In case anybody was wondering how much the Ryder Cup means, Jordan Spieth has your answer. The 23 year-old defending FedEx Cup champion went on record this week admitting he’d rather win as a member of Team USA than collect another $10 million check.
“It’s kind of rude, but I would say Ryder Cup,” Spieth said. “I don’t have a Ryder Cup. I think I will have a Ryder Cup at some point. I think that will be easier to win, easier to have a Ryder Cup than a FedExCup going forward, given you may not play your best and you’ve got teammates around you that play their best and win it, but if you’re saying 2016, right now, I’ve got a choice: Ryder Cup.
“You want something that you don’t have. That’s a trophy that I’ve watched the other side of it now, and it hurt. It was tough at the closing ceremony. We had a good time that evening, but when we boarded the plane back home, it was an empty feeling.
“We don’t want that again. We remember that — those of us that were there — and the guys that were there in Medinah, we want that celebration. We want that champagne falling off the balcony like they had at Valhalla.
“I think I’m pretty confident about how we’re going to go about our business. I think we’ve got a fantastic team this year, one of the best teams I can remember looking back at, and I love being a part of that.”
We do too, Jordan.
While Spieth isn’t in the top five heading into the Tour Championship and can’t control his own destiny, winning it again isn’t out of the realm of possibility. He needs Dustin Johnson (ranked no. 1 in FedEx Cup points) to finish in a three-way tie for second or worse, as well as Patrick Reed (ranked no. 2) to finish tied for second or worse.
Hey, stranger things have happened. If it was up to us, we’d take both.
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