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Jordan Spieth vs. Patrick Reed: Golf’s Next Big Rivalry

By Billy Dowling

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If you missed Sunday’s duel at the Valspar Championship, you missed something special.  No it wasn’t a playoff between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but Jordan Spieth vs. Patrick Reed was certainly good enough.  Two of the game’s brightest young stars turned a regular Sunday in March into a rivalry that could go a long way in shaping the game for years to come.  I’m not overlooking Sean O’Hair who nearly stole the show on the second playoff hole when his potential winning putt lipped out, but the day belonged to Reed and Speeth.

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Reed has arguably been the best player of the year.  He won in Hawaii, nearly won at the Honda Classic, and then did everything but win yesterday.  The guy is a fighter, and as tough as you can get.  His enthusiasm, intensity and fist pumps remind us of another guy who wears red on Sundays.  Reed’s outfit may be a copycat of Woods, but It’s Reed who looks more like a dominant player these days.  If you look at the stats nothing about Patrick Reed stands out to you.  He doesn’t drive it a country mile and he’s not the most accurate iron player, but there’s one thing you won’t find on a stat sheet, his heart.  The guy just won’t give up, and has a knack for coming up with the big shot when he needs it.  Even in defeat yesterday his clutch birdie on the 72nd and par save on the first playoff hole show you that he is the real deal.

If Reed is the best player on tour right now, then Spieth is 1A.  With three top ten finishes already on the resume this season, he was certainly one of the favorites at the start of the week.  He’s walking away with the trophy because of a hot putter.  On Sunday he needed just twenty-eight putts over twenty-one holes.  Most of all the guy made every clutch putt he needed to make.  Whether if it were par saves on the final two holes of regulation or a thirty footer for the win, Spieth made them all.  Those of you who were doubting Spieth (if there were any of you out there) have nothing left to question, because with two wins before his twenty-second birthday, this kid is for real.

The two have the perfect contrasting roles.  Jordan Spieth is the nice kid from Texas that everyone wants to root for, and Patrick Reed is the outspoken bad boy who plenty of golf fans want to hate.  It’s Tiger and Phil ten years later and it’s the energy that golf needs.  Lets hope that yesterday was just a preview of the big things that are on the way for these two.

As all the attention turns to Augusta in a few weeks Reed and Spieth will definitely be in the conversation to steal the Green Jacket away from Rory McIlroy.  For these two we’ve moved past focusing on Augusta and looking forward to the next decade.  This has a chance to be golf’s next biggest rivalry.  Some have hoped for Rickie Fowler to carry the mantle of the game’s best golfer, but in reality he’s third on this list.  He may have had his run of top five finishes in majors, but he’s not on Reed and Spieth’s level.  Spieth has slept on the 54-hole lead at The Masters and The Players, and Reed silenced the European crowds at the Ryder Cup.  Those guys traded blows yesterday and if this is what golf has to look forward to, then it’s time to get excited.

Next: Valspar Championship Playoff - These Guys Are Good!

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