SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — The scene kept repeating. Coming off nearly every green Monday, Dallas’ Jordan Spieth walked through a gantlet of autograph-seeking, photo-taking fans.
Welcome to Spieth’s increasingly frenetic surroundings. Good thing he was playing only a nine-hole practice round Monday at Whistling Straits, site of this week’s PGA Championship.
Imagine what the hysteria level would be had Spieth won last month’s British Open instead of falling one shot short of a playoff, if he were going for golf’s first professional grand slam this week instead of just his third major title of 2015.
“Jordan! Mr. Spieth! Over here!” fans called out while Spieth paused between the 14th green and 15th tee box, signing autographs for a good five minutes.
“I’m not trying to miss you,” Spieth said, smiling. “It’s just hard to get to everyone.”
The striking part wasn’t the chaos that kept enveloping 22-year-old Spieth, but how serene he remained amid it. If he’s stressed about this chance to join Ben Hogan (1953) and Tiger Woods (2000) as the only male golfers to win three professional majors in a calendar year, it didn’t show Monday.
In fact, on several occasions, Spieth called out to fans from the fairway, challenging them to try harder the next time he stopped to sign autographs.
Though Spieth’s pre-tournament news conference at Whistling Straits isn’t until Wednesday afternoon, he exuded confidence in the state of his game during last week’s Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.
His outlook was further bolstered with a weekend reconnaissance stopover at Whistling Straits on the way to Ohio, after which Spieth told those close to him that that 7,501-yard links-style layout along Lake Michigan suits his eye and game.
Then again, what course doesn’t fit Spieth these days? Since tying for 30th at his hometown AT&T Byron Nelson on May 31, he has played five PGA Tour events _ winning the U.S. Open and John Deere Classic, tying for third at the Memorial, tying for fourth in the British Open and tying for 10th at Bridgestone.
“I think for the most part, guys go in streaks with the way they play throughout a year,” Spieth said after his final-round 66 at the Bridgestone. “You see guys starting to trend the right direction, and all of a sudden, they're in contention a few weeks in a row.
“Then maybe they have an off week, and then they bring it back. We seem to have nice timing with where we're trending upwards this year. Whether that's the plan we put in place or it's dumb luck, one of the two, I'll take it.”