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Jordan Spieth: My Year Since ’15 Australian Open

By Kathlene Bissell

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Jordan Spieth said he has learned a lot in the last year. He’s learned about himself, his game, his abilities and what it’s like to be a celebrity.

The Emirates Australian Open, being played this week, was his springboard last year to the success he had in 2015.

“I really felt like it was a very special round and it was going to do something for me,” he said to the Australian media earlier this week. “ Each each piece needed to kind of come together to get a bit more comfortable in the bigger situations, but I learned how to really close here.”

He said he stayed very patient and played one of the best rounds of his life when he really needed it.

Then, as he has mentioned several times in he last six months, he discussed his success at the end of last year.

“ I went out the next week, too, and I felt like played the best golf I had ever played over a four-day stretch at at Tiger’s event,” he explained. “ Then came that momentum and really have that mental edge come the weekend that I really could close the deal. I’ve had it kind of my whole life and I lost it for a bit there on tour. It was just a bit of a learning curve.”

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As a reigning U.S. Open and Masters champ, he has gained new celebrity, but he is learning to manage it.

“I take my hat off,” he explained. “People normally know me as the Under Armour hat guy so I can go out and explore and it really depends on where you are, but especially over here, you know, if I’m just somewhere in the city, I’ve been able to go out and have no issues as far as it being a bother.”

People sometimes ask if he will be in a picture with him.

“I certainly embrace that. I think it’s cool that you can be recognized around the world and people are fans what you are doing,” he added. “It makes you feel really good, makes feel like you’re doing things right.”

He said he has not had a problem at his hotel in Australia or nearby Darling Harbour.

As far as his enormous success in 2015, he was surprised.

“I didn’t think it ( Australian Open) would launch the type of year that we had,”he admitted. “Each piece needed to kind of come together to get a bit more comfortable in the bigger situations.”

Even in his short career, some of it like playing in the Byron Nelson tournament at age 16, seems like a long time ago and other memories are fresh.

“Some weeks feel like yesterday. Some feel like a long time ago,” he said. What he said he tries to do is to “make the days last longer.” The way he does that is to spend some time practicing, but to also see the sights and go out as he travels.

“I feel blessed, but at the same time I can now do what I love to do,” he explained. “I love to travel the world and to see some of the coolest cities and restaurants and landmarks that you only read about or see in movies or whatever it is,”

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Playing courses in Melbourne before the Australian Open, he said, was an example of what he likes to do. They had rounds on Kingston Heath, Capitol Club and Royal Melbourne.

“It was certainly one of the last couple places on the bucket list to play golf and we had a great time,” he said about being a tourist. “People have already asked me to rank them, and certainly I can’t do that for you because I won’t go over well. But they’re all so incredible in their own right.”

He has a few more courses has not played and hopes to in the future, including Shinnecock Hills, Sebonack and National Golf Club on Long Island.

Regarding an rivalries on the PGA Tour or in golf, Spieth said, “ I have built some fantastic relationships, and in this sport of golf there’s no bitter rivalries right now. I mean we’ve got a great mix of early 20-year-olds and mid-20-year-olds that are having no fear on the biggest stages along with Zach Johnson this year, when he had majors eight years apart from each other.

He said he doesn’t think he has a target on his back because it’s never been harder to win than it is now.

“I think everyone thinks everyone else is such a factor because now in a given week it seems anybody can go for 22-24 under and even on a difficult tracks. So it’s harder to win, and I think that takes away from any other marks on the back.”

As far as being able to duplicate 2015 in 2016, he’s looking forward to trying to do it again.

“I don’t know if we’ll actually raise the bar on what we accomplished in 2015,” he said. “

I don’t know if that’s realistic but it’ll be somewhat close to trying to get a little bit better to where we can do what we did in ’15.”

He said he would certainly try for multiple wins and since he has won two majors, he does not see why he should not this he could do something similar in the future.

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t think the same way right now again,” he added. “I mean it just came

together and the other majors, we had a chance. If I could somehow duplicate that year for the rest of my career, I would be pretty pleased.”

One thing he and his team are going to work on next year is the Olympics.

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“Winning a gold medal has got to be up there now in my mind with a major championship,” he concluded. “I think this year we’re going to approach it as a fifth major, and we’re going to prepare like it is and I’m going to go down there and trying to take care of business.”

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