There are plenty of things to admire about the way Jordan Spieth plays golf and conducts himself.
Of course, there’s the mastery of the game, especially at age 22.
There’s his consistently personable manner, whether dealing with fans, fellow competitors, the media, or whomever.
And there’s the “wiseness beyond his years” that he exhibits.
But, with him ascending to the No. 1 spot in the world rankings with his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship on Sunday, it brought to mind yet another reason to take a shine to the young Texan.
Hale Irwin, the World Golf Hall of Famer who grew up in Boulder and went on to win three U.S. Opens and a record 45 Champions Tour events, covered a wide range of topics when he put on a short-game clinic and answered questions from AJGA players and others in early June at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.
One of the things Irwin touched on is pace of play, and how being too deliberate can hurt your game. That’s where Spieth’s name came up, unsolicited. More on that in a moment.
Irwin noted that, unlike most top players you see nowadays, he personally doesn’t use a line on his golf ball to line up his putts. In fact, Irwin said he tries to have as much of the blank side of his ball facing him as possible when he strokes his putt.
In contrast, many high-level players now obsess over making sure that the line on their ball is pointed exactly in the right place when preparing to putt. Several years ago at the CGA Match Play, a contestant who advanced deep into the bracket was so carried away with the process that it wasn’t at all unusual for him to slightly adjust his ball — while marked — up to five times for a single putt. Put down the ball and carefully align it, back off to check the line, adjust the ball, back off to check it again, adjust the ball again, check it from the other side of the cup, adjust the ball again, check it one last time from behind the ball, and possibly tweak the ball alignment yet again. And then, on top of that, he was deliberate — to put it nicely — once he actually got over the ball to take a stroke. It was all spectators could do not to out and out yell, “PUTT IT ALREADY.”
Irwin, with little question the most successful tour player to be produced by Colorado, recalled that during his teenage years he experienced something that led to him to become a quicker player, most notably when putting.
“I felt I was taking too much time,” he said. “And I felt like I was losing my feel for that putt. So I told myself, ‘Look up twice on every shot, on every putt, and go.'”
Irwin knows full well that young aspiring athletes tend to emulate the best players, no matter what the sport may be. And with what Spieth has accomplished this year — two wins, a second and a fourth in the major championships, matching Tiger Woods’ 2005 performance for best major season by a player since Woods’ three-win year in 2000 — he’s the man for the time being.
And Irwin likes something about Spieth besides his playing ability, per se.
“Jordan Spieth — he’s a nice young man to copy what he’s doing — he gets right up (to the ball) and goes at it,” Irwin said. “Sometimes the longer you take, the more doubt that can creep in, the more negative thoughts that can creep in. If you’ve got that line and you’ve got that feel, get after it.”
Here’s a video of Spieth’s routine over putts: CLICK HERE.
Maybe, just maybe, the approach of Irwin, Spieth and other players who don’t dilly-dally will catch on, and we’ll have fewer of the five-hour-plus rounds that drive many golfers nuts. And players who seem to think slower is better might find a slightly quicker, more committed rhythm would actually serve their golf game best.
You shouldn’t hold your breath, of course, but at the very least it’s encouraging that Spieth sets a better example than many tour players and other elite-level golfers.
