Spieth's Updated Under Armour Deal Includes Personal Logo

Darren Rovell reports for ESPN.com on Jordan Spieth's Under Armour-created logo that he will earn royalties on when a line devoted to him is reelease next year.

Rovell writes:

Spieth, who initially was signed by Under Armour in January 2013 after he announced he would turn pro, had the final two years of his deal ripped up in January to give the company and Spieth another 10 years together through 2025. Although terms were undisclosed, sources say that if Spieth continues his pace on the golf course, he'll be one of the highest-paid players in the game. His payments will rise as he gets royalties from sales of his own gear, which is expected to hit the market next year.

Jordan Spieth vs. Tiger Woods At 22

Stephen Hennessey at GolfDigest.com compares birthday boy Jordan Spieth with Tiger Woods at 22 and the numbers are fascinating (on top of the magazine covers and hair loss chase).

Spieth's five wins trail Woods by one, but Spieth has one more major.

Tiger won six times before he turned 22. (1996 Las Vegas Invitational, 1996 Walt Disney World Classic, 1997 Mercedes Championship, 1997 Masters, 1997 Byron Nelson, 1997 Colonial, 1997 Western Open.)

World ranking: No. 2. Spieth trails Rory McIlroy by one point after the British Open. Same as Tiger, who trailed Greg Norman by less than a point.

Golf.com weaves in Nicklaus and McIlroy for fun and it's shocking how many more PGA Tour starts Spieth has than those two at 22.

ESPN's Mitch Adams wonders if Spieth is the planet's best 22-year-old athlete and you'll see he in some pretty elite company (if you like baseball or basketball).

G.C. Digital posts this slideshow of Spieth "through the years" (all six of them). And Golf Central went through their top five moments in Spieth's career.

Putting Ultimately Ends Spieth's Grand Slam Quest

The AP's Tim Dahlberg considers the Grand Slam quest and suggests the putt which will ultimately haunt Jordan Spieth came at the 17th green.

He writes:

The Road Hole was playing so long into the rain and wind that Spieth couldn’t reach the green in two. No matter, because he plopped his pitch just eight feet from the hole.

“If I stood on 17th tee box and you told me I had that putt for par on the hole,” Spieth said later, “I would have certainly taken it.”

Almost shockingly, he missed it right. The best putter in the game didn’t make the one that mattered the most.

Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com points out the statistical and ironic notion of Spieth, the world's best putter, costing himself a shot not with loose ball striking, but with his blade.

Because after blowing away the field at Augusta and then watching Dustin Johnson crumble on the 72nd green at Chambers Bay, this time it was Spieth who cracked on the biggest stage.

The greatest irony? His magical short game – his greatest strength – was the part that let him down the most in his quest for a third major in a row.

Ranked first on Tour in three-putt avoidance, Spieth’s speed control was off all week, leading to a career-worst 37 putts in Round 2, including five three-putts, and a four-putt on the eighth green Monday.

Spieth's post round comments about his trouble with speed all week led to the miss that was so uncharacteristically poor: his first putt on the par-3 8th.

Q. Take us through 8. You said you made a mental mistake there.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I believe we played 8 and 17 as hard as anybody -- as hard as any group today, were those two holes. It was the hardest rain and the hardest wind at the same time of the day. We stepped on that tee box, and you'd like to maybe have a downwind hole where it doesn't really make that much of a difference, but when you look up from the ball and you're getting pelted in the face, it's a hard shot, and I just tried to sling one in there and I left it 40 yards from the pin on the green there, and it's just a no-brainer. If you make bogey, you're still in it. If you make double bogey, it's a very difficult climb, and there's absolutely no reason to hit that putt off the green. I can leave it short, I can leave if eight feet short and have a dead straight eight-footer up the hill where I'll make that the majority of the time. My speed control was really what cost me this week, the five three-putts the second round, and then just my speed control in general wasn't great. On that hole I had left so many of them short throughout the week, I said, I'm not leaving this one short, I'm going to get this one up there, and instead hit it off the other side of the green where it was really dead there, so that was a mental mistake on my part. Instead of being patient and just accepting eight feet from 40 yards  like I do on a 40-yard wedge shot, I instead was a little too aggressive with it when it wasn't necessary.

And this regarding taking putting from the practice green to the course and his first putt proximity talents.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it wasn't 100 per cent. It wasn't the way it felt at Augusta. I just didn't feel like I was getting aligned perfectly. My stroke was good. I had really good practice. On these practice greens you're not able to get a good feel for the touch. It's tough to get pace practice because they're so small, so I didn't have much of it this week, and I kind of had to go off my feels, when typically you've got enough room -- I did plenty of work on the golf course, it's no excuse, but as far as right before the round getting a pace for that day and the conditions and how the greens are cut, it's tough. You have to kind of go with it after you have one long putt. That was the struggle for me in this tournament was what my -- I think my biggest advantage over anybody in the world is, and that's my first putt proximity, and that was -- I think on the lower half of the field this week, and it certainly cost me at least a couple shots.

Update on 2015-07-21 11:30 by Geoff

**Ian O'Connor at ESPN.com with some good behind the scenes observations on Spieth's run ending at The Old Course.

The standard bearer for the Spieth-Day group was a 19-year-old from Long Island named Luke Smith, who said he was struck by how much time Spieth had spent analyzing putts over the first 16 holes. But Smith and another official with the group thought Spieth spent less time on this one. "It seemed a little rushed," Smith said. Near the 18th green, as the fans quietly waited for the two-time major winner to play his way into Old Course lore, an official with a walkie-talkie whispered, "Spieth just missed a 6-footer for par on 17." The grandstand crowd groaned when his name was removed from the top of the board and restored a few notches below, next to the red number 14.

Brandel Chamblee thinks the Open was lost not on the greens, but in the pot bunkers which have, historically, been key to victory here. John Strege reports.

It's A Wrap: Jordan, Hogan And The Grand Slam

Maybe it's Wimbledon ending Sunday with spectacular wins or maybe it's the world not recognizing what a rare opportunity Jordan Spieth has, but his pursuit of the Grand Slam does not feel like it's getting the play it deserves.

Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com takes the big picture route and compares Spieth to fellow Texan Ben Hogan, talking to Dan Jenkins.

That was Hogan personified, said Jenkins, who has covered more than 200 majors during his distinguished career. In Hogan's mind, his  scorecard was the standard in which all other scorecards should be judged.

"Often it was," Jenkins said. "But sometimes it wasn't, and Ben would accept that, too, as being part of the game and graciously congratulate the winner."

Graciousness is a Spieth trait. Someone once asked him about his humility. Spieth responded that to talk about humility defeated the purpose of humility itself.

Who says something like at age 21?

Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com talked to other players about the challenge of learning the Old Course on short notice and includes some telling comments about what players think of the task facing Spieth.

Spieth visited the press room early and was his usual eloquent, introspective self. Though the mentions of "feels" could prove to be the first early sign of trouble. Ryan Herrington on the feels word and what it might mean.

Hmm?!? Good to know that there is a thing called "feels" and that it can "travel."

And travel, indeed it did, from Woods to Spieth. As he tries for the third leg of the calendar Grand Slam, Spieth was asked about arriving on Monday and whether there were positives of playing the John Deere and getting to St. Andrews late.

"Not necessarily, other than going to a place I was familiar with, I could get in contention and get the right feels."

Alex Myers at GolfDigest.com considers the Grand Slam ramifications in his watch of the historic chase and noted that Spieth opened the door to some concessionary views that the Old Course is complex and that the simulator was not an accurate representation of reality.

And he doesn't sound like he's had enough time dealing with St. Andrews' winds -- an area which Tiger Woods said experience is most crucial -- either on his simulator:

"The course was a lot easier with 68 degrees and no breeze coming out of the air-conditioner in that room, so I got over here, and the real preparation really started."

Rex Hoggard played off of Jordan's comments about studying the history of the game and knowing what is on the line.

As Spieth has proven in his short career, he’s a quick study when it comes to high-pressure situations – like when he converted his disappointment over his loss in the 2014 Masters into his first major championship earlier this year at Augusta National – and with the world watching he seems to have struck an impressive balance between competitive indifference and situational awareness.

“I like to study the history of golf, and I think it's extremely special what this year has brought to our team and to have a chance to do what only one other person in the history of golf has done doesn't come around very often,” he allowed.

Ewan Murray notes in his Guardian story that Spieth's attitude toward the wind forecast is to embrace the coming trouble.

Spieth also brushed aside the prospect of strong gusts, possibly up to 40mph, disrupting his game. “I think it’s fun,” Spieth said. “If we wanted good weather we’d go play in California.

“We come over here because we want to embrace the opportunity of  handling these conditions. I understand that there’s a possibility for a  lot of this tournament to be dependent on the draw the first two days, at least for a few strokes. It doesn’t mean you can’t make it up if you get the bad end of it, but it will be harder. Nobody is going to know what that is here because it changes hourly.

Update on 2015-07-15 22:42 by Geoff

**Todd Lewis reports on Morning Drive that Spieth hired a St Andrews "expert" to help him better learn the golf course.

Architecting A Plan For The Old Course In A Day And A Half

I wasn't surprised to read Jordan Spieth making an eloquent case for playing the John Deere Classic over getting to Scotland sooner to prepare for The Open. (Though a "good feels" reference was jarring to see in this Ryan Lavner piece. Then again, feels travel according to the feels maestro his ownself.)

More interesting was coach Cameron McCormick's assertion that a plan for attacking the most complicated course on the planet should be "architected" by Tuesday afternoon. Considering the number of players over time who have said they could never fully know grasp all there is to know about the Old Course and its changing winds, surprise bunkers and intricate contouring, dare I say this sounds a bit presumptuous?

From John Strege's report for The Loop:

“The other side of that is developing a game plan and acclimating to both time and weather conditions. Jordan’s always been a quick study — developing tactical intelligence, where the right places to be on the course — and with [caddie] Michael [Greller] amplifying that, I see no reason why he can’t have the right plan architected by Tuesday afternoon.”

Putting The (Incredibly Rare) Modern Grand Slam Into Perspective

He's got the first two legs of the Grand Slam. Yet, perhaps because he's been on vacation, there has been too little chatter about where this feat puts Jordan Spieth's year headed into St. Andrews.

Five before him have technically had a "chance" to win the modern Grand Slam of golf, only three men legitimately had a shot. As Victor Mather presented the Grand Slam story a week ago in the New York Times, Ben Hogan's opportunities in 1951 and 1953 were compromised by scheduling.

That leaves Arnold Palmer in 1960, Jack Nicklaus in 1972, Tiger Woods in 2002 and now Jordan Spieth in 2015 with a chance to win the Grand Slam after winning the first two modern majors.

Pretty heady company.

In 1951, Ben Hogan took the first two majors. But he would have faced a significant hurdle for a Grand Slam: The British Open started a day after the P.G.A. ended. After sustaining terrible injuries in a car crash in 1949, Hogan played a light schedule, and in the end he elected not to compete in the last two majors.

In 1953, after once again winning the Masters and the U.S. Open, he did travel to Scotland to play in the only British Open of his career. He won, but once again could not play in the P.G.A. because the events overlapped. That was the only time a Masters and U.S. Open winner also won the British Open. It was Hogan’s ninth, and final, major victory.

Though the victory was front-page news, there was not much hand-wringing over his missing the P.G.A.; the modern concept of the Grand Slam would not solidify in the public’s mind until the early 1960s.
Arnold Palmer, who often spoke about his desire to win the Grand Slam, won the first two legs in 1960. He came close in the British Open that year, losing to Kel Nagle by a stroke.

Jack Nicklaus’s turn came in 1972. Like Palmer, he missed a British Open win by a stroke, losing to Lee Trevino.

After Palmer and Nicklaus, it took 30 years and the emergence of another of the game’s greatest golfers to get another Masters-U.S. Open winner. In 2002, Tiger Woods won his seventh and eighth majors and went into the British Open alive for the Slam. But he shot an 81 on Saturday in terrible conditions, and wound up tied for 28th.

As for the "other" Grand Slam won by Bobby Jones in 1930, he kicked it off with a 7&6 win at The Old Course over the vaunted Roger Wethered.

The highlights show him hitting quite the miraculous Road bunker recovery...

Update on 2015-07-03 06:22 by Geoff

**For those in the If-Tony-Lema-Can-Show-Up-At-St.-Andrews-sight-unseen-then-Jordan-can-too, class, I give you Tony Lema after his win in 1964:

He was far more useful to me than a club. Without his help I doubt if I could have won it. It amazed me the way he just put the club in my hand.

That's Lema on his caddie Tip Anderson. Yes, that Tip Anderson.

Tiger: "Feels Travel."

Tiger Woods was asked about Jordan Spieth's decision to play the John Deere Classic instead of the Scottish Open or practice rounds at the Old Course (ala his arrive-early U.S. Open preparation).

The golf cognoscenti and the fine readers of this site are lauding young Spieth's loyalty while I think it's the first really poor choice made in the handling of Spieth's career. Most of the greats (and eventual Open Champions) have gone early for various reasons. And most of the time that was without a Grand Slam on the line. The chances of winning at the Old Course greatly improve for Spieth if he and his excellent caddie spend time acclimating to the nuances, wind directions and complex putting surfaces, especially since he's shown an incredible ability to process information better than people twice his age.

Spieth should be most concerned though that his competitors are encouraging the move. Tiger Woods today, asked at the Greenbrier Classic endorsed the move (even though Tiger will arrive the weekend before, and he has two Open wins at the Old Course).

Will Gray reports:

“I think it’s great for him to play, get the playing feels, keep the playing feels going,” Woods said Wednesday at The Greenbrier Classic. “Whether you’re playing here or overseas, doesn’t really matter, (as) long as you have your feels. Feels travel.”

Feels travel!

Your honor, I have nothing further at this time. Oh wait, the witness is still talking...

“I think he’s played enough links-type golf courses. He did all right at Chambers (Bay),” Woods said. “He’s played the British Opens before. St. Andrews will be a little bit different, there will be a lot to learn in a short time. But he’s young, and he can spend the energy playing 18 holes every day and be fine.”

Hopefully a practice round isn't fogged out like last time, because young Spieth's going to need all three practice rounds to get ready.

Update on 2015-07-02 00:42 by Geoff

**Even John Deere Classic tournament director Clair Peterson sounds like he expected Spieth to take up his possible once-in-a-lifetime chance to best prepare for a Grand Slam by skipping the Deere this year.

John Strege reports for The Loop.

“Whatever Jordan feels is best for him we’re happy to accept,” Peterson said. “If he would have contacted us and said, as some have argued, he felt like it was going to be difficult for him to be competitive at the [British] Open and still come to the John Deere, we view our relationship as a long-term relationship, we would have been fine with that.”

Under Armour CEO Is Really Liking His Jordan Spieth Deal

The Washington Post's Dan Steinberg sums up the post-U.S. Open comments of Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, executive Ryan Kuehl and Spieth in the wake of a second straight major.

Spieth's rise is only encouraging the company to expand their golf offerings as the industry shrinks.

“He’s a special guy,” Plank said. “He’s going to win a lot of golf tournaments, and that’s going to end up costing us a lot of money at some level, but I’d say it’ll probably be some of the best money we ever spent.”

Plank, in the interview with WJLA, also says this. Translations welcomed.

“Look, culture eats strategy for breakfast,” he said. “Culture isn’t something you just wake up and decide you’re going to be one day. It’s like trust; it’s built in drops and it’s lost in buckets. And you know the kind of people that will help add to that, that will add drops. And Jordan was one of those special, unique people who was a team sport athlete.

“When him and his father came up…two or three years ago, and we sat there having a conversation about how would you like to turn pro and be an Under Armour guy, he just said look I am an Under Armour guy. I am an athlete. He goes, ‘I’m your golfer.’ “

Spieth is the cover boy and center of Golf Digest's July issue, with a pre-U.S. Open profile by Jaime Diaz worth a look. Especially now.

Like all game-changers, Spieth benefits from timing. Just as Palmer was a welcome change from the grim excellence of Ben Hogan, so is Spieth a respite from the distant reign of Woods.

"Tiger's time of domination was overall great for golf but difficult in terms of interaction with fans, sponsors and media," says Seth Waugh, former CEO of Deutsche Bank, sponsor of the Deutsche Bank Championship. "In his defense, as the biggest guy on the planet, he felt he needed a shield to protect himself from an invasive world. Everybody assumed that because he was winning everything, the model of focusing only on your game and not really engaging with people was necessary to be a champion. From a player's perspective, it was the perfect excuse not to do the harder stuff, like stick around to sign autographs. But then the financial crisis hit, and it became clear that the harder stuff was a big part of why a corporation would spend $10 million to put on a week of golf. When Tiger and the notion of universal entitlement simultaneously fell from grace, players realized another model might work better, not just for themselves, but for the game."

Jordan Spieth, The 18th Hole And His Sense Of History

Jordan Spieth's shot for the ages at Chambers Bay's par-5(!) 18th hole might have been underappreciated a bit in light of Dustin Johnson's three-putt just moments later. Standing behind the shot and not having seen the coverage until this Fox highlight package at the :50 second mark, it's striking (A) how good the shot was, (B) how close it came to being an albatross, (C) how good the sound was in hearing him beg for the right bounce and (C) how mind-numblingly atrocious the announcing was for such a historic moment.  I know Jason Day was (heartbreakingly?) out of it at this point, but sheesh Shark!

Brian Wacker at PGATour.com wrote about Spieth's win and covered many facets, including the 280-yard three-wood:

“I hit it right on the middle of the face and I looked up and it was bleeding right, I just asked for the wind to hold it up just a little bit,” Spieth said. “And it looked like it did, just on the last second it stayed out of going in that bunker and instead found the rebound and stayed up on the top ledge. In midair I was going to be pleased anywhere on the green. And then with the roar I knew it stayed on the top ledge. I'm sitting there thinking, how in the world did it stay up, but I guess it was just my day.”

And his week.

Where the ball landed on the green was the same spot that he’d hit it during a practice round with his coach Cameron McCormick and caddie Michael Greller, who had the experience of about 40 loops around Chambers Bay during summers when he was a sixth grade math and sciende teacher at nearby Narrows View Intermediate School before circuitously landing on Spieth’s bag at the start of his career.

The highlight of his post round press conference, no doubt, was the talk of St. Andrews and the appreciation of history Spieth has on his side.

Doug Ferguson covered this angle.

Spieth was a freshman at Texas when he first went to St. Andrews with the rest of the Walker Cup team. They played the Old Course, soaked up the vibe at the home of golf and then headed north for their matches at Royal Aberdeen.

“It’s one of my favorite places in the world,” Spieth said Sunday evening. “I remember walking around the R&A clubhouse and seeing paintings of royalty playing golf, and it was dated 14-whatever. I’m thinking, our country was discovered in 1492 and they were playing golf here before anyone even knew the Americas existed.”

That was only four years ago, when not many outside golf circles knew Spieth. He’ll get more attention next time he arrives at St. Andrews.

With his appreciation on record or for that matter, the mere image of Spieth looking at R&A clubhouse paintings and appreciating how long the game had been played at St. Andrews, he'll have Fleet Street on his side as the quest for a Grand Slam gets going.

James Corrigan in the Telegraph notes the making of a perfect setup.

The scene is set up perfectly. Spieth and McIlroy hold the four majors between them going into the event and that has not happened since 1972 with Jack ­Nicklaus and Lee Trevino. On that occasion, Trevino denied Nicklaus the treble by a shot. Spieth is determined to avoid the same fate.

Kevin Garside in the Independent:

He could not have imagined then as a 17-year-old boy that he would return as a history-maker at the centre of what might yet be the greatest golfing story ever told. Even Rory McIlroy is starting to look passé at 26. Woods, who’s he?