Butch Harmon Comments on Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods Comparisons

Jordan Spieth has captured the golf world in a way the sport hasn’t seen since Tiger Woods took it by storm nearly two decades ago. 

The 22-year-old won his seventh PGA Tour event Sunday at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii, tying Woods’ record for most tour wins before the age of 23.     

In a sport divided by eras, the comparisons have run rampant, and Woods’ former swing coach, Butch Harmon, believes they're warranted.   

“It’s not unfair to compare Jordan with Tiger because Jordan is doing exactly what Tiger did at the same age,” Harmon said Sunday, per Rex Hoggard of GolfChannel.com.

Woods was 39 days younger than Spieth when he reached his seventh victory, but Woods at that point only had one major victory, the 1997 Masters Tournament. Spieth won last year's Masters and U.S. Open, and he contended late in the remaining two majors.   

Harmon elaborated that the key difference between the two is Woods’ power. Spieth ranked 78th in driving distance last season, his third on the tour, while Woods was third in the category at that point in his career, per Hoggard. 

Yet what Harmon appreciates most about Spieth is that he’s remained disciplined in his swing:

"

Tiger could physically take over a golf course with his driver better than Jordan can. Tiger putted great like Jordan does, he is smart mentally like Jordan, he had all the shots like Jordan, he has the same work ethic.

What I really admire about Jordan and his instructor Cameron McCormick is they really haven’t tried to gain more distance. Everybody has their own swing that is personal to them and the secret to teaching is you don’t want to take away what someone does naturally and I think Cameron and Jordan have done that beautifully.

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Spieth won last weekend’s event by eight strokes at 30-under—one stroke shy of Ernie Els’ record set in 2003 at the same course and just the second time any golfer has eclipsed 30-under.     

The world No. 1 picked up right where he left off last year and is well on his way to matching, if not exceeding, Woods’ remarkable feats.