Spieth not star-struck

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This article was published 27/08/2015 (3936 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

EDISON, N.J. — It’s good to be Jordan Spieth.

At 21, he achieved a lifetime goal in April by winning the Masters. At 22, another lifetime goal was realized earlier this month when he became the world’s No. 1 player with his runner-up finish in the PGA Championship.

 

He dates his high school sweetheart and hangs out with members of the Dallas Cowboys, including stars Tony Romo and Dez Bryant. He might get his own logo with Under Armour. And Spieth threw out the first pitch last week at a Texas Rangers game and will toss the first pitch next week in Fenway Park before the Boston Red Sox face their heated rivals, the New York Yankees.

While his life sounds like it’s straight out of Hollywood, a too-good-to-be-true fairy tale, in reality, Spieth isn’t about to get lost in all the hoopla among the stars and will do everything he can to keep this roll going.

So despite the dog days of August, the millions he’s banked in 2015 and the four wins, two majors and 14 top-10s this year in 21 starts, Spieth is dead set on moving forward and achieving more.

Scalding

“Sure, it’s all happened a bit sooner than I maybe pictured it back six, seven years ago, but no, it’s not disappointing. I’m certainly OK with it all,” Spieth said Tuesday before a practice round at scalding Plainfield Country Club, home to The Barclays, the first FedExCup playoffs event starting today. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and to be honest, there’s more and more records to try and break.”

As he embarks on the season after the conclusion of the major championships season, Spieth has refilled his tank and refocused his attention to the FedExCup and keeping hold of his No. 1 ranking.

“I don’t know the feeling of trying to hold No. 1 because now you’re the one with the target and everyone else is chasing towards that position,” Spieth said. “The only way I think about going about it is just focusing on this week. If you win each week, you’re going to stay No. 1 and in my mind, that’s the goal; approach each tournament to try and win and then try and keep this position for hopefully years. It can change in two weeks’ time, so I’m aware of that. And that bit of fear on the back end of it is enough to get me going and to keep working hard.”

Actually, it could end in one week’s time. Spieth could actually lose the No. 1 ranking this week to Rory McIlroy, even though McIlroy isn’t playing. So it goes with the quirks with the revolving two-year world rankings system.

In his off week after the PGA, Spieth and his team mapped out a strategy to tackle the four playoff events, which culminate with the Tour Championship in Atlanta, and then the Presidents Cup in Korea. That means cutting back his time on the range and in the gym.

“Last year I wore myself out a bit,” Spieth said about the playoffs. ” … I could still play my best golf, taking it a little easier, given the amount of time we’ve put in throughout the year. So this past week was just about getting rest, getting hydrated, getting healthy, and then kind of getting right back into it, kind of ramp up the practise a little bit more. I’ll continue to kind of have a little bit of rest at the beginnings of the weeks and then bring it back up to try and peak each weekend, and eventually trying to get everything ready for Atlanta.”

 

— USA Today