The Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open were both won by American professional golfer Jordan Spieth during the same season when he was just 21 years old. Spieth competes on the PGA Tour. He also captured the FedEx Cup that year, and two years later, he won the Open Championship to claim his third major championship. Prior to it, he was ranked first in the Official World Golf Ranking and included in Time magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People.” He was a first-team All-American throughout his amateur career, became pro after his second year, and has a long list of accomplishments. He became the first male to win two majors before turning 22 in almost a century, the youngest American to win the British Open, and the youngest golfer in 82 years to win a PGA Tour tournament. He was just appointed to the three-year Chairman of the Player Advisory Council for the 16-member PGA Tour.
Early Childhood & Life
Jordan Shawn and Mary Christine Spieth gave birth to Alexander Spieth in Dallas, Texas, on July 27, 1993. While his father later founded a media analytics firm, his mother went on to become a computer engineer. Both of his parents were collegiate basketball players.
Ellie, his younger sister, was born with a genetic condition; Steven, his younger brother, plays basketball for Brown University. He attended Jesuit College Preparatory School and St. Monica Catholic School, with the latter awarding him a 2011 diploma.
He used to play basketball, football, soccer, baseball, and other sports as a kid, but at age 12 he started concentrating on golf. He joined Brookhaven Country Club and began taking golf lessons from former pro-Cameron McCormick.
Hobby Career of Jordan Spieth
Both in 2008 and 2009, Jordan Spieth placed second in the Junior PGA Championship. In 2009, the American Junior Golf Association honored him as the “Rolex Junior Player of the Year.” He became only the second player in history, after Tiger Woods, to win multiple Junior titles when he won the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship twice, in 2009 and 2011.
In 2010, he played in the HP Byron Nelson Championship on the PGA Tour with the first amateur exemption since 1995. He not only made the cut, but he also placed T16th overall. At the competition the following year, where he tied for 32nd, he earned himself another exemption.
He participated in three of the four rounds in the 2011 Walker Cup while representing the US, winning both of his singles matches and splitting the foursomes match. He was selected to the first team of All-Americans after helping the Texas Longhorns win the 2012 NCAA Team Championship during his first year at the University of Texas.
After Brandt Snedeker pulled out of the 2012 U.S. Open, he won a spot as an alternate, finished the competition tied for 21st, and was declared the low amateur. He was ranked as the top amateur golfer in the world as a result of his performance in the competition and Patrick Cantlay’s choice to go pro.
A Career in the Profession
Midway through his second year, Jordan Spieth decided to turn pro. In January 2013, he participated in his first competition at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Despite missing the cut by two strokes, he went on to make three cuts at the Puerto Rico Open in March, where he placed T2 before coming in at T7 at the Tampa Bay Championship.
He won his first professional competition, the John Deere Classic, just before turning 20 and went on to become the fourth-youngest PGA Tour winner in 82 years. He was named the ‘PGA Tour Rookie of the Year’ for the 2013 season, played in the Presidents Cup as the youngest player ever, and finished seventh in the FedEx Cup.
In April 2014, when he played in his first Masters, he finished as the tournament’s youngest runner-up and made his maiden appearance in the top 10 of the world rankings. He went on to win the Emirates Australian Open and the Hero World Challenge while being the youngest American to play in the Ryder Cup in 85 years that year.
He won the Valspar Championship to start the 2015 campaign, and in March, he placed second at the Valero Texas Open. He climbed up to second place in the world rankings after claiming his first significant victory at the Master’s Tournament in April, making him the second-youngest winner of the competition.
He became the sixth person to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year with his triumph at the U.S. Open in June, becoming him the youngest winner of the competition since Bobby Jones in 1923. He became the top golfer in the world later that year after winning the John Deere Classic, placing second at the PGA Championship, and placing fourth at The Open Championship.
Despite failing to make the cut in either of the first two FedEx Cup playoff events, he placed 13th at the BMW Championship and triumphed by four shots at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. With this victory, he set a record for the most money ever won on the PGA Tour in a single year ($12,030,485), not including the $10 million FedEx Cup victory bonus.
He began the 2016 campaign by winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions handily, but he then experienced one of the worst meltdowns in Masters history to finish tied for second. Later, in May 2016, he won the Dean & DeLuca Invitational. In November of that same year, he also triumphed at the Emirates Australian Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
He won the Travelers Championship and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2017, although he tied for 11th at the Masters. In July of that year, he captured his third major championship by winning the Open Championship. He then finished in a tie for second in the Tour Championship, the Dell Technologies Championship, and the first FedEx Cup Playoff.
He will join the 16-member PGA Tour’s Chairman of the Player Advisory Council for a three-year tenure beginning in 2019, it was announced in February 2018. Despite leading in the opening round of the Masters and the Houston Open, he only secured T3 finishes in those events.
Recognition & Achievements
Jordan Spieth has so far triumphed in 14 professional competitions, taking home three major titles—the 2015 U.S. Open, the Master’s Tournament, and the 2017 Open Championship.
He won nearly all major awards that year thanks to his outstanding play, including “PGA Player of the Year,” “PGA Tour Player of the Year,” the Vardon Trophy, the Byron Nelson Award, and the Arnold Palmer Award.
Personal Legacy & Life
In December 2017, it was made public that Jordan Spieth was engaged to Annie Verret, an event coordinator at the First Tee of Dallas and his high school sweetheart. They occupy his $5.9 million estate in Dallas, where they were raised.
He founded the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation in 2013 using his younger sister Ellie as motivation. It strives to raise awareness of these issues and support military families, young golfers, and special needs kids financially.
Jordan Spieth’s Net Worth
Trivia
Jordan Spieth’s parents reportedly took him to Brookhaven Country Club at the age of nine after he mowed a portion of their lawn to practice golf.