Tour News

Spieth secures POY honors with record-setting season

Published

11 years ago

Oct 2, 2015

It is often said that Jordan Spieth is good at everything and therefore, he lacks any significant strengths or weaknesses on the golf course. Do not be fooled. Statistically, the PGA Tour Player of the Year Award should have been given, and deservedly so, to Jordan Spieth. As the saying goes, “the numbers don’t lie.”

Spieth finished the 2014-2015 PGA Tour season ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and No. 1 in the season-long FedExCup, racking up five wins that included the season’s first two major championships. That earned the 22-year-old more than $12 million in official earnings, excluding the $10 million bonus awarded to him as FedExCup champion. Even Spieth’s caddie, Michael Greller, is estimated to have earned more than $2 million this season as Spieth’s ever-present golf companion.

Spieth was third in the PGA Tour’s All-Around Ranking and top 10 in both Strokes: Gained Putting and Tee-to-Green. Finally, he had an overall (unadjusted) scoring average of 68.94 based on 24 PGA Tour events, which was No. 1 among all players, and overall scoring average of 68.13 at this year’s professional majors. Consider, in addition, that Spieth was four shots from winning the professional grand slam, a feat never before accomplished.

Spieth’s three fellow nominees for the Player of the Year Award — Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler — were incidentally Nos. 1-3 and 5, respectively, in the current OWGR. Fowler’s three-win season, which included a dramatic victory at The Players Championship and a Scottish Open win, was the best of his career, and an indication of what the future might hold for the talented 26-year-old. Day matched Speith’s win count, and his late-season surge included a head-to-head victory over Spieth at the PGA Championship.

Spieth’s season stands well above and beyond the rest, however, and it was solidified when he was able to close at the Tour Championship, making missed cuts at The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship a distant memory.

By almost all accounts, Spieth was clearly leader in the clubhouse for POY as the players, including the hard-charging Day, teed off at the Tour Championship in the first round. If Day had continued playing as he had been at both The Barclays and BMW Championship by winning, he may have legitimately been able to lay rightful claim to POY.

Alas, in a year so absolutely incredible and rich in young golf talent and play, it was only fitting that Spieth finish with a flurry, and undoubtedly on top. Spieth’s week in Atlanta absolutely epitomizes who is he as a player, which is a magician with impressive numbers to back it up.

Whether it is keeping his commitment to the RBC Heritage after lapping the field at the Masters — to playing at the John Deere Classic instead of bolting for the Open Championship to practice when chasing the professional grand slam, he seems to make the right moves, say the right things, hit the right shots, and drain the must make putts.

The numbers above only put on paper what is seemingly so hard to describe about Jordan Spieth… the why. Why he is so unbelievable; why he is so ready to win at age 22; why he is so consistently clutch; and why he is PGA Tour Player of the Year.

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13 Comments

MARCUS

Oct 5, 2015 at 10:32 am

14 COMMENTS and only 2 that actually said congrats. Everyone these days are so worried about being flashy. Golf is not about being flashy its about being consistent and hitting good shots. “Golf” fans today are worried about who looks the best or has that flashy style of play. Yea that’s fun to watch but Speith goes back to golf basics. When you play do you hit amazing shots that your partners look at in awl? I know I don’t and neither does Jordan. He doesn’t hit the mile long drive or hit 2″ from the cup everytime. He does, HOWEVER, make that shots that count. Yea he doesn’t have the signature fist pump like we are use to seeing from Tiger, but he does have all the shots in the bag. Try to be positive and not so negative. It called sportsmanship and if “golfers” would start using that again maybe we can make the sport worth playing again. Congrats to Jordan for winning POTY award I can’t wait to see what next year brings.

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Jake Anderson

Oct 5, 2015 at 3:25 am

i dont like speef. he is just totally unrelatable and not very impressive with his golf. just very consistent.

Reply Report comment
Rich

Oct 2, 2015 at 9:49 pm

BTW, what records did he set? The stats in the article are clearly good but no mention of what records he set for his “record setting season”.

Reply Report comment
- Martin
  
  Oct 3, 2015 at 6:18 am
  
  $22m for one.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Rich
    
    Oct 4, 2015 at 9:09 pm
    
    I might be wrong but I thought I heard that Stenson earned the same in 2013 when he won the Fedex cup. Not that it matters in America but he also won the race to Dubai in the same year. Other than the majors and WGC events, did Jordan play a European Tour event this year? Let’s see how he goes when he plays a proper world schedule.
    
    Reply Report comment
Rich

Oct 2, 2015 at 9:35 pm

I was going for Jason Day all the way. He is a golf stud! Love watching him play. Jordan probably deserves the POTY but he is so boring to watch. Oh well. That’s the way it goes. There is still something I don’t like about him too. Everyone keeps saying how nice he is, he says the right things, he does the right things. No ones that perfect. There’s got to be something wrong with him, a demon, a fault, something. I can never trust someone that seems perfect. There is always something lurking in the cupboard.

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- Jack
  
  Oct 3, 2015 at 2:09 am
  
  Let’s let 2016 be the year that men stop calling other men “studs.”
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Rich
    
    Oct 4, 2015 at 9:10 pm
    
    You shouldn’t assume.
    
    Reply Report comment
Bert

Oct 2, 2015 at 8:24 pm

Fantastic Champion! Well deserved.

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xyz

Oct 2, 2015 at 4:06 pm

spieth is good, but he is boring to watch!

Reply Report comment
Tom

Oct 2, 2015 at 2:11 pm

Well there ya go…speculation is over.

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Alex

Oct 2, 2015 at 1:12 pm

Have you ever hit a golf ball with a golf club?

Reply Report comment
BS

Oct 2, 2015 at 12:28 pm

Congrats Jordan! Well done. Thanks for entertaining us this year.

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