The label of Next Big Thing often ends up being a useless weight. It's shiny and attracts attention, but it gets heavy in the form of expectation, scrutiny, distraction and criticism—and, sometimes, disenchantment.
The irresistible force that was the 20-year-old Tiger Woods only adds to the load. After Woods shouldered the NBT burden with such ease that he was immediately moving on to become golf's Biggest Thing, his supposed successors have been overwhelmed by the implied task of doing something remotely similar. Even Rory McIlroy, who won two majors by eight shots by age 23, has seemed weighed down.
The current NBT, by a fair bit, is Jordan Spieth. Though he had a birthday on July 27, it was only his 21st, which gives Spieth a chronological "boy wonder" edge over Patrick Reed, who has two more PGA Tour victories (one in a playoff with Spieth) but is three years older. Matteo Manassero is also 21 and has four victories on the European Tour but has struggled in America and in majors.
More than victories, it is Spieth's consistent high quality, and an ability to rise to the big occasion, that has inspired faith among admirers that he is the young player best prepared to follow Woods' path.
Spieth did just that in his first steps to prominence, winning the U.S. Junior Amateur twice to join Woods as the only multiple winner of that event. As a 16-year-old, Spieth tied for 16th in the Byron Nelson Championship, finishing higher than Woods ever did as an amateur in a PGA Tour event. In Spieth's only year at the University of Texas, the Dallas native led the Longhorns to a national title, something Woods didn't do at Stanford.
Spieth finally had a misstep when he missed the second stage of Q school at the end of 2012. But he accessed his clutch gene by turning sponsors' exemptions into strong finishes, earning temporary member status on tour. A few months later he won the John Deere Classic at 19 years, 11 months to become the youngest PGA Tour winner in 82 years, went on to finish second at the Tour Championship, and was picked for the Presidents Cup team.
This year has been even more dramatic. In his first try in the Masters and the Players Championship, Spieth led on Sunday before stumbling in the middle of the rounds to finish T-2 and T-4.
Though very young, Spieth seems much older, partly because he has gotten so ingrained in the golf landscape over the past year, but mostly because he's so seemingly together. Says Paul Azinger, a perceptive observer: "Jordan Spieth comes off to me as a grown man."