Little Fear, Spieth Plays Older Than Age Suggests

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Shoal Creek, Ala. – Jordan Spieth comes across as polished as any 14-year-old alive. There is a maturity to his disposition and the way he handles himself makes it seem as though he’s been there, done that.

Not so. As accomplished a junior player as he is, the Dallas, Texas, youngster has never played a lick of match play. Now he finds himself a semifinalist after knocking off Andrew Yun, 17, of Chandler, Ariz., 4 and 3.

Jordan Spieth played it routine Friday: just fairways and greens, according to his opponent. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

He entered Friday’s quarterfinal match well-schooled on Yun’s rise through the Junior Amateur bracket. Spieth knew beforehand that Yun expunged a three-hole deficit against top-seeded Jorge Fernandez Valdes in the previous round. It’s probably because he knows Yun well.

“He’s one of my good friends,” said Spieth on a cart ride back to the clubhouse. “I don’t like to do that to anyone, but I’d rather have it like this than the other way around.”

Ah, the vagaries of match play. It’s not quite as dramatic as a sword fight to the death, but adding the psychological torment of facing a friend ratchets up the stakes. It’s like punching him in the face while apologizing at the same time. Strange format indeed.

Spieth, who played a total of 26 holes in two matches Thursday, thought Friday might be different. That’s because the two were all square through the first four holes. That was also before Spieth won the next three holes while Yun couldn’t shake a balky putter.

By the ninth hole, the 464-yard par 4, Yun sensed it might not be his day. He sent his approach shot, using a 4-iron, into a water hazard. “I thought it was on the middle of the green,” said Yun.

Little did Yun know it but an observant Spieth changed his mind and dropped down from a 6 to a 5-iron and took dead aim. Spieth won the hole to make the turn 4 up.

“I was making way too many mistakes,” said Yun. “and I was handing it to him on a silver platter.”

In some cases, a 4-up margin isn’t always safe. Most of the time a player with a hefty lead will buckle because they’ll take their foot off the proverbial pedal or get lulled into thinking the match is over. You know the cliché, it’s never over until the fat lady sings.

The difference with Spieth, two days short of his 15th birthday, is that he undergoes mental gymnastics. He continually challenges himself no matter what the circumstance might be.

After Yun grabbed a hybrid and stiffed his approach shot on No. 12, ultimately cutting Spieth’s cushion to 4 up, Spieth realized he couldn’t take chances.

“I was 3 up with five to play, and yesterday Andrew was 3 down with [six] to play,” said Spieth. “I told myself, ‘He knows how to come back from that.’

“My mental game in match play is when I’m 3 or 4 up, I look at the scoreboard and try to see it the other way. I always flip it around.”

Yun came away impressed with Spieth’s resiliency, saying that he’s “mature beyond his years.”

“I think playing against players all the time like this in other tournaments, you get better and know you can compete,” said Spieth. “You learn that you’re not here just to be here – you’re here to win it.”

For a first-timer in match play, Spieth appears to have little fear. Most of that comes from an inner confidence. It’s not cockiness, mind you, but a feeling that as long as he executes the shots he’s capable of pulling off, everything should take care of itself.

Sound familiar? Last year another Texas native, Cory Whitsett, used that as his mantra as he mowed down opponent after opponent. It seemed to work out well for him.

Who knows, maybe another Texan could follow suit this year.

Ken Klavon is the USGA’s Editor of New Media. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.