Fresh off one of the greatest PGA seasons in recent history, No. 1 Jordan Spieth will go into the 2016 season intensely under the microscope, something that has not happened for the young Texan so far in his professional career.
Spieth was ranked ninth in the world to start the 2015 season, and why he had high expectations, nothing like what happened – winning the Masters, US Open, and FedEx Cup, was on the radar at the time.
He enters the New Year with 14 weeks at No. 1 under his belt, including the last eight in a row. Both Jason Day and Rory McIlroy are in range of breaking that streak at any time, but the real test for Spieth will come in April and May when his defenses of the Masters and US Open roll around.
Defending those titles will be plenty of motivation for Spieth, as will the thoughts of how close he was to winning three or even four Grand Slams a year ago – he finished fourth at the Open Championship and second at the PGA Championship.
Also high on the motivator list for Spieth is the 2016 Olympics, which will take place in Brazil. Spieth showed his passion for competing as a representative of the US last fall in the Presidents Cup and is likely to bring the same fire next summer.
