“What would have happened if he had two-putted the eighth?”

End that question with the eighth green at the Old Course and anyone who follows golf closely knows the topic: Jordan Spieth, holder of the green jacket and the U.S. Open trophy, with a chance to win The Open and he inexplicably putts uphill, way past the hole, intp the only spot you can't putt your ball, well off the otherwise benign green.

James Corrigan, in reviewing Spieth's year for the Telegraph, goes back to the same spot that I keep thinking of in remember 2015. Because that putt encapsulates the historic majors season posted by Spieth by reminding us how close he was to winning the first three majors of 2015. But it also reminds us that someday he'll lie awake at night knowing the first three were so within his grasp and yet even the world's best putter could throw in a shockingly average putting week and still miss a playoff by one.

Corrigan writes:

The point is that if Spieth had enjoyed even one of his average putting weeks, he would, by his own reckoning, have become just the second golfer to win the Masters, US Open and Open in the same year and become the first to have the chance to win all four at the USPGA. In the event, he finished second at Whistling Straits behind world No 2 Jason Day, but who knows much how the Claret Jug could have inspired him in that August week?

We could easily have been talking about the greatest season in golf instead of just “one” of the greatest and with the strength in depth in the game we can only wonder when we might witness a player coming so close again; especially a player of his tender years.

Update on Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at 08:07 AM by Geoff

**Cameron Morfit talked to looper Michael Greller about the season and there was this about Spieth's bounce back ability, which included the moment mentioned above:

What were some of his other great bounce-back moments?

Go back to Augusta, Saturday: He hasn’t missed a shot, and he makes double bogey on 17 and misses right on 18. It feels like all the momentum is shifting to Justin Rose. And Jordan hits that flop shot from above the hole and makes the putt for par. St. Andrews: He four-putts No. 8 for double bogey and bounces back and birdies nine and 10. He just doesn’t go away. [Laughs] That’s what I love about him. He’s got so much fight. He scratches and claws.

Comments

[N Johnson]

Spieth still makes ugly mistakes sometimes; it's his ability to bounce back from those mistakes that's so impressive.

Frankly if he stops double-bogeying holes because his concentration lapses like he wierdly tends to do, he'll win a crapload more than he has even.

[Convert]

After playing "what if" game, name a player that would not trade his "putting" year for Jordan's "putting" year?

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, everyone would have a Merry Christmas.

[DJ21]

If he 2 putts the 8th he probably doesn't get focussed enough to make birdie on the next.

[Cottriab]

If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

[D. maculata]

Agree with all of the above. The difference is that great players know how to let go and move on. Unlike the scribes. If Jordan actually does lie awake at night, it'll be after his career ends. And he'll have plenty of company. You could fill a dormitory with major winners mumbling what ifs, Jack and Tiger being the current dorm monitors.

[CJ]

Let's not forget the bomb he made on 16. If "ifs and buts" we're candy and nuts...

[Smitty]

I believe that what happened to Jordan at St. Andrews this year proves the old axiom of the course: It is one of the most difficult courses to putt well, and you must putt well to win at St. Andrews.

[Tighthead]

What if DJ two putts 72 at CB? One putts? What if Day doesn't get vertigo? We saw his best golf later in the summer.

I have always thought Phil is the ultimate what if golfer. I think that had he won an earlier major, he would have a few more now. Of course he didn't and doesn't.

[Convert]

The greatest time wasting what if is: what if that fire hydrant was 5 feet to the left

[thusgone]

no such championship as the USPGA (or US Masters), there's THE PGA Championship and whatever you other people call your imitation tournaments.

[digsouth]

Tomorrow is forever.

Living your future in the past is wasted time. While you are whining about the missed putt at 8, you miss the tap in at 9.

Jordan gets it, and who plays golf that doesn't have a bomb go off in his hands on a putt, a semi stroke electric shock, and a 10 foot come backer......

[P-Dog]

It's almost comical that a serious golf story's whole premise is based on a 'what if'. How many times did Jack finish second in a major?
Tiger would be about half way to catching Jack if we are entertains 'what ifs".

[Mark]

When we play in the simulator the old course, we chip any putt that length. I think he should have chip his second, much easier than a super long putt that you never practice.

[Roker]

Clearly, he didn't work on those putts in Iowa, right?

Seriously though, (Most)great putters believe they'll make everything, so sometimes those bombs
go wandering by.

[Jimbo]

The quote from AP seems to tell a different story than the pics of he and TW at the Bay Hill jacket/sword ceremonies. Hmmm . Any insights on that from others?