It isn’t all about the money but, in a professional world, of course it matters.
Jordan Spieth's victory in the Masters tournament at Augusta National was most important for the title itself – with its prestige and heritage – but it also netted him $1.8 million (€1.7 million) in prize money, an amount which will likely pale against what he will earn outside the ropes in endorsements and bonuses.
Those already on board Team Spieth – Under Armour, Rolex, Titleist and AT&T among them – are on to a good thing. But it is the player who will benefit most of all, with analysts anticipating he will become the next $100 million man in golf, a status previously only enjoyed by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy.
At one point, Under Armour – the clothing Spieth wears head-to-toe – had pursued world number one McIlroy, only to back away when faced with the scale of Nike’s intended investment in the Northern Irishman. It was then the US-based company switched its focus to up-and-coming talent.
One of those players signed, on a four-year deal, was Spieth.
That initial contract – signed in 2013 after he turned pro – was ripped up earlier this year and replaced instead by a new, long-term 10-year deal. It proved to be an insightful move: Spieth’s new status as the Masters champion and world number two will see his marketability skyrocket.
Right character
At the time of the signing of the contract, which includes performance-related bonuses for the player, Under Armour’s senior director of golf Ryan Kuehl remarked: “He’s athletic, he’s young, he has the right character and he wins.”
One key part of the renegotiated and enhanced deal for Spieth was that he would wear the company’s brand head-to-foot and only wear Under Armour branding on his clothing.
In a sports marketing poll conducted for Sports Business Daily in the United States earlier this month, Spieth was ranked as the number five most-marketable golfer behind McIlroy (1), Rickie Fowler (2), Woods (3) and Mickelson (4).
Casey Alexander, a New York-based sports analyst with Gilford Securites Inc, expects Spieth to challenge McIlroy for that top spot in the corporate world. "Time marches on and we have to eventually find new heroes. And I'm not too sure, at least as far as American golf goes, that Jordan Spieth can't be that guy. He has an awful lot of all-American boy to him."
On Sunday evening, as the green jacket was placed on his young shoulders, those around what was the putting green behind the first tee, now transformed into the area for the post-tournament ceremonies and speeches, gave due recognition to what Spieth had achieved in winning his first Major so comprehensively.
He was greeted like the all-American boy, a golfing hero.
Where now? Only upwards, it would seem. Spieth – who had finished runner-up to Bubba Watson at last year's Masters – had always targeted winning a green jacket at Augusta as his goal. The recalibration of where he is next headed on his career path started almost as soon as that piece of Savile Row tailoring was placed on his shoulders.
With the Masters won, Spieth has a two-pronged target: first, to leapfrog McIlroy as world number one; and, two, to win more Majors and a career grand slam. “You can’t win four unless you win the first, right?” quipped Spieth.
Stay patient
Before his final round on Sunday, Spieth received a text message from two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, who had played his final tournament there in this 79th edition. “Stay patient, this is going to be yours, you’ve got this and you’re playing great. Just keep your head down and stay focused,” it said.
It is a microcosm of how Spieth has played in his two-year long professional career so far, which has seen him move from 809th in the world rankings at the end of 2012 – a month before he turned pro – to his current standing of second. Patience. Focus.
“To have left school and take a chance and everything . . . it’s all run together. [Playing in] 2013 is the reason I had the experience from last year, which then allowed me to win this year. It all happened quickly. Sometimes it feels like a long time ago and sometimes it feels like yesterday.”
Spieth has proven darn good at setting and achieving targets. Now he has McIlroy in his sights. “The ultimate goal is to try to become the number one player in the world. I’m still behind, I’m still chasing that goal. It’s going to be very difficult.”
Of McIlroy, he said: “[Rory] carries that world number one with class. He’s got four Majors. That’s something I can still only dream about. I’ll never hit it as far as he does and I have to make up for that somewhere else . . . I don’t know as far as a rivalry right now. I look forward to getting in the heat of the moment with him a couple of times in the near future and see if we can battle it out and test our games.”
Next up on the Major front for Spieth will be the US Open at Chambers Bay and the British Open at St Andrews, a course he first played prior to competing in the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen four years ago. “I look forward to the whole experience of playing in an Open Championship at St Andrews ... hopefully, at that point, maybe try to go for the third leg of a Grand Slam.”
