The Masters is the epitome of Golf, the highest mountain to climb and the biggest trek of them all. Jordan Spieth reached that summit yesterday, when the 21-year-old became the second-youngest player to claim a green jacket.
The native Texan had a chance to become the youngest player to ever win the coveted Masters championship last year, as he and Bubba Watson competed in the final group. Watson, of course, won that year, but it left the rest of the golfing community with a glimpse of the future.
Much like Tiger Woods, Spieth is built differently than most golfers.
Give Woods and Spieth a birdie and they come back at you with an eagle. Birdies propelled Spieth to the top early on and he never looked back.
Unlike Rory McIlroy at 21, Spieth was able to go into the final round with a lead and hold it. McIlroy went into the final round of the 2011 Masters with a four-shot lead and ended up tied for 15th when it was done.
For Spieth, the win at the Masters was a chance to prove that last year was more than just luck. It proves that this guy is a legit golfer and has a real chance of making a lasting impact on the game and how it is played.
Tiger Woods is now 39 and is in a race against the clock to reach Jack Nicklaus’ major wins record and the title of best golfer ever. Since his extracurricular activities found him on the cover of every tabloid, he has fought to even stay relevant in the sport. Woods finished tied for 17th after an impressive round of golf considering the past few years, but nowhere near the historic rounds he used to play.
Now, the win for Spieth does not mean he is the new face of golf or that he is the best in the world, but it’s something we’ve seen before with Woods 20 years ago.
There are a lot of parallels between golf’s old faces and its potential new one. There has been only one player who has won the Masters at a younger age—Tiger. Spieth finished the tournament at 18 under par, again the only person to do that before? Tiger Woods.
He even bested Woods in one category. The 28 birdies Spieth managed to score during his historic run at the green jacket are unrivaled by anyone.
Spieth did what McIlroy couldn’t do, and he was able to replicate what Woods was able to do, he just did it with more swagger. Spieth never looked back, even when old lefty Phil McKilson was in second place. Again, something McIlroy could not do back in 2011.
It’s bad enough that Woods has to share his iconic Nike brand with McIlroy or that kids are now wearing bright orange like Rickie Fowler, but you add Spieth to that and now there’s a whole generation of golfers pushing Woods toward playing in the seniors’ Masters.
Spieth is probably not going to be the next Nicklaus or Woods, but he solidifies the claim of the new generation of golf being here to play.
Most of these golfers grew up watching Mickleson’s and Wood’s rivalry at every Masters and would probably not want anything more than to put them into retirement.
For McIlroy, Fowler, Jason Day, Speith and others, a final round of golf is something they have already accomplished in their young careers. They are all under the age of 30, which means their best years are still to come.
Juan Carlos Navarrete can be reached at [email protected].
