Jordan Spieth's Official Thread

[phillyk]

10 minutes ago, Gunther said:

He's longer than he was.  I've tried to find tournament driving distances but cannot.  He wasn't far behind Koepka (my new favorite swing on tour), was way longer than Kis and was equal with PReed.  My guess is that he was in the top 10 in driving distance last week (understand only 32 players but we'll see this play out over the season, I believe).  I don't think he'll get up into the top 10 on tour but I expect a marked improvement.

He studied his stats over his short off-season.  Short putts are not an issue.  He's gonna focus on his wedge game, and he'll improve.

According to the stats provided on pgatour.com, he's averaging 284yds on his drives, which is T140 and below average.  Obviously that doesn't faze him much, though.

[Gunther]

4 minutes ago, phillyk said:

According to the stats provided on pgatour.com, he's averaging 284yds on his drives, which is T140 and below average.  Obviously that doesn't faze him much, though.

I guess that comprises the 2 or 3 2016 events he's played in. Given that it's 7 yds shorter than 2015, it's too early to judge.  Sure did seem like he was plenty long this past weekend with a few 350s, a 394 and a 395 (yes, I know it's Kapalua).  As I said, I do believe there will be an improvement from last season in this particular stat.

[natureboy]

13 minutes ago, phillyk said:

According to the stats provided on pgatour.com, he's averaging 284yds on his drives, which is T140 and below average.  Obviously that doesn't faze him much, though.

T78 for the full season of 2015 in driving distance on all holes. (OT - is it me or did this stat used to be different from 'Measured Drives'? They seem to be calculated the same now.)

His putting inside 10' in 2015 was T52 at ~ 88% while #1 was at ~ 90%.

Putting 5'-10' was T33 at ~ 60% while #1 was ~ 66%.

Putting 15' - 25' was #1 at 27% with Rank 33 at ~ 19% and Rank 52 at ~ 18%

Edited January 12, 2016 by natureboy

[Club Rat]

Sooner or later, golf writers will be comparing JS to Tiger.

Butch Harmon: Spieth-Woods comparisons 'not unfair'

http://golfweek.com/news/2016/jan/11/pga-tour-jordan-spieth-tiger-woods-butch-harmon/
 

Quote

 

By Kevin Casey

Monday, January 11, 2016

 

An eight-shot win greeted Jordan Spieth in his first tournament of 2016. The dominant victory was Spieth's seventh on the PGA Tour, making him the third player (along with Tiger Woods and Horton Smith) to achieve that feat before turning 23.

Speaking of Woods, many are quickly drawing comparisons between the 14-time major champion and Spieth.

While Spieth, 22, has brushed off any suggested similarities between his and Woods' golfing prowess, another power player in golf, speaking with GolfChannel.com, has taken the opposite tact.

That would be Butch Harmon, the renowned instructor and former Woods swing coach.

“It’s not unfair to compare Jordan with Tiger because Jordan is doing exactly what Tiger did at the same age,” Harmon told GolfChannel.com.

Strong words, but in terms of wins, it is easy to make a case in favor of Harmon's statement. There's already the matching sevens in PGA Tour victories, and Spieth, the current World No. 1, actually outpaces Woods in major championship triumphs, 2 to 1, at this age.

Of course, Harmon, who taught Woods from 1996 to 2002, did note that the pair achieved their early successes in quite different ways.

“Tiger could physically take over a golf course with his driver better than Jordan can,” Harmon said. “Tiger putted great like Jordan does, he is smart mentally like Jordan, he had all the shots like Jordan, he has the same work ethic.”

Even if it isn't Spieth's focus, his challenge in continuing to match Woods' pace will become quite steeper soon. Woods won eight times in his age-23 season and produced another nine titles as a 24-year-old. He won four majors in that two-year stretch, and three more in the following two seasons.

Whatever happens next, though, Spieth can say that at least at one point, one of the foremost experts in the field of Tiger Woods put Spieth in the 40-year-old's company.

 

 

[Golfingdad]

1 hour ago, Gunther said:

I guess that comprises the 2 or 3 2016 events he's played in. Given that it's 7 yds shorter than 2015, it's too early to judge.  Sure did seem like he was plenty long this past weekend with a few 350s, a 394 and a 395 (yes, I know it's Kapalua).  As I said, I do believe there will be an improvement from last season in this particular stat.

I think it's just the one.  Not sure if they still do it this way, but they used to measure driving distance by taking only 2 holes per round, (going opposite directions, trying to negate wind) and averaging them.  (I also presume, just based on common sense, that they go for the flattest holes they can find.)  His stats are consistent with that because it says he only has 8 recorded drives on the season.

I was not able to find out which holes they used, but it's ENTIRELY possible that they used a hole or holes where he didn't hit driver.

I noticed the same thing you did; that he seemed to be similar in distance to Kisner and Reed, and not that far behind Koepka either.

[ChrisP]

A lot of people wonder what makes him so good. The bottom line is he really doesn't have a weakness. Not one. Maybe his wedge game and controlling the spin, but he's said to have been working hard on that. When you can make putts the way he can and not have any weaknesses and be consistent tournament to tournament, you're gonna be a force to be reckoned with.

Its way too early to start comparing him to Nicklaus and Tiger, but the one advantage he has is he doesn't have a swing that will need a lot of tweaking throughout his career. It's very simple and can survive longevity, unlike Tigers and prolly Rory's. His swing at 22 prolly won't look much different than at 42. That's HUGE when talking about trying to get to double digit majors and keeping his game strong late into his career.

Edited January 12, 2016 by ChrisP

[saevel25]

2 hours ago, Gunther said:

He studied his stats over his short off-season.  Short putts are not an issue.  He's gonna focus on his wedge game, and he'll improve.

Short putts might become an issue. From inside of 10' he had 1,169 putts last year. From 15-25' he had only 228 putts. 

Imagine if he improved that percentage by 1%. He would have saved 11 more strokes last year. He would have dropped to 68.96 scoring average. 

That 1% could mean him winning the British Open. He missed a good number of putts inside of 10 feet that day. 

2 hours ago, Gunther said:

My guess is that he was in the top 10 in driving distance last week (understand only 32 players but we'll see this play out over the season, I believe).  I don't think he'll get up into the top 10 on tour but I expect a marked improvement

I don't see it. Last week is an outlier course. That course always adds distance to the driver. He might pull driver more on that course compared to someone like Bubba who might do better with a 3-wood or iron because of how far the ball goes. 

 

[colin007]

I hope he gets gonorrhea on his duodenum.

GO TIGS!!!!

[Club Rat]

58 minutes ago, colin007 said:

I hope he gets gonorrhea on his duodenum.

GO TIGS!!!!

Don't be trashing my thread with Tigs talk...........

Go Jordan...............

[Gunther]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Short putts might become an issue. From inside of 10' he had 1,169 putts last year. From 15-25' he had only 228 putts. 

Imagine if he improved that percentage by 1%. He would have saved 11 more strokes last year. He would have dropped to 68.96 scoring average. 

That 1% could mean him winning the British Open. He missed a good number of putts inside of 10 feet that day. 

I don't see it. Last week is an outlier course. That course always adds distance to the driver. He might pull driver more on that course compared to someone like Bubba who might do better with a 3-wood or iron because of how far the ball goes. 

 

My point was that Spieth and his team did the analysis.  They deemed wedge play and driver distance to be points of emphasis this season, not inside 10' putts.  Ergo, they believe there are more strokes to be gained in the specified areas; I trust em.

[natureboy]

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Imagine if he improved that percentage by 1%. He would have saved 11 more strokes last year.

11 strokes over 90 rounds or ~ .12 strokes per round. How much work would it take to improve that percentage by 1% when the number one putter was only 2% better inside 10'? The putt that really cost him the Open Champ was the long putt that he sent way past the hole and off the green resulting in a 3-putt.

28 minutes ago, Gunther said:

My point was that Spieth and his team did the analysis.  They deemed wedge play and driver distance to be points of emphasis this season, not inside 10' putts.  Ergo, they believe there are more strokes to be gained in the specified areas; I trust em.

He is smart to go after the lowest hanging fruit first.

2 hours ago, ChrisP said:

Its way too early to start comparing him to Nicklaus and Tiger,

I agree. A 'back to earth, please, Golf Media' stat I saw put Jordan's win total in context relative to Tiger. At the same age they had the same wins, but after the same number of starts, Tiger had nearly double the wins. Some comparisons to golf history are inevitable and even necessary, but give Jordan (& Rory, &...) some room to be their own brand of player.

2 hours ago, ChrisP said:

but the one advantage he has is he doesn't have a swing that will need a lot of tweaking throughout his career. It's very simple and can survive longevity, unlike Tigers and prolly Rory's. His swing at 22 prolly won't look much different than at 42. That's HUGE when talking about trying to get to double digit majors and keeping his game strong late into his career.

Sticking with a basic swing is what Nicklaus did so that can work. But Ben Hogan built at least two 10+ event winning swings in his career so that can work too. Simpler approach would certainly seem to be less stress-inducing.

[mvmac]

8 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

I would love to hear an expert (paging @iacas or @mvmac) give their thoughts on the pros and cons of Jordans chicken wing.

No cons IMO, looks similar to Zach Johnson with how straight the right arm stays and trajectory of the hands. The lead arm also isn't that bent at impact (not that it's necessarily a bad thing for it to be bent). Amateurs that have a chicken wing have a higher overtaking rate and flip it at impact. Jordan has a weakish grip and then bows the lead wrist coming into impact.

It's also very important to note that BOTH of these guys primarily hit push draws.

 

[newtogolf]

When Tiger was 22, I believe he was outhitting guys by at least 30 yards off the tee, Spieth doesn't have the distance but he has enough distance plus the rest of his game is probably equal or superior to the rest of the field. He can compete with anyone no matter how long they are, he quietly accumulates birdies and avoids the blow up holes that hurt the other guys.

I watched most of last weeks tournament and he was just consistent, he kept his drives on or near the fairway, made great approach shots, and I think they said he was 30 for 30 from 6 feet or less putting.   Plus the kid is so grounded, he's going to be tough to beat, Rory better be ready to play if he wants the spotlight back.

[Marty2019]

His chipping and pitching is what impresses me.   I remember one hole where he had about 50 yards to the pin and he put the ball about a foot from the cup.   Koepka had about 25 yards to the pin and he put his ball about 6 feet from the cup.  That's the difference.  

Then there was the driveable par-4 where on both Saturday and Sunday his drive rolled off the right side of the green and about 6 feed down a very steep slope, and I think both days he chipped up to tap-in distance for a birdie.  

Then of course, when he doesn't get close, he drains a 30 footer. 

That to me is the biggest difference.   His short game.    He just gets the ball in the hole efficiently. 

 

[mtsalmela80]

14 hours ago, ChrisP said:

A lot of people wonder what makes him so good. The bottom line is he really doesn't have a weakness. Not one. Maybe his wedge game and controlling the spin, but he's said to have been working hard on that. When you can make putts the way he can and not have any weaknesses and be consistent tournament to tournament, you're gonna be a force to be reckoned with.

Its way too early to start comparing him to Nicklaus and Tiger, but the one advantage he has is he doesn't have a swing that will need a lot of tweaking throughout his career. It's very simple and can survive longevity, unlike Tigers and prolly Rory's. His swing at 22 prolly won't look much different than at 42. That's HUGE when talking about trying to get to double digit majors and keeping his game strong late into his career.

How do you think its way to early to compare? He has already matched Tiger and Jack in certain areas, and set other standards that they never did.

 

[Abu3baid]

14 hours ago, colin007 said:

I hope he gets gonorrhea on his duodenum.

GO TIGS!!!!

LOL.. of the two who do you really think has a better chance of getting gonorrhea with what we know of both?  

Just couldn't help it.

[Mr. Desmond]

14 hours ago, colin007 said:

I hope he gets gonorrhea on his duodenum.

GO TIGS!!!!

lol... When Spieth is in his mid-40's, he might go middle age crazy ... he might buy a yacht or a Maserati, doubt if he'll get a 9i thrown at him. By that time, he will have done whatever damage he is going to do to Tigs' records. But ya' never know, stuff happens. Ask Tiger.

[Wally Fairway]

14 hours ago, colin007 said:

I hope he gets gonorrhea on his duodenum.

GO TIGS!!!!

This new board software could certainly use a down arrow, and even the craziness of PEZgolf couldn't get me to that point.

 

 

Anyway back to Spieth, and why I came to post in this thread - for any and all of the Spieth fans here is your chance to get some memorabalia

Scotty Cameron putter, from his UT playing days

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Scotty-Cameron-R-D-Pro-Tour-Rat-Concept-1-CIRCLE-T-JORDAN-SPIETH-34-Putter-COA-/141834184389?hash=item2105f9e6c5:g:3fYAAOSwAKxWUKRL