Home Cooking For Dallas’ Jordan Spieth At The Byron Nelson

For the second week in a row, Jordan Spieth is getting some home cooking. And a lot of love – like the reception he got on the 18th hole at Colonial last week.

By Gus Contreras May 29, 2015 10:23 am

The 21-year-old Dallas Jesuit alum got his first PGA start at the Nelson five years ago. Since going pro in 2013, he’s won three tournaments and is ranked No. 2 in the world.

For that, he can thank the Masters victory six weeks ago.

He showed off the winner’s green jacket on David Letterman’s show, at a Mavericks NBA playoff game, and as a presenter at the Academy of Country Music awards in Arlington.

He’s a magnet for golf fans like Greg Williams-Servant, who brought his three sons from Roanoke to see Spieth in a practice round yesterday.

“You want to get tickets to come and see him. He’s local, you don’t have to travel as far as some of these majors,” Williams-Servant said.

That magnetic appeal is also attracting new players to the game. Like a few kids he met from Dallas’ First Tee program on Wednesday.

“I like Jordan Spieth because his character really stood out to me,” Giselle Villegas said.

“I like Jordan Spieth because he won the Masters and is No. 2 in the world,” Abel Garcia said.

The North Texas PGA, which runs a series of junior golf tournaments in the summer, is expecting big growth from “Spieth-mania.”

Since his Masters win, junior enrollment has jumped 12 percent, and the group’s director, Mark Harrison, expects enrollment to double by year’s end.

Williams-Servant says Speith is just what the game needed.

“It’s a shot in the arm for golf. Golf was in a lull and to have a new super star like Jordan here locally, for us it’s a treat,” he said.

Spieth’s never won a PGA event in Texas, but he does have three runner-up finishes. At a press conference yesterday, he said he’s aiming to go one notch higher.

“It would be really cool to close one out and this would be a dream come true at this event,” Spieth said.

Home cooking sure does taste good.