Since Tiger Woods stopped being Tiger Woods, sometime around Thanksgiving 2009, the golf world has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next, well, Tiger Woods.
Jordan Spieth may or may not be that guy, but after earning his first career PGA Tour victory in a playoff win at the John Deere Classic, there’s reason to believe the 19-year-old could be golf’s brightest new star.
Spieth is a two-time Junior Amateur Champion — the only other golfer to do that: Woods — and had his first top-20 finish at the 2010 Byron Nelson, when he was 16 years old. He tied for 21st at the U.S. Open as an amateur last year, a feat that has some talking about whether he can win this week's Open Championship.
And after five previous top 10 finishes in 2013, he won Sunday (with the help of a ridiculous hole-out from the bunker on 18) to become the youngest golfer in more than 80 years to win on tour.
Of course, the crown of “Next Tiger Woods” has proven difficult to wear in the past — Rickie Fowler, Anthony Kim, anyone? — and Spieth hasn’t exactly been lighting up the scorecard with anything close to the regularity that Tiger once did, even in Woods’ earliest days on tour.
Spieth has missed four cuts this year — including one at the U.S. Open — whereas Tiger needed nearly 10 years to miss four professional cuts. And, Spieth previously had little pressure to succeed resting on his shoulders. Now that Spieth has won once, there will be an expectation for him to win again, and again, and again, and for some golfers, that’s too daunting a task.
Still, Spieth is fun to watch, and it’s good to have someone new and young on tour to pull for, rather than relying on Woods each week to keep things interesting. Last weekend’s John Deere Classic may end up being Spieth’s crowning achievement as a professional, but I don’t suspect that it will be. And for the sake of the game of golf, let's hope that it isn’t.
Now for some links from the weekend that was:
• Mavs draft pick Shane Larkin broke his ankle during a summer league practice.
• Could the Knicks and Rangers move from Manhattan to Long Island?
• Alleged Aaron Hernandez accomplice Carlos Ortiz is being labeled a "rat" in his old neighborhood.
• JaVale McGee posterizes a defender at the Drew League:
• Dwight Howard's path to Houston was a difficult one.
• Manny Ramirez still has it… at the triple-A level.
• A 'surfer dude' cooked up the Vegas NBA summer league.
• A comment Mitch Williams made about Brandon McCarthy ignited a Twitter furor/craze:
"If you don't pitch in, this is what's gonna happen." - Mitch Williams, during a clip of @BMcCarthy32's injury last year.
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) July 11, 2013
. @WildThingMLBN I hope the clip of me nearly dying helped you make one of your asinine points.
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) July 11, 2013
• Check out some baseball, Civil War-style.
• Rory McIlroy is a controversial figure back home in Northern Ireland.
• Mets utility man Jordany Valdespin did not take kindly to being demoted to Triple-A.
• Pro golfers try their hand at the “Happy Gilmore” swing:
• Former Miami Hurricanes quarterback is a practice squad QB for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL.
• Auburn SID makes game notes for his wedding:
You know you're an #SID if... You make game notes for your own wedding @wtodd1 @SIDProblems pic.twitter.com/9xtYZLiY7q
— Matt Crouch (@MattCrouchAU) July 13, 2013
• Former Penn State recruit busted in State College.
• Read the remarkable story of Syracuse girder John Raymon.
• Driver gets dragged along track following road rage confrontation at stock car race:
• There was a different running of the bulls in Denver this weekend.
• Internet broadcasts vs. radio is a hot debate among Syracuse Chiefs fans.
• Josh Hamilton hopes Chris Davis hits 80 home runs.
• Here’s a sweet behind-the-back catch from a Japanese league game:
• Johnny Manziel's dad says dehydration led to his son's exit from the Manning Academy.
• O'Leary and O'Brien will face off in Dublin next year as UCF and Penn State meet at Croke Park.
• Ray Lewis challenges men to be better fathers to their children.
• Bryce Harper got cranky Saturday night after disagreeing with a strike three call, then got tossed:
• Prized TCU hoops recruit ruled ineligible because of academic issues in high school.
• For Mark Stoops, football has always been a way of life — and death.
• Via EDSBS, tree poisoner Harvey Updyke is taking to Facebook to discuss his freedom:
• Harness racing has an absolute superstar in Captaintreacherous.
• Nine-year-old Mia Towl won't let dwarfism derail her sports dreams.
• Joey Logano clipped a pit crew member this weekend:
