Rising Golf Stars Rory Mcilroy And Jordan Spieth

The 2015 season has already been full of drama with stellar wins for Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. So what does the rest of the year have in store for the young contenders? Abode2 joins in the Matchplay action to find out.

Jordan Spieth’s stunning triumph in Augusta this April was hailed as a seminal moment in golf – one that America was looking for. The demise of 14-time major champion Tiger Woods as the major driving force of the game – with a myriad of health issues, most recently a lower back injury – has forced the American golf industry to look for a worthy successor.

Given Spieth’s meteoric rise in the last couple of years – he has climbed up to world No 2 after starting in 2013 as 809th – and his wholesome image, the young player has been ear-marked for that role for some time.

The biggest indicator of his popularity and marketability came, when Under Armour, the sport equipment and apparel company that is emerging as the biggest threat to Nike’s supremacy in the US, decided to upgrade Spieth’s contract for the next two years and sign a new 10-year head-to-toe mega-deal with him.

The 21-year-old, now in his third season, had already amassed more than $10 million for his career, pre-Augusta, and picked up his second PGA Tour title (fourth worldwide).

Spieth is unquestionably a role model for the next player generation – part of an elite group challenging McIlroy. All grew up watching Tiger Woods outclass his competition. They were, in effect, tutored by Tiger. They are hungry. And they are not intimidated by anything or anyone.

US prodigy Patrick Reed billed as a ‘win-at-all-costs’ competitor, has so far emulated Woods sartorial style, complete with black trousers and signature red polo shirt. 25-year-old Reed notably showed the kind of fight that would have impressed his golfing hero in the playoff at Innisbrook in March when he twice turned impossible shots into pars until Spieth beat him with a 30-foot birdie.

For Reed – Woods is unquestionably a trigger influence: “When I was growing up he was so much better than anyone else. I tried to copy his mental strength. You could see it just by looking at him. He was so focused and determined to play well. And that’s what I’m trying to do.” Matt Every, who picked up his first PGA Tour win last year in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, is in his fifth year on tour and already has noticed how much harder it is to win because of so many possibilities every week.

“When I first got out here, about 20% of guys were in shape. Now it’s 80%. You hardly ever see a young looking sloppy.” For golf aficionados and pundits alike - it’s a default position to say that the game needs a dominant player because it has had one for some 15 years. Even when Hall of Fame inductee Nick Price went on his great run in 1994, he shared the stage with Nick Faldo and Greg Norman. Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson were the rising stars.

Woods didn’t have a rival. He had rivals, a revolving door of them for a decade, from Els to David Duval, from Mickelson to Vijay Singh. So just how well is McIlroy measuring up against his peer generation? Although the 25-year-old still has a long way to go before surpassing Woods’ record of 683 total weeks as world No 1, McIlroy is undoubtedly in the running as golf’s next long-haul heavy-weight star - both on and off the greens. And it’s not because of the world rankings, but because he won the British Open and PGA Championship in a span of four weeks. By doing so he joins Nicklaus, Woods and Bobby Jones as the only players in the last century to win four majors by age 25. These things don’t happen by accident.

For now however, perhaps the one common driver he shares with Spieth is pursuing more majors. With golf deeper in record setting conquests than it’s ever been, only time will tell who will claim the fairway crown.