An honest sportsman: Jordan Spieth

Writing from Lake Forest, Illinois

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Jordan Spieth is the rare sports figure who is both nonpareil at what he does and speaks in complete paragraphs.

And honestly.

The current holder of the Masters title and U.S. Open championship does not dodge questions, does not dissemble, does not dismiss. This 22-year-old with a 30-year-old noggin thinks them through on the fly and presents to the questioner a real answer.

This is not something that most professional athletes – golf or otherwise – can accomplish. Bobby Orr was the greatest hockey player before Wayne Gretzky came along, and perhaps after, but couldn’t explain how his genius came about. Neither could Gretzky. Joe Montana was the master of the two-minute drill, but couldn’t put two sentences together about how he saw Jerry Rice open for that one instant.

Michael Jordan was brilliant, and said much, but revealed little.

Jack Nicklaus was the last golfer who knew he was the brightest man in the room and didn’t mind explaining why the cut 3-iron was a better option than the knockdown 2-iron, never mind that he would have made the putt from wherever the ball landed.

Speith tells all. He is friendly and smart and, delightfully for those with empty notebooks,  blunt.

This empty notebook holder was reminded of this during Spieth’s chat with scribes in advance of the BMW Championship, which has available a snootful of PGA Tour playoff perks, and not incidentally, $1.485 million from the $8.25 million purse for the winner. It commences on Thursday at Conway Farms Golf Club, that Tom Fazio creation squeezed into the middle of a posh housing development where even the ZIP code is unlisted.

Here is Spieth on the ever-changing identity of the world’s No. 1 player: “Rickie (Fowler) wins, and all of a sudden people are coming out of their igloos saying, man, that’s my guy. He’s

the best in the world. I think he is because he won the last tournament. That’s who the best player in the world is.” (If you’re keeping track, Rory McIlroy is No. 1 at 11.98 points, Spieth No. 2 at 11.96, Jason Day No. 3 at 10.94. Fowler is fifth, behind Bubba Watson.)

On changing irons and missing two straight cuts: “It wasn’t because I changed clubs. It’s never made a difference in the past, and I don’t think it was in the last tournament. Everything is normal, everything’s on point. I was just off a little bit.”

On confidence and the lack thereof: “I had self-doubt and it showed throughout 2014. I just let it affect me a bit more, had a little bit of lack of patience. Then, having the confidence in my own game to peak at the right time and not back off it that last round in Australia and then into Tiger’s event.” (Both of which he won, setting the stage for his outstanding current season.)

On 45-year-old Phil Mickelson as a Presidents Cup selection by captain Jay Haas: “I don’t think there’s anybody better in the locker room. He brings some adrenaline and excitement we don’t normally see in people his age to these team events.”

On the Tour’s Byzantine playoff system: “I’ve just got to get some points going into next week (and the Tour Championship). Because of the reset (in points), I don’t think the difference between No. 3 and No. 2 is big. It’s really just a free-rolling scenario. You want to win because you want to win a PGA Tour event. But it makes you feel you may as well go for broke here and play some shots under pressure that are more dangerous so you can almost have it ready for next week.”

Which makes his goal for this week: “To win the tournament. You’re still playing for a full purse. You still want to be No. 1 in the world. “

On getting criticized for missing those two cuts: “I’m that way with sports teams, so why can’t people be that way with me?”

On focusing within all the commentary: “You just need to keep your head down, stay focused, and try to be the guy people are talking about next week.”

There’s no reason to think he won’t be.

 – Tim Cronin