Jordan Spieth: Debut 10 Years Ago Foreshadowed What Was to Come

A Texas teenager named Jordan Spieth made his PGA Tour debut 10 years ago at the Byron Nelson Classic. That tournament showed what was to come.

It was 10 years ago, at the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic, that the world met a Texas teenager named Jordan Spieth. It was quite an introduction to the teen phenom, and it should have foreshadowed what was to come in the very near future.

Spieth, who was a 16-year-old high school student at the time, was invited to play in the Nelson on a sponsor’s exemption that season and he used that invitation to introduce himself to the golfing world. Of course, he wasn’t exactly your normal high school golfer. Spieth did win the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2009, so he was well on his way to being, well, Jordan Spieth, at that point.

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While nearly every teenager would have been thrilled just to be playing in a PGA Tour event, Spieth was out to prove that he wasn’t just any teenager. Early in the week, he set his sights on making the cut and he began the tournament with a 2-under par 68 on Thursday. That was just two shots off the lead of a group of seven players, including Jason Day and Hunter Mahan, who shot 4-under par rounds of 66.

On Friday, the scoring conditions and course setup were prime for scoring, and the pros took advantage of it. In fact, Cameron Beckman shot a 9-under par 61 to grab a share of the 36-hole lead. Spieth, meanwhile, was trying to just make the cut so he could play the weekend.

As it became more and more evident that Spieth would make the cut, the gallery on Friday grew ever louder. In fact, even the coverage on television focused on Spieth, despite the fact that he was trailing the leaders by seven or eight shots.

Spieth did make the cut, shooting a 1-under par 69 on Friday. He became the sixth-youngest player in PGA Tour history to make the cut of a tour event.

Again, while most teenagers, heck even many professionals, would have been happy simply with making the cut, Spieth was not yet finished making noise. In fact, he came out on Saturday and fired a 3-under par 67, his best round of the week, to sit at 6-under par for the week, six shots behind Day, who held the third round lead at 12-under par.

Spieth was unable to duplicate his effort on Sunday, shooting his only over-par round of the week, a 2-over par 72. However, the scoring conditions were very tough that day, and Spieth’s round didn’t set him back too far as compared to the field. He finished in 16th place for the week at 4-under par.

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The 2010 Byron Nelson Classic gave us a glimpse at Spieth and how bright his future was. It was just three years later that he was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. And it was just five years until he won the Masters, the FedEx Cup and was PGA Tour Player of the Year.

The golfing world got a glimpse at Spieth’s game that week. Everyone should have known, at that point, just how bright his future was/is. Remember, he’s still just 26.

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