"Spieth’s talents are those that tend to have a shorter shelf life."
/As the PGA Tour prepares to (inevitably) hand Jordan Spieth the 2015 PGA Tour Player Of The Year Award Friday at 11 am ET, Jaime Diaz reflects on all that Spieth does well.
The conclusion that Spieth's greatest strengths tend to have shorter lifespans is bound to upset his fans, but its hard to disagree.
Diaz writes:
Golf is better for Spieth’s special qualities, but he’s got to be of careful of where they can take him. Unlike power, a strength that makes for tour longevity, Spieth’s talents are those that tend to have a shorter shelf life.
Magical periods of putting among the game’s very best tend not to last beyond a few seasons, as Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson can attest. Even Woods, who made more bombs over a longer stretch than anyone, has seen his putting decline.
Intensity is tricky. Those who burn the hottest tend to burn out the soonest. Curtis Strange won with ferocity, but it aged him prematurely as a player. Johnny Miller, always a close student of the strengths and weaknesses of extraordinary players, noted at the Tour Championship that Speith “is kind of twitchy for a 22 year old.”