April 10, 2015 Queens, NY Thirty-six, fourteen, twenty-one (36-14-21). Those are numbers for you crunchers out there. Jordan Spieth has played 36 holes. Jordan Spieth is 14 under. Jordan Spieth is 21 years old. A full grown adult–barely. He posted the lowest score for the first 36 holes since forever (meaning, he broke the previous record). Yesterday, the kid was 8 under. I get it; I get it. Luck. Young and Dumb. Not a care in the world. Nothing to lose. But reality will hit him tomorrow.
Tomorrow came and gone. He shot a 66. That’s 6 under. No bogeys. Si x birdies. He played a clean second round. His birdies came on holes two, five, eight, ten, thirteen, and fifteen. Steady. Composed. Confident. Mature. Under Armour couldn’t be happier. He’s covered in the brand from head to toe. Marketing guru, Kyle Greene told me, “Under Armour bet big on the boy, and he’s coming through.”
“Any time you can set a record here, it’s pretty awesome. I am very excited about today, and the way I struck the ball. I struck it, I thought, better than yesterday. [I] didn’t rely on the breaks as much. Yeah, but I’m very pleased to have one bogey in 36 holes,” said Spieth at the press conference.
Spieth is very measured. He doesn’t have a “big” personality–but that’s probably a good thing. He answered questions with caution; however, the caution didn’t seem to be a “fear or distrust of the media” type caution. The caution seemed to come from something inside him, like he didn’t want to get ahead of himself. Like, he didn’t want to think that his lead was insurmountable. Like, he didn’t want to lose focus.
If he continues his stellar play, the good-looking, quietly charismatic, humble, unassuming “Golden Child” is an advertiser’s dream. If he continues his stellar play, Under Armour may have found their Jordan. And his name is Jordan Spieth. And Jordan Spieth the Truth.
Professor Clifford Benton can be reached at cliffb@puresportsny.com.