For many college-aged people, goals are short-sighted.
As a student, you worry about avoiding your ex in the Quad, how you’re going to pass your next test or where you’re going out for drinks tonight. Not many of us consider being a part of history or doing something few have ever done before, except maybe getting on Pluckers’ Wall of Flame.
But while many of us were partying during Spring Break, 21-year-old Jordan Spieth accomplished something bigger.
Heading into the Masters, Spieth was a favorite in the golf world. He finished first or second in each of his last three tournaments and in the Top 10 in seven of his last nine. He was as hot as a golfer could possibly be, and yet his name was still left out of the national mainstream sports picture.
The spotlight shined most brightly around the newly reformed, last great superstar in golf — Tiger Woods. Despite not playing a competitive round in the last two months, Woods dominated the headlines because of his past success.
Golf is only fascinating when players shoot record-low numbers. Casual fans don’t want to see somebody win a tournament at even par or 1-under. They want somebody to chase records and do something that makes the game look easy, and nobody in recent years could do it like Woods.
This weekend, it was Spieth who posted gaudy numbers day after day.
On Thursday, he was chasing the unattainable 62 in a major tournament but fell two strokes short of setting the new record with a 64. After Friday’s 66, Spieth grabbed the record for the Masters’ lowest two-day total. His third-round 70 wasn’t as remarkable as the first two days, but it still left the Dallas native only two strokes behind Woods’ record for the lowest four-day score at the Masters.
Spieth tied that record on his way to securing his first green jacket and the tournament’s first wire-to-wire winner since 1976.
If the record-low numbers weren’t enough, Spieth also overcame some old demons on his road to this year’s Masters title.
Only a year ago, he held a share of the 54-hole lead with Bubba Watson and lost a two-stroke lead during the final round. Spieth stood a short distance away as Watson finished off the tournament a year ago.
To stand on the same course one year later and perform the way Spieth did this week is nothing short of incredible.
How many of us can even stand to look at our teacher after failing a test?
At the same age, Spieth stared his 7,435 yard monster square in the face for hours at a time until he achieved the unthinkable, becoming the youngest Masters champion since Woods won the tournament in 1997 at 21 years old.
It would almost be too cliché to call this tournament a passing of the torch, but it was exactly that.
Woods isn’t going to dominate the PGA Tour like he used to. He’s just not at that point in his career anymore.
But Spieth can.
It’s time for the casual fan to add Spieth’s name alongside Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy as the biggest names in golf.
To do what he has done the past two years at such a young age and on such a difficult course makes him more than deserving of this recognition.
Brian Pellerin is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Kenner, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Pellerin_TDR.
Opinion: Spieth solidifies claim as next great golfer with Masters win
By Brian Pellerin
April 12, 2015
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