Sure, winning the John Deere doesn't compare to winning the Wannamaker trophy, as Bradley did in his rookie year.
However, as is the case in most sports. It's not how you start, rather how you finish off the year, that people remember you for.
The former University of Texas Longhorn went on to record nine top-10 finishes in 23 starts in 2013. Won the John Deere Classic. Finished runner-up three times. Rounding out the season by qualifying for the Tour Championship where he tied for second after posting a final round 6-under, 64. All the while ending up tenth on the money list, earning $3,879,820.
In the four FedEx Cup playoff events, he finished T19, T4, T16 and T2. All top-20 finishes, nearly averaging 10-under at each event. That's some steady golf at a young age with a possible $10-Million on the line against the best players in the world.
Oh, and there was the captain's pick by Fred Couples of Spieth, picking him for the President's Cup team.
Not bad for a 20 year old rookie, who had no status to begin the year.
Though his young age and early success did not seem to get to his head. When asked this week after the Tour Championship, Spieth explained what his goals were for his rookie season.
"Yeah. The beginning of the year, my goal‑‑ yeah, I've said it a million times. It was just to get on Tour next season. It was just to get my 2014 PGA Tour card. I thought that it would come through the Web.com Tour this year and the Web.com Playoffs."
"And those couple weeks happen at Puerto Rico and Tampa that really changed my golf life, Spieth continued. To be able to play the PGA Tour this year, and then obviously the John Deere opened up.
I just had to readjust goals a couple different times this year and definitely exceeded any expectations I could have imagined starting the year."
Even with his stellar performance at East Lake. Spieth's season is no where near over. It's been a whirlwind season for the youngster. Though he explained, he still doesn't have to time to reflect on it, quite yet.
"I won't stop until the Presidents Cup. There's no need to let everything sink in", he explained. "I've got to stay focused. That's what I've been saying the last few weeks. Start letting anything sink in about the year, it's maybe not as intense about the next tournament. This next one's the most important one in my life, and I'm very, very excited to be joining Team USA."
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