Jordan Speith is no Tiger Woods, thank goodness!
By Tom Quiner
Jordan Speith is no Tiger Woods.
I’m speaking of his on-course demeanor and off-course conduct. Tiger Woods’ demeanor is legendary: he’s not a very likable guy on the course. His off-course conduct is even worse.
Jordan Speith is everything Tiger Woods isn’t when it comes to being a human being. But when it comes to golf, well, Mr. Speith is the only other golfer in Tiger’s league.
The 23 year old Jordan won the Traveler’s Golf Championship yesterday with a ‘Tigeresque’ final shot on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
To set it up, he started the hole with a horrendous drive, hooking it left into a tree. He got a break: it dropped straight down instead of kicking out of bounds. But he was a mile away from the green. As a result, he dumped his approach shot into the steep sand trap guarding the green, setting up the winning shot you can enjoy in the video above.
What a shot it is!
Only two golfers in the modern era of golf have won ten tournaments before the age of 24: Tiger Woods and and Jordan Speith. Not even Jack Nicklaus won that many that fast.
As much as I miss watching Tiger Woods play golf, I don’t miss his classlessness on the course. I was going to put up a video of his many meltdowns, but decided my readers didn’t need to hear the F bomb and the Lord’s name used in vain. Suffice it to say, it isn’t pretty.
In Jordan Speith, we have an incredible young golfer who is also a fine, young man.
What a breath of fresh air.
I’d assumed the demeanor of golfers was part of some mandatory code. I guess like MacEnroe in tennis, the image of the game was just voluntarily upheld through an unspoken code. It took all the way til the late 20th century for these folks to show the games are only as classy as the players. Hopefully, this up and comer can take us back to the likes of Arnold Palmer. Golf should be played by people w/ tacky pants…not manners.
🙂