Graduating teen makes cut again
IRVING, Texas — Jordan Spieth is going to be late for his high school graduation ceremony Saturday, if he makes it at all. The teenager has another round of golf with PGA Tour players at the Byron Nelson Championship.
For the second year in a row, the local Dallas amateur made the cut at the Nelson.
After a 2-under 68 in the second round Friday, Spieth was 3 under. That put him in a tie for eighth place, five strokes behind co-leaders Sergio Garcia and Ryan Palmer.
The ceremony for Spieth and the other 245 seniors in Dallas’ Jesuit Prep’s graduating class starts at 4 p.m. Saturday, at an auditorium on the SMU campus about 20 miles from TPC Four Seasons. Spieth tees off at 11:21 a.m.
“Right after the round .... I’m going to shoot over there is quickly as possible,” Spieth said. “I don’t know how long (graduation) usually lasts.”
Because diplomas are handed out in alphabetical order, the 17-year-old Spieth (pronounced SPEE-th) figures that will at least buy him some extra time.
“Exactly,” he said, smiling. “Should be at least an hour into it, be toward the end.”
After tying for 16th at the Nelson last year, and still within three strokes of the lead after 10 holes in the final round, Spieth received a sponsor’s exemption to play in the tournament again this week.
“I want to win,” Spieth said. “I’m confident. Staying loose and seeing my friends in the crowd and feeding off the crowd helps me.”
Spieth, a U.S. Junior Amateur champion who plans to attend the University of Texas, had one of the larger galleries following him during the second round Friday.
“To be on this stage as a senior in high school, at 17, it’s impressive,” Palmer said. “I’m starting to wonder if he’s thinking about four years of college or just one year.”
Since his breakthrough in last year’s Nelson, Spieth had played the TPC Four Seasons course three or four more times. He also got to play another round with former President George W. Bush, who lives in Dallas and has worked with Spieth’s instructor.
“If I remember right, he came up to my dad and I right when we got out there and told us what game we were going to play,” Spieth said. “There was no reason to hold back, because he came out calling me names that I shouldn’t mention.
“It was easy to have fun with him out there,” Spieth added. “Hopefully, we’ll get to go out there again. It was fun. Didn’t feel like you were playing with anyone extremely important like he is, which is cool.”
