The calf and the lion shall graze together and a small child shall lead them…….. Isaiah 11:6
Jordan Spieth is 18 years younger than Tiger Woods and 23 years younger than Phil Mickelson, but he bested Woods by nine shots and Mickelson by eight shots, through the first 36 holes in the Farmers Insurance Open.
Mickelson and Woods are the main attractions this week and always draw the bulk of the attention. Spieth is looking to change that. Even though this is the tenth event on the 2014 PGA Tour schedule, it is the first big event of the year.
He seems to be ready to continue at the same impressive pace as he exhibited in 2013. One win, three runners-up and nine top-10 finishes earned him $3.8 million last season, plus a spot on the U.S. Presidents Cup team.
After posting a one-under par 71 on the more difficult South Course at Torrey Pines on Thursday, Spieth carded a nine-under par 63 to take the 36-hole lead at 10-under par.
His second round included five birdies on the front nine for a 31 and four more birdies on the back side. He never was in any trouble throughout his round and with Woods playing alongside, bested the world No. 1 by nine strokes.
That is pretty heady stuff for a mere 20-year-old.
Spieth is no mere flash-in-the-pan and appears primed to make a run up the world rankings in 2014. With one top-10 in three starts already in the 2013-14 season, he is already ranked No. 17 in the world and will move even higher with a win here this week.
Mickelson started his 2014 campaign last week in Abu Dhabi and after two unimpressive rounds fired a third round 63 to get back into contention and eventually finished runner-up. Will he be able to duplicate that effort this week?
He is fighting a sore back that seems to be affecting his swings with his driver.
This is Woods first start of the year and he appears to have some rust on his clubs. He was only able to manage two birdies versus one bogey on the much easier North Course on Friday.
This performance should give the young Mr. Spieth a tremendous amount of confidence and we could see him competing for major hardware later in the season.