Spieth, 23, who won on the PGA Tour as a teenager, was always going to be a significant part of the golf landscape but Birkdale might have shifted the parameters.
In confirming him as a serial winner from the most unpromising of positions with the championship slipping through his fingers, it could yet end up being the significant fork in the road in Spieth’s career.
“Who knows where he’s going to end? He could go really big. He can go up to the 14 mark in Majors,” said Ernie Els, referring to Woods’ total, the most by any player since Jack Nicklaus.
“When you get on a roll like that guys start knowing that you know how to win and, almost like Tiger, people can maybe feel like they can’t do it against Jordan because he’s been up there a few times now.
“You’ve seen some careers where – like myself in ‘95, I had a three-shot lead in the US PGA and couldn’t get it done, and in ‘96 missed out in another very narrow loss at the Open – it kind of stalled. I only got four. But if you get the momentum going the other way, you can go win a boatload.”
Back up to No2 in the world, Spieth now sets his sights on next month’s USPGA Championship and joining Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only players in history to land a career Grand Slam.
Nicklaus, who holds the record of 18 Major wins, paid tribute to Spieth’s fighting qualities as he overcame the calamity of squandering a three-shot lead and a mid-round visit to the practice ground to win his first Claret Jug.
“I was just very happy for him and very impressed to watch all that guts, determination and skill,” said Nicklaus.
“If you look at his victory total, this win and the way he won, Jordan has shown an amazing display of maturity for someone so young.”
Woods posted on Twitter: “What an incredible way to come back and win. Many congrats @JordanSpieth”.
Spieth’s gift – like Woods – is being able to sink vital putts when they really matter. He only hit five fairways in his final round at Birkdale but still shot a 69 to break par. “The putter is the master and he’s maybe the best putter that I’ve ever seen,” said Player.
Spieth has now converted nine of his past 10 54-hole leads – the one stain on that record coming at the 2016 Masters when he lost out to Danny Willett for the Green Jacket.
Willett revealed he always believed American golf’s blue-eyed boy would prevail this time.
“Mentally, for any age, he is one of the best around. His stats from leading are pretty phenomenal and he’s now won three times this year. He’s never that far away,” said Willett.
“He is similar to Tiger because you kind of know he is not going to go back. He may have a few iffy ones but he is also going to hole a few crucial ones at the right time. That’s why everyone was so surprised in April last year when he did not polish that one off.
“He didn’t play horrendously. He went out there and shot one over on Sunday and I went five under. It was one of those things. It was my time to win. He was always going to come back fine.”
Spieth can safely regard Augusta as an anomaly. The final five-hole stretch at Birkdale that he played in five under was the lowest at a Major for 20 years.
“I thought before the round that I had a reputation as being able to close but I was hesitant in saying ‘Majors’ to myself,” said Spieth.
“It was the best opportunity that I’d had since the 2016 Masters and if it hadn’t gone my way then all I would have been questioned about – and thought about and murmured about – is that, which would have added a lot of pressure.
“During the round I definitely thought any kind of fear or advantage I had over other individuals, not just Matt Kuchar but other people that are watching, was being taken away by the way that I was playing.
“That kind of stuff goes into your head. We walk for three minutes in between shots and you can’t just go blank. You wish you could, but thoughts creep in.
“Closing this was extremely important for the way I look at myself.”
