In 14th heading into the final round in the Shell Houston Open, Jordan Spieth says his putter is starting to warm up, reports Will Gray for GolfChannel.com. And in even better news, Spieth gets to share a Champions Locker Room locker with Arnold Palmer, cased on the Rusty Jarrett photo (10th) in this Masters official website slideshow.
But it's that putter which gets get most of the attention when folks discuss Spieth's historic 2015 campaign. Yet a few great reads try to discern if there is more to Spieth's supremacy.
In the annual defending champion profile, the Augusta Chronicle's Scott Michaux travels to Dallas to tell us more about Jordan Spieth's development, family and coaching.
This, about instructor Cameron McCormick, was enlightening.
Like breaking a spirited colt, McCormick slowly got Spieth to harness his intensity and kinetic energy into a formulated plan.
“The more challenging part was to increase desire to win with a measure of patience and recognizing that certain things take time,” McCormick said. “With the help of his parents, who did the large part of that work, Jordan became tolerant of evolving a little bit more over time and being patient and taking a really diligent long-term or
medium-term focus to his improvement.”
For the first three months they did little but work on Spieth’s putting, which was the worst part of his game. At Spieth’s own suggestion, he converted to a left-hand, low style. Eventually they “started working to expand his skill set and morph his technique ever so slightly over time,” McCormick said.
The result was a tool box that proved resistant to failure.
Doug Ferguson focuses on the "Golf I.Q." concept and asks if Spieth is just that smart, or just a great putter.
"I think I have a high golf IQ, sure," Spieth said. "I think what that means is I'm able to dissect different situations, different lies, winds and where pins are. Not only judging the distance, but judging — based on our knowledge of the golf course — the appropriate spot where to miss is and how to make par from there."
Then again, he believes everyone on the PGA Tour has a high golf IQ or else they wouldn't be out there.
"I think your love of the game makes you want to learn more about it and learn everything that goes into it," Spieth said. "I have a passion for it."
Jaime Diaz for Golf Digest offers various thoughts on what made Spieth so superior in 2015.
To me, Spieth’s best qualities evoke athletes from other sports. At the moment, his putting is eerily good. He led in several putting categories, but the stat that resonates most is his conversion rate of better than 25 percent on putts between 15 and 25 feet -- first on tour by a lot. It’s an ability that currently separates him from his peers in the same way NBA MVP Stephen Curry has separated from his.
While some are bothered by Spieth’s tendency to react vocally to his shots, I find it a signal of a player immersed in the moment and determined to never let up. Take away the profanity and churlishness (perhaps a big ask), and Spieth reminds me of John McEnroe. Like the tennis bad boy, Spieth uses exasperation, self-castigation and body language to rid himself completely of an unsatisfying shot, so that when it’s time for the next one his mind is clear. People forget that for as tortured as his self-talk seemed, McEnroe almost always played better after venting.
The stories vary in part because of how many players won or what they actually won, but some of the locations will surprise. (There is a full list on the left side of the link.)
