Jordan Spieth may be too young to remember Bing Crosby warbling the words to ‘Straight Down the Middle’ during the Crosby Clambake at Pebble Beach many moons ago but the young Texan still knows his history.
“I’ve read a lot about the Bing Crosby event and it seems like it was as good a time as anybody had in a tournament back in the day,” he said. Spieth certainly had a good time at the cherished Californian course at the weekend as he won the AT&T Pro-Am, the current incarnation of the Crosby-inspired golfing gathering which goes back 80 years. “This is a bucket list place to win,” he said. “Here, Augusta National, St Andrews. There are only a few places in the world that it feels really special walking up to the 18th green knowing that you are going to win. It’s such a unique position, and I tried to soak it in. It's great to have your name anywhere around this place. The greats of the game all have theirs here.”
At just 23, Spieth is the youngest player to rack up nine PGA Tour wins since Tiger Woods. He is well aware that comparisons with the Tiger are all part and parcel of being an upwardly mobile, young golfing superstar but, in this fickle game of highs and lows, Spieth continues to keep his feet on the ground. “We’ve had ups and downs and everything in between,” reflected the two-time major winner who also endured a painful surrender of his Masters title last year when he stumbled to a quadruple-bogey on the 12th hole of his final round and opened the door for Danny Willett. “I’m probably more comfortable than I was a couple years ago just because I recognise the longevity of a career. I feel like in the last two-and-a-half years I’ve had enough experiences that people normally have in a 20-year career on Tour. Recognising the longevity of a career, I don’t think anyone’s going to win at the same percentage that Tiger won at, so I don’t think it’s fair to necessarily compare to it and I think less of that than I have in the past. Getting to where you’re the first guy, even including Tiger, to do something, is maybe the next goal, but that might be pretty hard.”
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