We watch sports for a number of reasons. Maybe we have a favorite team or a favorite player, the game or match might be exciting, or we may just need something to take us away from real life for a couple of hours. But we always watch to see that rare moment when someone does something unheard of. We root for excitement, but inside we yearn for domination. When LeBron James catches fire or Clayton Kershaw becomes unhittable, we are mesmerized because we know we won't see something like that for a long, long time.
Which takes us to the 21-year-old at Augusta National, who on Friday set the 36-hole record at the Masters -- 14 shots under par.
Jordan Spieth was born in 1993, around the same time Michael Jordan was putting the finishing touches on his first of two NBA championship three-peats. A superstar already, Spieth still says Mr. Tirico instead of Mike to address the ESPN commentator in interviews and was bummed out this week when the Masters committee didn't pair him with one of his idols, Ben Crenshaw, as Mr. Crenshaw made his way around Augusta National for a final time.
But on the golf course, age doesn't matter. Over in the LPGA, a 17-year-old is the top-ranked player in the world. On the men's side, Rory McIlroy is a veteran at 25 and has won the last two majors. Golf is trending younger, and Spieth is the face of that, a 21-year-old who won his first PGA Tour event as a teenager, becoming the first to do that in 82 years.
To say he's wise beyond his years doesn't give Spieth the respect he deserves. He's a mature 21, sure, but he could be a complete hooligan off the golf course and still put up good numbers. It's the way he golfs his ball that exudes maturity. No matter if he's yelling at himself for a bad swing or walking after a putt that drops anyway, when he is locked in over his shot, he's one of the best in the world at pulling off what he sees.
What Spieth has done at Augusta National is historic, but the crazy thing about it is how simple it's looked. He hasn't holed some wedge from the fairway or even made an eagle so far through two rounds. On his way to a 6-under 66 Friday, he missed two birdie putts inside of 7 feet on Nos. 9 and 18.
Spieth is simply in a zone we don't get to see much in golf. He's hitting his shots exactly where he wants on a course that will immediately penalize golfers for being out of position (think Tiger Woods on No. 9 Thursday, when he sent his drive into the fairway ... of No. 1). Spieth hasn't gotten into any trouble through two rounds, save for an opening-round miss-club on the par-5 15th that might have held him back from breaking the all-time low round in a major championship.
It's been as impressive a performance as we've seen in more than a decade through two rounds, but you haven't had to hold your breath a lot when Spieth is tentatively watching a shot in the air. You know it's going to be as good as he does. The worry factor is nonexistent.
"I got standing ovations walking to multiple greens," Spieth said after Friday's round. "I mean, that's something you can only dream about. It's Friday, too. I'd like to have the same thing happening on Sunday. Got a lot of work to do before that happens."
The battle now isn't the rest of the field. The other players that made the cut at Augusta National have no chance if Spieth continues to go about his business. But as good as Spieth has been, and as solid as he has played since his Australian Open win in November, it will still be an internal battle over the next two days to close this thing out.
Still, with the golf swing he's brought to Augusta and a putting stroke that almost always saves him when he does find himself in a tough spot, the Masters isn't just his to lose -- it's his to choke. Jordan Spieth is doing something we've never seen before at Augusta National, and he's making it look like a random practice round on a Tuesday in Palm Springs.
Like with Woods in 2000 at Pebble Beach, sometimes it's just beautiful to sit back and enjoy someone in total control of a sport who is unbeatable. Spieth is that guy right now, and no matter what happens the next two days, it has been a hell of a ride so far.
