Jordan Spieth Turns in Perfect 5-0 Week to Join Exclusive Cup Club
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Winning every match in a Cup event is a difficult task, with a tremendous amount of skill and usually some luck involved.
It doesn’t always mean you played your best, you just played well enough to get a W.
Jordan Spieth was one of the lucky ones this week at the Presidents Cup, going 5-0 and setting the tone early on Sunday by posting the first singles point on the board for the USA in a 4 and 3 win over Australian Cam Davis.
A 5-0 week is the holy grail of cup competition, as many players are not selected for all five matches, much less winning all matches they play in.
Only 10 players in either a Ryder or Presidents Cup have turned the 5-0 trick, with Spieth joining Gardner Dickinson, Arnold Palmer, Larry Nelson, Francesco Molinari, Mark O’Meara, Shigeki Maruyama, Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Branden Grace and Dustin Johnson.
Ironically, Spieth had been a combined 0-6-1 in singles competition in Ryder and Presidents Cups before Sunday’s match with Davis, the 27-year-old International rookie.
“It feels really good,” Spieth said afterward. “I was more nervous than I probably should have been today just because I wanted to get that monkey off my back. I tied Tommy (Fleetwood) last year, but I hadn't gotten a win yet.”
| Player | Year | 5-0 Cup Competition |
|---|---|---|
Gardner Dickinson | 1967 | |
Arnold Palmer | 1967 | Ryder Cup |
Larry Nelson | 1979 | Ryder Cup |
Mark O'Meara | 1996 | Presidents Cup |
Shigeki Maruyama | 1998 | Presidents Cup |
Tiger Woods | 2009 | Presidents Cup |
Jim Furyk | 2011 | Presidents Cup |
Branden Grace | 2015 | Presidents Cup |
Francesco Molinari | 2018 | Ryder Cup |
Dustin Johnson | 2021 | Ryder Cup |
Jordan Spieth | 2022 | Presidents Cup |
Before getting to the singles, Spieth partnered with his good friend Justin Thomas.
The duo played in four matches together and none were in doubt, with the two friends leading in 50 of the 64 holes they played and trailing in only three.
“I putted 10 times today,” Thomas said, giving one of the ultimate compliments after playing two sessions on Saturday. “I played two matches, and I hit 10 putts. I think that's pretty absurd. I legitimately think I picked my coin up more than I hit putts. So yeah, my partner's pretty good.”
Spieth had showed a lot of the Spieth of old over the first three days, with long putts converted and chip-ins from off the green.
But Spieth knew of his dismal singles record, and after starting with two bogeys in the first two holes in his singles match against Davis and going 2 down, Spieth was digging himself a hole that made a win or tie much more difficult.
Spieth made up the deficit quickly, making a 24-foot putt on the par-3 4th hole and another birdie from 19 feet off the fringe on the par-4 5th hole to tie the match.
After losing the 8th hole, Spieth made a Spieth-type run of three consecutive birdies from the 11th through 13th to set the stage for his first singles win.
“I had a great back nine,” Spieth said. “I hit a really good shot into 11, driving the hole. Hit it in the middle of the green there after winning the 9th and having a nice tie on the 10th. That's where the game shifted was birdieing there. I rallied off three straight birdies on this nine and kept trying to hit greens.”
Spieth ended his birdie run with a 46-foot birdie putt on the 13th and the win was etched in stone.
“It feels really good,” Spieth said after the win. “When you go out early as I've done pretty much every team event on a Sunday, they're looking for red on the board, and it feels good to finally provide that.”