April 12, 2015 Queens, NY Minus 18. 270. Wire-to-Wire. Green Jacket. Green backs (or should we say “bucks”). Under Armour. He took on all comers and beat ’em all back with a stick (or should I say club?). It didn’t matter if it was Mickelson, or Rose, or McIlroy, or Matsuyama, or the Johnsons (both of them), or Fowler, or Haas, or Na, or Garcia, or WOODS. He clubbed ’em. Drubbed ’em. Took ’em to the proverbial woodshed. He made it clear to the field, “Y’all are playing for second. First is on lock. They say ‘Go hard or Go home.’ Well, get your keys out. Don’t pass Go.”
He only shot a measly 70 today, the final round of the Masters. He birdied holes one and three, and then gave it right back in holes five and seven. He birdied eight, birdied ten, and bogeyed twelve. He birdied thirteen. He birdied fifteen. He was 19 under going into the 18th, (which was a course record). He bogeyed.
But this is a real-life fairy tale (oxymoron) about a 21 year old who birdied a lot more than he bogeyed. So much more that golf is banking on him to be the bank and break the bank. This young man from Dallas, Texas. This young man who plays for his younger sister who has a disability. This young man who Under Armour is expecting him to be the face of the company, challenge Tiger and challenge Jordan. This young man with the old soul.
For you “numerics” (new term for the analytics crowd), he bogeyed 8 times (11%); birdied 28 times (39%); parred 35 times (49%); and double-bogeyed once (1%). In the eight rounds that he has played at the Masters, he was always in the top five, always on the Big Board. Last year he tied for second place which netted him a cool $792,00. He was under par for three of the four rounds, and his average score per round was 70.75. For his troubles, he will make $1.8 million for winning this year’s Masters. He is now ranked second in the world behind Rory. Now, that’s another story. He and Rory.
He be Spieth. Book ’em Spieth.
Professor Clifford Benton can be reached at cliffb@puresportsny.com.