Jordan Spieth’s mother on raising a grounded prodigy: ‘It has never be

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“How do you raise a sports prodigy who is also a great person?” a headline on a website called Purpose2Play. For the answer, writer Patti Putnicki turned to Jordan Spieth’s mother, Christine. “I think the reason that Jordan has stayed so grounded is that when he’s at home, he’s never been ‘the phenomenal Jordan,’” Christine said. “He’s Steven’s and Ellie’s brother, our son. It has never been all about Jordan. You’re not going to find a lot of golf trophies in our house. We do have his John Deere trophy here because he doesn’t want to fill his house with golf trophies. That’s the place he goes to get away from golf, to just be a regular person.”

US PGA TOUR

Jordan Spieth and sister Ellie at the Tour Championship

“The head of the European Tour said Monday that China's ruling Communist Party banning its members from golf should be seen as a ‘positive’ step for the game's growth in the world's most populous nation,” Daniel Hicks of AFP writes. “[Tour CEO Keith] Pelley believes the latest announcement simply reinforced the belief that golf is a game for working people and not a preserve of the wealthy elite. ‘Eighty percent of the working class in China is who that announcement was targeted to and who actually want to participate in the game of golf,’ said Pelley.

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On the occasion of Gary Player’s 80th birthday, ESPN’s Bob Harig asked him how he became interested in fitness. “It started when my brother left for war at age 17 to fight alongside the Americans and British in WWII,” Player said. “I told him I was going to be a professional athlete. Knowing I was going to be small, he gave me a set of weights and made me promise to look after my body, treat it like a holy temple, and exercise for the rest of my life. This led me to becoming a fitness advocate.”