Spieth Still in the Hunt in Singapore

Well, Jordan Spieth didn't bring his game or his caddie to Singapore.  But he brought that bulldog determination that has made him the best in the game today.  

There wasn't much from a shotmaking perspective to marvel at when you look at Spieth's week in Singapore.  He was missing fairways.  His iron shots were nothing to get excited about.  His play around the greens was adequate at best.  And the putts, for the most part, just weren't dropping.  And yet, refusing to give up, Spieth has scratched and clawed his way to two shots back of the lead, with a marvelous up and down from the trees on sixteen, and a fifteen footer to save par on seventeen after another lousy tee shot and an indifferent pitch.  Standing on eighteen he had a five footer for birdie, which would put him within one of the leader, Younghan Song, who was facing a longer putt for par on sixteen.  That was when the horn sounded to end play due to dangerous weather conditions.

We will have to wait and see whether Jordan can find a way to win the event.  He will need some help from the leader, who has finished second six times, but never won.  Song has showed some real grit himself in hanging on to the lead.  But how well he will sleep, thinking about that putt he needs to make for par, is anyone's guess.  He does look composed and unaffected by the situation he finds himself in; with a chance to beat the best player in the world for his first professional win.  It's a great opportunity for him.

What we do know is that this Spieth kid gives you 100 percent every time he tees it up.  And he finds a way to make a score, whether he's got his best stuff or not.  He may not have wowed the crowds in Singapore with his golf shots, but, win or lose, he's given them a show nonetheless.  

There is simply no quit in this kid.  That is what makes a great champion; the ability to grind out a score when nothing seems to be going right.  I don't know if that kind of determination and grittiness can be taught.  You may just have to be born with it.  You just have to be plain stubborn.  Most everyone else would have probably just figured it wasn't our week and given up.  But not this guy.

We shall have to wait and see whether Jordan can somehow pull off a win.  But, whether he does or not, he's no doubt made lots of new fans in Asia.