Is Jordan Spieth the long awaited next Tiger?

[Wally Fairway]

Forget being 21. At some point(even though many may disagree)TW is going to click and he win just as many if not more the next 5 yrs then anyone. Tiger said he is close and not done. And I have no reason not to believe him. Why would he constantly bust his butt if he knew in his heart we was done.

IMO - TIger can say that as much as he likes, he can practice, he can play, but I think he has lost the edge, the confidence. Once you lose a specific part of your game it is hard to ever get that confidence back; and worst of all he has lost his short game. If you suddenly lose your driver and start to hook or push then you can learn to play a different drive (as in play a cut instead of a draw), or if your putting goes south then you used to be able to go with the long putter, or change to cross handed or the claw....but if you lose chipping and pitching it isn't like you can decide to just chip with a 6 iron.

Tiger may have another moment, like Jack did in the '86 Masters, but he isn't going to lead the tour in anyway. That will be Justin, or DJ, Rickie, Rory, or some kid who is about to get into college and will show up in a year or three.

The media and his fans will get excited when he has a good round, and his best chance to have a good showing is at The Masters as it is a course he knows as well or better than anyone. Enjoy when he plays well. But there is always another generation coming to dominate golf, and Tiger was at the top longer than anyone in my lifetime.

[Abu3baid]

Forget being 21. At some point(even though many may disagree)TW is going to click and he win just as many if not more the next 5 yrs then anyone. Tiger said he is close and not done. And I have no reason not to believe him. Why would he constantly bust his butt if he knew in his heart we was done.

Ok, at least you put a time line.. Now, let us quantify it.. Do you mean he will win more majors? More tournaments? More of both? It is now the middle of 2015, so please come back in the middle of 2020 and either let us know that you were wrong or brag about how you were the only one to stick by your man..

[Hatchman]

But the competition now is tougher precisely because of Tiger Woods. He took the game to a new level of talent and fitness. Today's player has benefited from having to compete at a much higher level. That said, if Tiger were now 21, he would still dominate the game but as you say, not quite to the level he did from 1997-2008.

Interesting point. Factually Tiger has won more PGA tournaments in the last 7 years than any other player (14). Even with injuries, swing changes, coach changes, girlfriend changes. Look, I'm not a big fan of TW but he can play when he's healthy. I'm not convinced he's not still dinged up. Those steel shafted woods and drivers with a heavy leg load as he does loading from the ground up would damage anyone's knees. The new generation of golfers have a different swing and mindset to me. If Jordan, or Rory hold up the have a good chance of doing great things based on thier records. Actual vs potential, good question.

[mtsalmela80]

It's too early to tell, he has the potential, so does Rory but neither has shown they have the mental strength to dominate over multiple years like Tiger did.  One or both will need to dominate for at least 3-4 years before we can even begin the conversation.

Clearly the conversation has already begun...?

[Mr. Desmond]

And what is this long awaited verbiage?

Between Jack and Tiger was about 20 years - late '70's- late '90s.

Six years? pfffft ... no one has patience any longer. As part of our education, we need a Tibetan monk to offer patience classes -- wax on, wax off....

[colin007]

The only reason I even made that post was to get a rise out of you... ...extremely disappointed that it took this long! :-)

I must be slipping....lol!

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiger19

Forget being 21. At some point(even though many may disagree)TW is going to click and he win just as many if not more the next 5 yrs then anyone. Tiger said he is close and not done. And I have no reason not to believe him. Why would he constantly bust his butt if he knew in his heart we was done.

Ok, at least you put a time line.. Now, let us quantify it.. Do you mean he will win more majors? More tournaments? More of both?

It's not this week for sure.  TW isn't likely make Dee Open cut and Spieth is in the hunt to win his 3rd straight major.

[newtogolf]

Clearly the conversation has already begun...?

It may have but it's premature.  It's like discussing what the US would be like if Hillary or Trump were POTUS.

Jordan has won on the PGA Tour five times, two were Majors, so he's got a long way to go before he reaches 79 wins and 14 Majors.

[Rick Martin]

Might be better to see if Jordan can match Lefty's career first.

[mtsalmela80]

It may have but it's premature.  It's like discussing what the US would be like if Hillary or Trump were POTUS.

Jordan has won on the PGA Tour five times, two were Majors, so he's got a long way to go before he reaches 79 wins and 14 Major

He has also only been on tour for 3 years, and he is 21 years old.

He set a pace which demands attention, that is the discussion. Could he fizzle out? Sure, but he hasn't done so yet.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtogolf

It may have but it's premature.  It's like discussing what the US would be like if Hillary or Trump were POTUS.

Jordan has won on the PGA Tour five times, two were Majors, so he's got a long way to go before he reaches 79 wins and 14 Major

He has also only been on tour for 3 years, and he is 21 years old.

He set a pace which demands attention, that is the discussion. Could he fizzle out? Sure, but he hasn't done so yet.

Thanks, @mtsalmela80 .   That is indeed the discussion.  Given what Jordan did so far, which parallels what Tiger did in his 1st few years, is Jordan the next Tiger?   If one has to wait until Jordan wins 79 wins and 14 majors, what's the point of this poll/thread?

[InTheRough]

No...the answer is no

I am a huge spieth fan and have rooted for him in every tournament he has contended in since he came onto the scene but he is not the next Tiger.  In fact, there is no next Tiger.  Nobody will ever electrify the game the way tiger did.

I will even go on to say that we are now entering what will be remembered as the golden age of golf.  The group of young superstars that are so prominent today are the last group that grew up watching the domination of Tiger and who were inspired to play by Tiger.  Spieth, Rory, Ricky and the rest just do not have the pull to bring the masses to the game the way that Tiger did, and with less young kids getting into the game the talent level across the game will slowly drop--not a huge amount since the guys on top will still be 100 times better than your average scratch but the depth of field that we see today will more than likely not be seen for a long time if ever again.

[newtogolf]

No...the answer is no

I am a huge spieth fan and have rooted for him in every tournament he has contended in since he came onto the scene but he is not the next Tiger.  In fact, there is no next Tiger.  Nobody will ever electrify the game the way tiger did.

I will even go on to say that we are now entering what will be remembered as the golden age of golf.  The group of young superstars that are so prominent today are the last group that grew up watching the domination of Tiger and who were inspired to play by Tiger.  Spieth, Rory, Ricky and the rest just do not have the pull to bring the masses to the game the way that Tiger did, and with less young kids getting into the game the talent level across the game will slowly drop--not a huge amount since the guys on top will still be 100 times better than your average scratch but the depth of field that we see today will more than likely not be seen for a long time if ever again.

I don't think that's quite fair.  No one has pull until they can threaten Tiger or Jack's records.   Tiger entered the PGA Tour with a lot of fanfare because he was a child prodigy who was also breaking mainstream racial barriers.

If Rory, Jordan or someone else wins 7 or 8 majors before they are 27-28, they will generate just as much attention.

[boogielicious]

[QUOTE name="InTheRough" url="/t/83273/is-jordan-spieth-the-long-awaited-next-tiger/30_30#post_1170950"]   No...the answer is no I am a huge spieth fan and have rooted for him in every tournament he has contended in since he came onto the scene but he is not the next Tiger.  In fact, there is no next Tiger.  Nobody will ever electrify the game the way tiger did. I will even go on to say that we are now entering what will be remembered as the golden age of golf.  The group of young superstars that are so prominent today are the last group that grew up watching the domination of Tiger and who were inspired to play by Tiger.  Spieth, Rory, Ricky and the rest just do not have the pull to bring the masses to the game the way that Tiger did, and with less young kids getting into the game the talent level across the game will slowly drop--not a huge amount since the guys on top will still be 100 times better than your average scratch but the depth of field that we see today will more than likely not be seen for a long time if ever again. [/QUOTE] I don't think that's quite fair.  No one has pull until they can threaten Tiger or Jack's records.   Tiger entered the PGA Tour with a lot of fanfare because he was a child prodigy who was also breaking mainstream racial barriers. If Rory, Jordan or someone else wins 7 or 8 majors before they are 27-28, they will generate just as much attention.

Media is so fickle now. Do you think they are patient enough to not crap on Rory and Jordan during times when they may struggle? I don't. I think even golf media forgets that golf is hard. Both are really fun to watch, as are a lot of the young players. But they will get the TMZ treatment too unfortunately.

[newtogolf]

Media is so fickle now. Do you think they are patient enough to not crap on Rory and Jordan during times when they may struggle? I don't. I think even golf media forgets that golf is hard. Both are really fun to watch, as are a lot of the young players. But they will get the TMZ treatment too unfortunately.

The media today (more so than when I was younger) is driven by controversy.  They loved covering Tiger because in his early years he was a minority who was dominating a sport where so few African Americans had played professionally.  Tiger was charismatic in his early years, he knew how to give the media a quote they could make headlines with.  The only thing the media enjoys more than helping to create a legend is destroying one, so when Tiger had his transgressions they were only too happy to pound on the story and continue to tear him down.

Jordan as the next "Tiger" is a media disaster, the kid is grounded, respectful, surrounds himself with quality people and shows no signs of doing anything (besides winning) that would help the media to generate headlines.  Rory had his brief moment with Wozniacki but that's over and he's been staying well below the radar since.  I don't see the media turning on these guys but if they don't dominate they will just be lumped in with the rest of the Tour.

[ChrisP]

The fact Spieth contends as much as Tiger did in his prime I think is impressive in itself. He's not going to win as much as Tiger....the competition today is just simply tougher, and talent wise, he's great but probably not as good (as of now) as Tiger. But to win two majors in one year, he's contending in the British and odds are he'll contend in the PGA....that's as impressive as you will see out of anyone in today's day and age.  It's the most impressive anyone has been since Tiger's prime, and before that, most impressive since Jack's prime. That in and of itself is monumental and a credit to him.

The HUGE advantage Jordan has over Tiger and even Rory is he has a swing that he can probably keep in tact all the way to the Senior Tour. You won't see Jordan (shouldn't see, at least) tweak his swing much at all over the years, and that will allow for a lot more longetivity and chances for him to win in his 40s unlike Tiger who may not win another tournament in his career.

[turtleback]

Media is so fickle now. Do you think they are patient enough to not crap on Rory and Jordan during times when they may struggle? I don't. I think even golf media forgets that golf is hard. Both are really fun to watch, as are a lot of the young players. But they will get the TMZ treatment too unfortunately.

It is funny to watch replays of the broadcasts of majors Tiger was winning in the early 2000s.  And listening to all of the commentary about his virtues, his maturity, his preparation, his course management, the strength of his family and his upbringing.

It sounded just like the commentary sounds now about Jordan.

So you are right - the media doesn't do the big build-up without an eye on anything that would allow them to turn around and do a big tear-down.  I hope Jordan can avoid it, but a Rory has found out media attention is a decidedly 2-edged blade.

[ChrisP]

Spieth's 2015 British almost is reminiscent of Tiger's 2002 British when he was going for the Slam. Tiger actually was T-9 through 2 rounds in '02 and Spieth is T-14, and assuming Spieth doesn't win you can argue the wind had a huge factor in ruining both players chances.

The biggest reason I didn't think Spieth would win the Open (and didn't pick him) was his lack of experience putting in the wind on links courses, and that definitely showed its true colors in Round 2. He had a hard time managing the putter in the heavy wind in round 2. Just didn't look comfortable. 5-three putts is not good. It's truly a marvel to how good he is that he had 5-three putts, played the par-5s in 1-over and STILL shot a 72 and is in the thick of it.