We’re just a few days away from the start of the 2015 U.S. Open, as we get ready for a new course that will host the historic event. Chambers Bay will mark the first U.S. Open event to be held in the state of Washington, and what a fitting place for the tournament to crown a first-time U.S. Open champion.
One of those contenders vying for a first U.S. Open win in this year’s event will be the 21-year old phenomenon Jordan Spieth. Spieth is considered as a heavy favorite (+750) entering the second major PGA tournament of the year, and with good reason. In fact, we’ve gathered three compelling arguments below as for why the young up-and-comer will take home the title.
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Why Jordan Spieth Will Win the 2015 U.S. Open
The Ace of Spieths
Jordan Spieth was already a highly touted golfer in his amateur career, having won the U.S. Junior Championship in 2009 and 2011. He became the number one amateur in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2012, and his professional career from thereon out has been a steady climb to prominence.
[sc:Golf240banner ]But if there’s ever a time that Spieth’s game has reached its full potential in his young professional career, that time could possibly be right now. Here’s how Spieth’s 2015 PGA Tour season has been so far: second-best player in the World Golf Ranking with 16 tournaments, two titles, nine top 10 finishes, and 12 tournaments where he finished on par or better.
And if that wasn’t enough, one of Spieth’s titles this year was a big one: the 2015 Masters. He left Augusta with a sleek green jacket behind his record-tying 18-under finish at the Masters (tied with Tiger Woods in 1997). The 21-year old also set the record for the most birdies at the event with 28, and became the second youngest player to win the Masters next to Woods.
Spieth is on a tear this 2015, and even his statistics speak aloud. The Dallas-native is number one this season in scoring average (69.12), second in overall putting average (1.53), and fourth in birdie average (4.46). Spieth has a number of aces up his sleeve, and you can bet that he’ll pull out all the stops to become only the sixth player in PGA history to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year.
The Chambers of his Caddie’s Secrets
It’s not entirely a secret anymore, but Spieth is one of just a handful of players in this year’s tournament with proper experience playing in Chambers Bay. His last trip to the shore of Puget Sound was back in 2010 at the U.S. Amateur. And while his 12-over 83 finish wasn’t enough to make the cut to continue in that event, Spieth is still safe in the knowledge that he had tackled this course once before. This time around, he’s coming back as the World No. 2 golfer.
Adding to Spieth’s odds of winning is by simply having his caddie Michael Greller by his side. Greller lives in the Seattle area, and began caddying at Chambers Bay in 2010 before becoming Spieth’s full-time caddie. Furthermore, Greller even had his wedding at the course’s grounds itself, and even went ahead of Spieth for his trip back to Washington earlier this weekend to scout the course ahead of time.
The impact of Greller’s previous first-hand knowledge on Chambers Bay will be significant. Not a lot of the other golfers in the tournament have the same advantage that Spieth does with his companion on the links. Then again, Greller’s tips and inputs about the course is only half the battle, and Spieth’s task is to turn those theories into applications.
With Spieth’s skills and Greller’s know-how for the course falling into place, this duo seems very well-equipped already heading into this year’s U.S. Open.
The U.S. Open has been the host for some of golf’s greatest moments and players. Winning more than one title at the illustrious event is quite a rare feat, as only 22 out of the tournament’s 83 winners have won the title more than once. In fact, we’ve seen 12 different winners at each event since 2003, and only two of those winners (Retief Goosen and Tiger Woods) were returning U.S. Open champions.
Goosen and Woods also won all of their U.S. Open titles on different courses, and not in back-to-back seasons. That trend will likely hold up this year’s tournament, as this is Chambers Bay’s inaugural major PGA event.
With those facts in mind, the odds are definitely working in favor of Spieth. The Texan has not won the U.S. Open yet, and he could very well be the 13th unique winner of the tournament for the past 13 years. They also don’t call the U.S. Open for no reason, as 55 of the 83 winners of the tournament were Americans.
Jordan Spieth now has the skill, momentum, course knowledge, and even history in his favor. We’ll find out in about a week’s time if the stars have really aligned for him to win a second major title in his young, budding career.
Writer’s Prediction
With all the things going for him – current form, experience on the course, innate talent – Spieth (+750) does indeed go on to win the 2015 U.S. Open.
