Jordan Spieth, a 21-year-old Texan, is the 2015 Masters champion and the new US golf phenomenon. Or at least that's how you would like it. The star player in this major did many records: finished 72 holes with -18 as Tiger did in one of his four wins; he reached -19, a goal never reached by anyone; he is the second youngest after Woods to wear the green jacket; he is in the exclusive club of four players at the top of the table from the first to the last day. And then he embodies the American dream: he's tall, blond (albeit a little balding), blue-eyed, he's a nice guy, all golf and family. He has that right amount of nervousness when he makes a mistake, an apparent flaw that becomes a quality on TV, because he distinguishes one player from the others. But at the Augusta National, Jordan's distinctive trait was his exceptional game, especially on the greens, a real test for anyone who wants to be crowned champion.
In just three years on the PGA Tour Spieth has already won two tournaments and a major and if the good morning starts from the first few holes, his career promises to be stellar. With the victory in Georgia he collected 600 points for the FedexCup, overtaking the leader Jimmy Walker; but also 100 points for the World Ranking, where he is now second, behind Rory McIlroy. In his pocket he put a check for 1,8 million dollars out of 9 million in prize money, but in terms of earnings, winning the Masters means much more, it means multiplying sponsorships and raising the price. In short, Spieth, who as a philosophy sets out to always achieve new goals (as his father told him to do), at 21 has already achieved enough to satisfy a lifetime.
At the Masters he dominated the race from start to finish. He took off in the first two laps and then calmly managed the advantage, like Tiger did in his golden days. Already last year he seemed destined to wear the green jacket, then, in the final, something inside him gave way and that great playmaker Bubba Watson rightly took advantage of it.
Is that enough to call it a “phenomenon”? Maybe yes, even if the road to reach Rory, Phil Mickleson and above all Tiger Woods and still very long. Surely the "old" phenomena do not want to be scrapped. Just look at the standings to understand it.
At the Augusta National Phil, 44, finished second, tied with Briton Justin Rose; Tiger, 39, 17th, although many commentators considered him doomed and suffering from Yips, the tic that kills golfers; Rory, 25, took fourth place, after a slow start and after making a myriad of bad putts on the course. It's true that Phil has fewer and fewer majors ahead of him; it is true that Tiger no longer roars as he used to; it's true that Rory has missed this opportunity to add to his collection the major he still lacks, but he's only 25 years old and a lot of time ahead. In any case, Spieth will have to continue to deal with these "phenomena". Or perhaps it would be better to say that these champions will have to watch out for the growth of a new rival from now on.
