Jordan Spieth’s final round 62 on Monday should all but land him a spot on this Presidents Cup
Spieth started the '13 season without status on the PGA Tour, accepting sponsor exemptions and hoping to make enough money to earn his card for next season.
Four weeks into his season we all started to realize just how good this kid was going to be. After an initial missed cut at Torrey Pines, the 20-year-old finished T-22 at Pebble Beach, followed that up with at T-2 at Puerto Rico and then an impressive T-7 at Tampa Bay, earning over half a million dollars in that three week stretch.
His game was there, but it seemed we were all waiting for another jump from the youngster, almost expecting him to keep this incredible rookie season going at such a young age.
Life changed at the John Deere Classic, when Spieth holed out from the greenside bunker on his 72nd hole to set up a playoff with David Hearn and Zach Johnson, beating both these veterans by outlasting both over a course of five holes. He became the first teenager to win on the PGA Tour in 82 years, but his journey still wasn't over.
Spieth made another playoff at the Wyndham Championship a month later, losing to Patrick Reed after hitting what looked like the perfect putt that just missed low, giving Reed a chance to make his own birdie putt (which he did), but it was another high finish for the youngster and it was that moment when people start wondering about a Presidents Cup birth.
Then came Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Spieth played fine in the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, notching another top-20 at the Barclays, but it was the way he closed this past Monday at TPC Boston that had people realizing not only that the kid has that rare ability to go super low, but just how clutch he has been this season.
That holed bunker shot aside, Spieth shot a final round 62 to post a score on Monday, but it was the way he closed that was the most impressive. His birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle finish was amazing, and it was just what he needed to at least give himself a shot at making a playoff if some of the leaders started to fall back his way.
Spieth jumped 25 spots on the leaderboard to notch his eighth top-10 of the season to not only help his cause to be one of the two captain's picks by Fred Couples that will be announced on Wednesday, but land as the front-runner of that list that includes Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk and Bubba Watson.
Spieth needs to be named to this team. The Presidents Cup is an event that will always rank behind the Ryder Cup in interest level for sports fans, but it is picks like Spieth that will raise some eyebrows and the kid has done enough to earn his spot above some of these other veterans that weren't able to qualify.
I suspect Couples thinks the same thing, and when he takes to the microphone on Wednesday to let the world know who the lucky two guys were that will be playing for the United States, I suspect he will see a young kid with a ton of firepower, passion and game that will spark an interest not just from fans, but from some of the guys already on the team hoping to get teamed up with the 20-year-old that doesn't seem to understand pressure and just continues to golf his ball as good as anyone in the world.
It's Spieth's world right now, we're just hoping to get to be a part of it for four more days at Muirfield Village.
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