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TALKING POINT<br />
Is Spieth going to burn out?<br />
The world number one’s hectic and international early-season schedule<br />
could scupper his chances of repeating last year’s major heroics.<br />
Jordan Spieth set plenty of<br />
records in 2015 but he did<br />
record an unwanted one at the<br />
Deutsche Bank Championship.<br />
It was the first time he’d missed two<br />
consecutive cuts in his three years as a<br />
professional. “I’m going to take some<br />
time away,” reflected Spieth<br />
afterwards, amid concerned talk of a<br />
meltdown caused by too much golf.<br />
“It’s probably going to be good for me<br />
to take at least four days and not<br />
touch a club.”<br />
Fast forward to today, and even<br />
before he drives down Magnolia Lane to<br />
defend his Green Jacket, Spieth is again<br />
making worrying noises about his<br />
physical wellbeing. “I’m very tired,” he<br />
said after a T5 finish in Abu Dhabi. “As<br />
a team we’re beat up mentally and<br />
physically. I’m not 100 per cent right<br />
now. It shows in certain places.” It’s not<br />
hard to pinpoint why.<br />
Between November last year and<br />
January of this, Spieth played<br />
tournaments in China, Australia, the<br />
Bahamas, Hawaii, Abu Dhabi and<br />
Singapore. “It won’t be something I’ll do<br />
in the future, to bounce back and forth<br />
from Asia as much as we did, or<br />
Australia.”<br />
Last year Spieth played 11 events<br />
between the beginning of November<br />
and the Masters, but only two of them<br />
were outside the United States. He’ll play<br />
the same number this year, but as the<br />
map here illustrates, his schedule has<br />
involved significantly more long-haul<br />
travel – we estimate Spieth has clocked<br />
up somewhere in the region of 57,000<br />
miles to play eight events, spending<br />
120+ hours on aeroplanes.<br />
Though Spieth’s camp won’t explicitly<br />
admit as much, their client has been<br />
lured to a large extent by appearance<br />
fees. It was said in the aftermath of the<br />
Texan’s win at Augusta that as a major<br />
winner, his overseas appearance fee<br />
would increase from around $400,000<br />
to $2 million, simply for showing up.<br />
Few would begrudge him making hay,<br />
but what is the cost to Spieth in return?<br />
Spieth has clocked up 25, 24 and 23<br />
PGA Tour events in his first three<br />
seasons, a fit Tiger Woods would<br />
average 19. Even Rory McIlroy, in his last<br />
three seasons on tour, played an<br />
average of just 21 events a year.<br />
“It’s important to be ready for the<br />
majors, WGCs, Players Championship,”<br />
was Woods’ take. “Everybody has<br />
different times when they like to take<br />
the off-season so you’ve just got to<br />
figure out what’s best for you.”<br />
Only Spieth knows what’s best for<br />
him, but his recent admission suggests<br />
he knows he’s pushed too hard and too<br />
far early this season. Plus, there’s<br />
another potential problem.<br />
“The travelling, though not ideal, may<br />
not actually be the main issue here,”<br />
says sports psychologist Martin Perry.<br />
“The bigger issue is how a player<br />
prioritises his schedule against<br />
his ambitions. Sponsors’<br />
demands mean that the world<br />
number one can very quickly<br />
get absorbed into the worldwide<br />
golf roadshow.”<br />
The risk then, Perry warns, is<br />
that Spieth is no longer selecting<br />
events and a schedule that will<br />
define his greatness. “If you do that<br />
and you’re not careful, you arrive at<br />
Augusta, and instead of it feeling<br />
magical, special and important, it<br />
just becomes another four days<br />
of competitive golf.”<br />
4 Hyundai<br />
Tournament<br />
of Champions<br />
Hawaii<br />
January 7-10<br />
HOME<br />
Dallas Texas<br />
7 AT&T Pebble<br />
Beach National<br />
Pro-Am<br />
February 11-14<br />
8 Northern<br />
Trust Open<br />
February 18-21<br />
HOW TO… BECOME A MATCHPLAY MASTER To coincide with this month’s WGC - Dell<br />
Work on scrambling<br />
1 “Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros<br />
are the best two matchplayers<br />
I’ve seen. They were wonderful<br />
chippers and putters,” says Jacklin.<br />
“Time and time again they would<br />
get up-and-down to win or save a<br />
half and it demoralises opponents.”<br />
2<br />
Expect the unexpected<br />
“You never know how a hole will unfold<br />
in matchplay. You could hit it close and<br />
be in the ascendancy, but if someone<br />
holes a 20-footer the situation<br />
changes. It’s tough to take, but you<br />
need mental strength as it is all part<br />
of the ebb and flow of matchplay.”<br />
3<br />
Be positive against everyone<br />
“I put Manuel Pinero out first in 1985 Ryder<br />
Cup singles and when he found out he was<br />
playing Lanny Wadkins he jumped four feet in<br />
the air with excitement. He was delighted to<br />
have the opportunity to take down one of<br />
America’s big guns and the next day he went<br />
out and did just that.”<br />
12<br />
Golf World May 20<strong>16</strong>
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