For me, Tiger and Jack were, not surprisingly given their records, the best putters I've ever seen until JS. But this kid is phenomenal.
I know his stats aren't #1 this year (he's 3rd by a smidge before this week) but I don't think I've ever seen so many long range putts drop as he sinks when he's on his game.
Your thoughts?
and
Lack of length. He cannot continue to compete with the Day's and the Rory's of the world giving up 30-50 yards off the tee by making long putts every week. Not sustainable. He has the frame to do it, he just needs to commit to it.
arnie, no doubt his youth is a big plus. I understand it's "for the moment" but phenomenal is the word for it right now.
and
Lack of length. He cannot continue to compete with the Day's and the Rory's of the world giving up 30-50 yards off the tee by making long putts every week. Not sustainable. He has the frame to do it, he just needs to commit to it.
Right Stan. That lack of distance has not kept him from winning 8 times before the age of 23. More than Tiger. You need to grow a brain before you speak.
He's 12 yds behind Rory and 7 behind Day in avg driving distance. One club. Rory folds like a cheap suit on numerous occasions but Day is a Rock.
Spieth is a solid putter, which is why he is better than Rory.
Let's not make Spieth seem like David Toms off the tee. Spieth's average is 7 yards behind Jason Day and 12 yards behind Rory. Spieth hit 3 woods and a driving iron often the past few weeks. Yes he is shorter than Day and McIlroy, but it won't stop him from winning tournaments. His iron play is a bigger problem for him than his distance this year.
Driving distance wise Rory is 12 yards longer, Day is 7 looking at averages. This story that Spieth has to hit a lob wedge before he is past Day is ridiculous. Spieth ranks 54th of 200+ PGA tour pros in distance. He's good getting better.
I love Rory, he is a phenom but I think the ball is in his court. If he doesn't improve it seems very likely that he will be eclipsed by Spieth over their careers. He's just tidier around the greens and putts win trophies.
No. He is one club shorter, period. Since most holes are par 4's he's on in two anyway using maybe a 7 to Rory's 8. He's not an additional club shorter on irons.
This is what made Tiger so dominant when he was at his best. He was often hitting two clubs less into greens than many of his competitors. The higher you hit it with a more lofted club, the easier it is to hit it close. Spieth is negating the disparity by dropping a lot of long putts. It's not that hard to understand.
If his long game is adequate and the short game is superior, he's going to win a whole lot.
Yup, in his prime there was no one better in big situations. And not just putting...chipping and long irons too, and of course he was longer than almost anyone else at that time too.
Exactly.
Jack was one of the worst guys on tour from 100 yards in in his prime at his greatest. It didn't matter he didn't need that part of the game in his era. There has only been one golfer ever with no weak part of his game. Tiger Woods.
Speith just need average length and he'll have a chance to win many more majors. Speith has plenty of game for the Masters, the US Open & The Open Championship are rarely about length. That's 3 out of 4 every year.
The only thing that can derail Speith is listening to media idiots like Peter Kostis pick apart his swing. He's really smart. Hopefully he'll just keep doing what he's doing.
I agree with this take. Once a golfer starts messing with their body mass it can really affect their game.
All I know is...if I need to pick 1 golfer to make 1 putt? It's Tiger.
This is what made Tiger so dominant when he was at his best. He was often hitting two clubs less into greens than many of his competitors. The higher you hit it with a more lofted club, the easier it is to hit it close. Spieth is negating the disparity by dropping a lot of long putts. It's not that hard to understand.
He's not a full club shorter with his irons. It doesn't work that way. The driver is a different beast. The irons depend on what they are wanting to do, what shape looking for, what flight they want, what effect they want when the ball lands.
Speith should not fall into that trap. He shouldn't ruin his body (back, knees, etc) just to add 10-15 yards to his driver. He's won more than enough to convince me he that he has the best mechanics in the game and when you have that along with clutch putting, just leave it alone.
As for the Tiger vs. Jack argument, I'm going Tiger. Jack has the ultimate prize of 18-14 but in terms of sheer dominance for a prolonged stretch AND changing the game, Tiger takes it for me.
All I know is...if I need to pick 1 golfer to make 1 putt? It's Tiger.
Same.
I'm not advocating that he bulk up to get longer. I just see it as something that may hurt him in the long run.
I'm not advocating that he bulk up to get longer. I just see it as something that may hurt him in the long run.
I see what you mean and I'm not being dismissive, but off par three's he's hitting the same club as the others. So for the most part he's pretty close.
But his problem is his accuracy, not his distance. He's all over the place with his irons. In fact, he's all over the place with his driver, so of course he's hitting longer irons into the greens.
Hey the other day (yes it was a flyer) he hit a 9 iron 180 carry. He was expecting 170. 170 yard 9 iron. That is pretty far for anyone. John Daly was using a 7 iron for 180 back in his hay day.
He's just not real accurate (relatively) even, with short irons. He's just lights out with a putter.
Is he as good as Tiger, too early to tell. Tiger along with Jack, are the two best high pressure putters in the recent history of golf. He's starting to make a name for himself.