Jordan Spieth had an incredible year—historic by some counts—but it’s fair to say that the biggest putts of his season came off Dustin Johnson’s putter.
On No. 18 at Chambers Bay, with Paulina Gretzky and Co. waiting anxiously on the fringe, Johnson stood over a 12-footer for eagle. Drain it and the title was his. But Johnson missed, rolling it past by a few feet. No gimme. But no problem, right? Just a little four-footer to… oh, no, D.J. missed—again. And with that, Spieth, who had added a green jacket to his wardrobe two months earlier, won his first U.S. Open.
While Johnson’s eagle attempt was a bit slippery—anyone could have messed that one up—there’s no way, if the roles were reversed, Spieth would have flubbed that second putt, the one that would have forced an 18-hole playoff. Spieth’s brilliance with the flat stick is one of the big reasons he won a record $12 million in 2015. No pro had a better one-putt percentage (44.26) or averaged fewer putts per round (27.82) than Spieth. It helped him run away with things at Augusta—a wire-to-wire four-stroke victory—and it was a big reason fans thought they might witness history this summer.
Nobody in the modern era had pulled off four majors in a calendar year. Not Jack. Not Arnie. Not even Tiger. Yet, there we were, watching the Open Championship, wondering if a kid a couple of years removed from his University of Texas days could keep the Grand Slam dream alive. And he nearly did. At St. Andrews, Spieth missed qualifying for the playoff by the slimmest of margins. And then a month later at the PGA Championship, only a record-setting performance by Jason Day kept the 22-year-old from the top spot.
Spieth is impossible not to like. He’s the kind of "aw shucks" celebrity who loves his family and is still dating his high-school sweetheart. He made a lot of fans do the impossible—ignore Tiger and all the headlines about back problems. And though we’re not talking about Woods-like ratings, there’s no question that Spieth’s rise played a key role in golf’s year-over-year viewership increase. The all-American charm helps, but it’s no replacement for talent. Spieth is the youngest player in 86 years to win five tournaments in a season, and the youngest to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year. And if his majors dominance wasn’t enough, Spieth cemented himself as the world’s No. 1 by capturing the FedEx Cup—and the $10-million cheque that goes with it.
All this from a guy ranked 78th in driving distance. What’s that old saying again? Drive for show, putt for… $12 million? Yeah, that sounds about right.