It was fitting that 22 year-old Jordan Spieth capped off his successful year of PGA Tour play last Sunday with a win at the 2015 TOUR Championship.
His calm and calculated four-stroke victory at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club allowed Spieth to regain his status as golf’s number one ranked player from Australia’s Jason Day, and assure himself the FedEx Cup title.
The FedEx Cup uses a playoff-like format to decide an ultimate Tour champion of the year. Only qualifying golfers can partake in the Cup’s four tournaments.
With the FedEx Cup victory, Spieth earned himself another lucrative PGA honour. The Cup’s $10 million payday catapulted him into the record books, having made the most yearly earnings ever by a Tour player. Spieth’s $22 million earned in 2015 even surpassed the previous record or $20.9 million set by Tiger Woods in 2007.
A major helping hand in Spieth’s seasonal success, caddie Michael Greller, also turned a tidy profit. Greller grossed $2.14 million, more than a large share of PGA players.
Spieth more than qualified for his position in the Cup chase, winning five times in the year. In particular, the American won the first two of the PGA’s four biggest events (Majors), emerging victorious at the U.S. Open and the Masters Tournament.
What was especially notable about Spieth’s year was the fact that in the other PGA Majors he finished high up on the leaderboard. He finished tied for 4th at The Open Championship and 2nd at the PGA Championship.
Replacing the PGA’s ‘old-guard’, four of the Tour’s top five ranked players are under the age of 28, with Spieth only 22 years old. With many of those within his age group just finishing university, Spieth’s sensational and record-setting year cements his status as the most exciting player to watch on the Tour for years to come.
Mac White
Featured image: Jordan Spieth – www.abc.net.au