![\"Thrash](\"\/b\/imgs\/thrash_talk\/tt_title.gif\")
In today’s economy it seems that one of the key indices of a healthy market is how the stock market is performing. Currently as China stock market underwent a crash it got me thinking about prospecting. I mainly wonder “If Jordan Spieth were a stock, would I buy or short him?”<\/p>\n
There is no question his price in this Golf Street market would be extremely high. Two major wins and two extremely close calls; there is no other way to describe it than to measure it against Tiger’s 2000 season. It was not as good as that season, in fact, not really even that close but it is the closest comparison one can make in recent history. You need to go back to Ben Hogan’s 1953 season to find another to compare it to. Add to this the fact that the 2015 season isn’t over, a win at the season-ending Tour Championship would only add more fuel to a season already full of big fireworks.
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\nMost articles you read about him are gushing. How he is so grounded, so focused, so…well, just great. The golf scribes are in love. I think one of the reasons they are so in love is Tiger treated most of the golf media poorly. He gave nothing interviews, never saying much of anything, and if anyone dared to ask a probing question he blacklisted them, potentially forever. Jordan is friendlier, answers his questions the way the golf media wants him to.<\/p>\n
But what about his stock one, three, five, and even ten years from now? His 2015 was pretty magical and statically he had a fantastic year as well. He was near the top of proximity to the hole from almost every distance. He was really incredible from everywhere. Driving was also really good. Short game, yup right near the top. Putting, his stats from 15-25 feet were great, and he really got better the farther he got from the hole. The high finishes in the tournaments were a direct translation of how well he golfed his ball.<\/p>\n
But we are prospecting here. We can’t sit only on the success of 2015 and say he can reach the heights that Tiger and Jack did. Both of those guys had many things that separated them from the pack, but there were two things that I think kept their stock so much higher than the other. Mental toughness and length. Jordan seems to have the mental toughness. He won the Masters with the 36-hole lead. It takes a certain mental toughness to drive down Magnolia lane on Saturday and Sunday knowing you are going to be in the final group and play with the lead. The U.S. Open he won a nail biter. For one season he has proven to me that he has what it takes in that department. The distance is the worrying thing for me. Both Jack and Tiger were long and straight. I am not saying they need to lead the Tour in distance but both were long and accurate. Jordan has nailed the accuracy portion, but he is simply average length.<\/p>\n
![\"Jordan](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/jordan_spieth_masters_2015.jpg\")
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There is also another nagging statistic when I look over his 2015 season. His three- to five-foot putt range. Good putters, the ones who have the best statistics, are usually very good from this distance. Jordan is not. Yes, he had an amazing year from greater than fifteen feet but that is very hard to maintain from year to year. If I was heavily invested in him this has to be a major concern.<\/p>\n
So when I combine the lack of distance and poor short putting, my recommendation is sell. I am going to short him. Now, let’s understand something, I am not saying he is not going to win again. In fact, he may even win a few majors as well. But I am predicting that it will be only a few more than the two he has now. So, three to five more in my prediction for a total of five to seven for his career. It would still be a hall of fame career but just not comparable to the truly elite in the game.<\/p>\n
The trouble is, if I am going to short Jordan who should I put my money on? Rory has the length and a decent head on his shoulders but I am worried about his overall desire level. He just seems to lose interest from time to time. I would like to seem him be more of a grinder, Tiger was nothing else if not a great grinder. Jordan has a great grinders mentality. Seems the guy I really want to put all my money on is a golfer who is a combination of Rory’s driver and length, and Jordan’s everything else. But the perfect investment is rare, just like Tiger and Jack were. They seem to come around only once in a lifetime.<\/p>\n
Photo credits: © Chris Carlson<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jordan is at the top of his game, but does he win more, or has he peaked?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1425,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[98,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hot_topics","category-thrash_talk"],"yoast_head":"\n