What were you doing when you were 20 years old?
Jordan Spieth turned 20 less than a month ago and he is now preparing for this week's Barclays tournament at Liberty National — and in the process, hoping to inch closer to a spot on the American Presidents Cup team.
"I think my greatest honor that I could ever have in golf is to play for [my] country," Spieth said yesterday, two days before the start of the first tournament of the four-event FedEx Cup playoffs. "It's just a lot of fun. I just really, really love it. I love standing there and seeing the flag go up. I'm a very patriotic person."
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Jordan Spieth
Spieth is a native of Dallas and has played in a junior Ryder Cup as well as the Walker Cup. Yet now he is being eyed by Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples as a possibility for one of the two captain's selections, after compiling a recent record of great play that rivals any American.
"It would be a tremendous honor if Freddie were to pick me," said Spieth, ranked No. 28 in the Presidents Cup standings with two weeks remaining before the picks are due for the 12-man team for the international team competition held during the first week in October at Muirfield Village in Ohio. "I know where I stand and I know that I'm definitely on the outside looking in. But I also know that playing really well these next couple weeks is a way to take care of that."
Just last week, Spieth was in a playoff at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., losing after Patrick Reed hit a miraculous iron shot from the rough to 7 feet for the winning birdie. On the first playoff hole, Spieth had nailed an ice-cold 25-footer for par that kept the sudden-death going.
If that didn't tickle Couples' fancy, then how about the second weekend of July, when Spieth won the John Deere Classic in Wisconsin, taking a five-hole playoff to become the youngest winner on Tour since Ralph Guldahl in 1931.
"The game is getting younger," Spieth said. "To win any kind of tournament at any level, you have to play out of your mind. I think it is part of the new wave, and I think you'll see guys get out here quicker and adapt faster. I think you'll see more guys not afraid to win when they get out here."
Coming out of the University of Texas following his freshman season, Spieth had no status on any tour. He made two starts on the minor league Web.com Tour, and often had to play in Monday qualifiers to get into PGA Tour events, where he had seven top-10s (in addition to his win) in 19 starts.
Yet it was the win at the John Deere that made him eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs, where not only does he get more chances to prove himself to Couples, but at the end of which awaits $10 million for the winner.
"It has been a whirlwind and I haven't really had time to reflect on it too much," said Spieth, who comes in ranked No. 8 in the FedEx Cup standings, meaning he will assuredly secure a spot in next week's Deutsche Bank Championship outside of Boston. "At the beginning of the year, if you told me it was going to happen like this, I would've thought I was dreaming."
bcyrgalis@nypost.com
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