What Tom Watson said about Jordan Spieth’s attitude before his Ryder Cup debut in 2014 

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In 2014, Jordan Spieth became the youngest American Ryder Cup player in 85 years, making his debut at 21 years old.

He’d already recorded his first PGA Tour victory and become the youngest-ever runner-up at The Masters. Spieth was one of the fastest-rising golfing stars ever and was on his way to being compared to the all-time greats of the game. 

But after winning three major championships, Spieth’s form has fallen off a cliff. He hasn’t won since 2022, and Spieth has come under fire for not playing in the fall season while still receiving sponsor exemptions for big events. 

It has called into question Spieth’s willingness to work his way back up the Official World Golf Rankings rather than being gifted exemptions.

In  2014, Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson had a strong opinion on Spieth’s attitude. 

What Tom Watson said about Jordan Spieth’s attitude at the 2014 Ryder Cup

Watson, captaining Team USA at Gleneagles, didn’t pick Spieth for his Ryder Cup team. Instead, he qualified automatically at such a young age, moving himself into the top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings in the process. 

And his captain had nothing but praise for a young Spieth, calling him an “A1 player” despite his youth.

Watson said, “Jordan has a great attitude about this game. He has a very strong, mature attitude about how he plays the game, and I couldn’t be happier to have him on the team. He’s an A1 player.”

In 2025, Keegan Bradley left Spieth off of his Ryder Cup team, making it the first time in his professional career that he didn’t play in the event. That shows just how poor his form has been in the last two seasons. 

On his debut in 2014, he hit the ground running to make a major contribution to Team USA.

How Jordan Spieth performed on his Ryder Cup debut

Despite singing Spieth’s praises prior to the tournament, Watson benched Spieth for Friday afternoon foursomes. He did play the other four events, and made a good showing of himself alongside Patrick Reed. 

Spieth was particularly impressive during fourballs, winning 5&4 and 5&3 on his morning matches. He then tied Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer in foursomes and lost to Graeme McDowell on Sunday to make his record 2-1-1 at the event.

Spieth’s 2.5 points made him the second-most successful Team USA player in Scotland, behind only Reed.

The Americans lost their third-straight Ryder Cup to Team Europe, falling 16.5 to 11.5, making Spieth’s successes all the more impressive.