Jordan Spieth is having a Woodsian run this season. His PGA Tour summary: 4 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third, 11 top tens, 14 top twenty fives and over $8.7 million.
Oh, let’s not forget in November he won the Australian Open and in December he took Tiger’s Hero Challenge. That’s not a season it’s a career for most golfers.
Rory McIlroy turns up lame just when Spieth is reaching his zenith. If Rory can’t come back soon Spieth may just eclipse him as world number one and is anyone not talking about the Grand Slam!
Kind of reminds me of Wally Pipp. You remember Pipp…he played for the Yankees and even led the league in homers in 1916 and ’17. Then in 1925 he sat out a game due to a headache. Lou Gehrig replaced him and played in 2,130 straight games. No one is saying that Rory will ever be Pipp but with Jordan grabbing this game as his own he is certainly quickly becoming the golfer of the day.
All is not lost for Tom Gillis. He pockets his biggest paycheck ever for his second place finish, $507,600. He also gets the last spot in this week’s Open Championship. Cheers mate!
Danny Lee has to be kicking himself. Last week’s winner was this week’s goat. On the first hole he lifted his golf ball thinking the lift, clean and place rule was still in effect. It wasn’t. He laughed as he was told he broke the rules and got a one stroke penalty. He finished one stroke out of the playoff. Ouch.
Rickie Fowler’s Scottish Open win was so much fun to watch. Gullane looks like a must play venue and Fowler and his A Game are a joy to see. Seeing him come into such good form and embrace the links game proves that he is more than just a clothes horse and that Butch Harmon is the best coach on earth.
It’s great for the game that Rickie is winning and is now in the mix with Rory and Jordan. We get to see his girlfriend too so that’s not so bad either.
As for Gullane, it looked like a greener, less penal Chambers Bay. There is plenty of elevation there, a bit more than most links courses but the holes are caressed by the land and it still allows for spectators to move about without fear of falling down a steep hill.
We all thought it would be a two women race at the U.S. Women’s Open. Amy Yang and Stacy Lewis were set to go all match play when play began. But no one told In Gee Ghun. The twenty year old Korean playing in her first Open crashed the party. Her four under 66 put her in the house at eight under and only Yang had a chance of catching her. When Yang bogeyed eighteen Chun had her surprising win.
Stacy Lewis was America’s hope but double bogeys on five and fifteen killed her chances. Lewis has made it clear this is the tournament she most wants to win. With her T3 here she now has two third places and a second. Let’s hope she isn’t the LPGA’s version of Phil Mickelson.
The Fox coverage seemed a bit better this week but Greg Norman needs to do some home work. He actually admitted to not following the women that much and relied on Juli Inkster for commonly known facts. Come on man, do your job.
Holly Sonders and Natalie Gulbis both at the wrap up desk, OK Fox, I get it.
Props to Michelle Wie for toughing it out and scratching out an even par 70 and an eleventh place finish. Wie was hampered by a bad ankle and a worse hip. She could barely keep her balance after her follow through. There was a time when Wie might have thrown in the towel but she’s a different women now. It wasn’t the way she wanted to defend her title but she did herself proud.
Tennis Note: Wimbledon’s men’s final wasn’t quite last year’s slug-fest but Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic put on a worthy show. Djokovic was just that much better than Federer and he deserved the win.
Jordan Spieth is captivating the golf world like few golfers have. The last golfer to have this buzz was a young Tiger Woods. But here’s the scary part: Spieth won yesterday without his A game. And he won the U.S. Open without his A game on Sunday. If this kid can hit on all cylinders for any sustained period of time we have only seen a fraction of his greatness.
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