Jordan Spieth Wins Hero World Challenge, Poised For Huge Year In 2015

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Jordan Spieth is the real deal. Like, everything it takes to win major championships good.

Of course, if you follow golf at all, you’ve heard that plenty. In a 2014 PGA Tour season that was fairly remarkable by any reasonable standards, his results didn’t quite live up to the incredible expectations that were placed on him. Now, after back-to-back wins to close out the calendar year, Spieth appears set to take on the world in 2015.

After bursting onto the scene in 2013 by winning the John Deere Classic to become a full Tour member, and then making a run all the way to second place in the Tour Championship, many observers – yours truly included – felt that 2014 would be Spieth’s year to shine.

It certainly looked that way after a phenomenal week at Augusta National saw him tie for second at his first Masters, but despite eight top-tens and 18 top-25 finishes, he found himself overshadowed a bit by the likes of Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler down the stretch.

That’s more than a bit unfair to Spieth, who finished eighth in the FedEx Cup and proved his mettle as one of Team USA’s best players in the Ryder Cup. His patience has proven to be one of his best virtues, and now it seems to be paying off in spades.

After taking the Australian Open by six strokes, he flew halfway around the world to Florida, and just beat down 17 of the best players in the world. Oh yeah, and he destroyed Tiger Woods‘ tournament record score while doing it. “Official” tournament or not, that’s worth paying attention to.

The level of competition in golf’s elite class is as high as it’s ever been, but Spieth is showing no signs of backing down. It’s going to take time, and it would be ridiculous to think he’s going to win the Grand Slam in 2015, but every time he steps on the golf course, it seems like he grows into his game more and more.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Jordan Spieth is going to be something special for years to come. His star is still just starting to rise, and we could be on the verge of a true breakout in the coming months.

Brandon Raper is the lead golf writer for Rant Sports. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @Brandon__Raper, and join him on Google+.