Spieth v McIlroy - The Millenials' Tiger v Phil?

[newtogolf]

I don't think Jordan has much growing into his body left compared to Rory at 21. The game has seen many great players wreck their games trying to gain yards off the tee they really didn't need; Jordan shouldn't feel as though he has to make drastic changes to his body or his swing to keep up with the longer hitters.

Spieth's is a precision game; his big hurdle is what he will be able to do on the days that sharpness he's shown so far in 2015 isn't there. Tiger at his best could scramble and putt to victory even when his full swing lost all accuracy; Phil can go on months-long slumps, yet turn everything around with a gambling shot in a big-time situation; if Rory's not feeling his A-game, he just starts overpowering courses on brute strength alone. The best players always have a Plan B; I don't know what Jordan's is yet.

I think Spieth is still working on his overall game, I don't think he's reached the top of his potential yet.  His Plan B right now appears to be his putting, he usually finishes high on the leaderboard when his putter is working well for him.

[Quadhole]

I think Speith wins more of everything in time. Rory played well recently because of the questions he had to deal with after the masters. Speith also won the Masters ! Bigger than the other majors. In the head game of Golf and Life, Rory will not want to be second fiddle and the pressure will mount from within. Speith seems to have a quit confidence about his life, and game. A mad technician if you will that always take the game serious, life serious, and his legacy very serious, while down playing it all to the media... Rory on the other hand is a natural, gifted golfer, but at the same time will be European, enjoy the worlds finer things which may lead him to think OFF golf. Maybe even marry more than once, spend time on the riviera with the stars.

Speith will never do that, other than small town Texas and the easy, simple life of an american.

In the end, Rory will have lived a more exhilarating life and Speith will have more wins and majors. That will haunt Rory when he is 40 and wanting more....

I wonder what Justin Thomas ends up doing in the long run. Sooner or later the buddy system will fade away and Speith will be the one he has to live up to. Not an easy task...

[phan52]

Nice profile of a really grounded kid. A few years back, Bruce Jenner approached Spieth and tried to introduce him to his daughter Kendall. Spieth was clueless about who they were.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/sports/golf/jordan-spieth-golfs-golden-dropout.html?ref=sports&_r=2

The child who could not stand imperfection in himself or others grew into an adolescent with eyes only for golf, the most maddeningly imperfect sport.

“I enjoy working at something that is impossible to conquer,” Jordan said.

[Gunther]

Current OWGR notes: 1. I don't recall Phil ever separating this far from #3; Jordan over 4 points ahead, wow. These 2 are simply dominant at the moment. 2. 5 of top 6 are US, best in years. 3. TW drops to #241.

[pumaAttack]

Current OWGR notes:

1. I don't recall Phil ever separating this far from #3; Jordan over 4 points ahead, wow. These 2 are simply dominant at the moment.

2. 5 of top 6 are US, best in years.

3. TW drops to #241.

I think its pretty obvious who the top golfers in the world are right now.

[Aguirre]

It's because outside of Tiger or Phil, there's no dominant figure and no one cares. Right now golf has a lot of parity. Which is my point. The game needs someone to step up. It needs a guy to get hot and go on a run and get people talking. It needs a young star right now. Maybe Spieth is the guy. I'm losing faith in Rory...his putting just isn't good enough to get to that next level. But if golf's going to get its ratings back, it needs a star.

Are you going for some kind of Skip Bayless parody here?

[ChrisP]

Are you going for some kind of Skip Bayless parody here?

Ouch...don't ever use my name with Skip Bayless in the same sentence. That's like the ultimate backslap. The only thing worse would be throwing Stephen A. Smith in there, too. Those two guys are the ultimate douchebags. As for my post a long time ago, it looks like Spieth is turning out to be that guy, and Rory is stepping up, too, despite the injury. Those two guys have definitely helped the game of golf this year. Hard to believe we're going into the British Open where Tiger Woods is playing and no one really cares much about it or is talking about him...the talk is all about Spieth and his dominance this year and his quest for the holy grail. That's a VERY GOOD thing for golf. Nothing against Tiger, but life after Tiger is soon approaching, if not already here, and Spieth/Rory seem have brought the interest back into the game.

[Aguirre]

Nevermind.  I assumed you had made that post this week.   Obviously this was before Rory won the last two majors of 2014 and Spieth won the first two this year.

[jgreen85]

interesting that Spieth plays AP2s. anyone else notice that? He doesn't play blades; I wonder why other golfers don't do the same.

[atb5079]

interesting that Spieth plays AP2s. anyone else notice that? He doesn't play blades; I wonder why other golfers don't do the same.

Good question. My guess would be maybe he doesn't want to shape the ball as much rather more feel? Maybe when you are that good the AP2s don't seem any different than the blades?

[Gunther]

OWGR update: 1. JSpieth is comin for ya Rors, less than a point away! 2. Bubba at #3 is closer to #47 than he is to #2. Pretty sure that's unprecedented (the gap between 2 and 3). 3. Zach moves from #27 to #12. 4. TW drops to #258

[pumaAttack]

interesting that Spieth plays AP2s. anyone else notice that? He doesn't play blades; I wonder why other golfers don't do the same.

Look at the Titleist website.  A lot of their pros play the AP2s...

Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, Bill Haas, Kevin Na, Jason Dufner.

They are pretty common on tour.