Golf in good hands with Spieth & McIlroy

Joy Chakravarty 10:17 14/04/2015
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  • The future of golf?

    No one speaks to the golf ball like Jordan Spieth. And as recent events at Augusta prove, the ball listens to nobody like it does to the second youngest Masters champion of all time.

    – VIDEO: Spieth driven to Masters win by 'chip on my shoulder'
    – The Masters: The biggest winners and losers at Augusta

    For someone who is just 21 years old, Spieth rarely shows emotions on the golf course. He hits miraculous shots, and walks behind them as if he was born to do just that. Unbelievable putts for birdies are followed by the most disarming of smiles. Nothing more.

    The only time he gets excited is when the clubhead has done its work and launched the ball into the stratosphere. “Go”, “Stay” and “Get lucky” are just some of the commands the Texan issues. The subservient sphere simply dances to his tune. And the way he is going, it surely is a case of today the ball, tomorrow the golfing world.

    Much before the 79th Masters started last Thursday, we knew Spieth was the Special One. The jaws of fans have been dropping at his exploits ever since he stormed on to the PGA Tour as a 19-year-old, ranked 809th in the world and without any playing status at the beginning of 2013.

    In a space of 28 months, he is now the world No2, a multiple winner across the globe, a major champion. And most importantly, he has emerged as someone who has the potential to drive the game on to new levels of popularity.

    On Monday, shares of Under Armour opened one per cent up. Experts are calling it the ‘Spieth Effect’. Like Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are for Nike, the Texan is the face of the ambitious American sportswear company.

    What happened at New York Stock Exchange is just one of the immediate consequences of his seismic win. The ripples will be felt for years to come.

    What’s most pleasing for experts of the game is that golf is in great hands. To have a 25-year-old McIlroy as the world No1 and 21-year-old Spieth as No2 is fascinating. To have one of them from Europe and the other from America – the two traditional powerhouses of world golf – is even more exciting.

    Not only are they immensely talented, which goes without saying, they are also great role models and have the ability to connect brilliantly with the public. Just imagine what a rivalry like this will do to the game over the next 15-20 years?

    Considering how money makes the world go round, the story of someone just out of his teens and earning upwards of $30 million a year – that is what the Masters win can translate into for Spieth according to marketing experts – is going to motivate many more youngsters to take up the game.

    There are a couple of things about Spieth that need to be highlighted.

    During the week, a video surfaced of a 14-year-old Spieth talking about his golf as a junior. And in the course of the interview, he states very matter-of-factly that he is going to win the Masters. It just shows how much self-belief he has had from such a young age.

    Secondly, you can't help but be in awe of how much conviction he had to make such bold shotplay at Augusta, especially knowing he was sitting on such a large lead. He never backed down once and stuck to his aggressive gameplan.

    Others may call it luck, but Spieth saw the shots and pulled them off. If Spieth and McIlroy keep at it, fans are in for the ride of their life.

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