.[citation needed]
2013: First PGA Tour win
In the 2013 season, Spieth played in his first tournament in January, where he missed the cut by two strokes at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. In March, Spieth made three cuts, finishing tied for second at the Puerto Rico Open and tied for seventh at the Tampa Bay Championship. He earned Special Temporary Member status in March, which allowed him unlimited sponsor exemptions; non-members are limited to seven exemptions per season.[25] He notched another top-10 finish in April at the RBC Heritage, a tie for ninth.[6] On July 14 (about two weeks before his 20th birthday) Spieth won the John Deere Classic on the fifth hole of a three-way, sudden-death playoff against defending champion Zach Johnson and David Hearn. He became the fourth youngest PGA Tour winner and the first teenager to do so since Ralph Guldahl won the Santa Monica Open in 1931. Spieth holed out from a greenside bunker on the 72nd hole to make the playoff.[26][27]
With the victory, Spieth was granted full status as a PGA Tour member and became eligible for the FedEx Cup, entering in 11th place in the standings. It also earned him entry into the next three majors: the 2013 Open Championship, PGA Championship, and 2014 Masters.[28] Five weeks after his first victory, Spieth played the Wyndham Championship, where he lost in a playoff to Patrick Reed.[29]
Spieth shot a final round 62 in the Deutsche Bank Championship, vaulting him into a tie for fourth. Just two days later, captain Fred Couples selected Spieth for the United States squad in the 2013 Presidents Cup. On September 27, 2013, he was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. At the end of the 2013 season, he was ranked 10th on the PGA Tour money list and 22nd in the Official World Golf Ranking.[30]
2014: Masters runner-up, Ryder Cup debut
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Spieth made his Masters debut in April and shared the 54-hole lead with Bubba Watson. During the final round, Spieth at one point was the stand-alone leader by two strokes and in position to become the youngest Masters champion in history; Tiger Woods holds the record at age 21. But Watson retook the lead heading into the second nine and never relinquished it. Spieth finished in a tie for second with Jonas Blixt, becoming the youngest runner-up in Masters history. Spieth ended the tournament with no scores above even-par (72) in any of his rounds.[31][32] His finish moved him into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time.[33]
Following the PGA Championship, Spieth earned selection to the 2014 Ryder Cup team, becoming the youngest American to play in the matches for 85 years since Horton Smith in 1929.[34] In November, Spieth won his second tournament as a professional at the Emirates Australian Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia; in the final round he shot a course-record 63 to win the title by six strokes.[35] A week later, he completed consecutive victories, winning the Hero World Challenge in Florida. He won the tournament wire-to-wire and in doing so set a new tournament scoring record of 26-under-par.[36]
2015: Masters, U.S. Open and FedEx Cup champion, World No .1
On March 15, Spieth won the Valspar Championship in a three-way playoff with Patrick Reed and Sean O'Hair. He secured his victory on the third extra hole by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt.[37] The win moved him to 6th in the Official World Golf Ranking.[38]
A runner-up finish at the Valero Texas Open moved him to a career-high ranking of fourth in the world. The following week, Spieth lost in a sudden-death playoff at the Shell Houston Open, having held the 54-hole lead. He shot a final round 70, but had to hole an 8-footer on the last to force the playoff following low rounds by J. B. Holmes and Johnson Wagner that had pushed them to the top of the leaderboard. On the first playoff hole, Spieth put his drive nearly into the water, and then followed up with a poor shot into the green-side bunker, causing his elimination from the playoff, which was won by Holmes.[39]
2015 Masters
On April 9, Spieth shot an opening round 64 to finish the day eight strokes under par with a three-shot lead in the Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia; Spieth set a record as the youngest player to lead the Masters after the first round.[40] His score was only one shot behind the course record of 63 shared by Nick Price and Greg Norman, with their rounds coming in 1986 and 1996 respectively.[41] Spieth shot 66 the following day to break the 36-hole Masters scoring record by posting 14-under 130 through two rounds. The previous record, set by Raymond Floyd in 1976, was 13-under 131. He broke the 54-hole record at the Masters shooting a 16-under 200 through three rounds.[42]
During the final round Spieth briefly held a score of −19 but bogeyed the final hole resulting in him tying Tiger Woods' 1997 score record at 18-under. Spieth set the record for the most birdies during the Masters by making 28 and became the second-youngest person to win the Masters.[43] His victory was the first wire-to-wire Masters win since Raymond Floyd's in 1976.[44][45] The victory moved Spieth to #2 in the Official World Golf Ranking.[46]
2015 U.S. Open
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On June 21, Spieth won the U.S. Open to claim his second major championship. He carded a one-under 69 in the final round to finish with a total of 275 (-5) and win the tournament by one stroke over Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen. Spieth had begun the day in a four-way tie for the lead and played in the penultimate group alongside Branden Grace.
He opened his final round with a bogey to fall behind, but then a run 12 pars and two birdies in his next 14 holes moved him into a tie for the lead with Grace at five under par. On the 16th hole, Grace hit his tee shot out of bounds that led to a double bogey and Spieth capitalized by rolling in a lengthy birdie putt to create a three shot swing, which gave Spieth a three shot lead with two to play. However, on the 17th tee, Spieth pushed his tee shot well right into the thick rough, which led to a double bogey and coupled with Johnson's birdie on the 16th, the two were tied for the lead briefly. Spieth made birdie on the 18th to become the leader in the clubhouse. Johnson then had an eagle putt to win the tournament outright on the 72nd hole, but three-putted from 12 feet to finish one stroke behind.
Spieth became only the sixth player ever to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year, and the first since Tiger Woods in 2002.[47] The other four golfers to accomplish this feat are Hall of Fame members Craig Wood, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus.[48][49] He became the fourth-youngest player to win multiple major championships and the youngest winner of the U.S. Open since Bobby Jones in 1923.[citation needed]