Jordan Spieth only needed one year at Texas to lead the men’s golf program to its third national title in 2012. Eleven years later, Spieth will be inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor.
Just a freshman in the 2012 season, Spieth brought the Longhorns back from being down 2-1 against Alabama in the final round of the NCAA championship. In the match, he competed against fellow top amateur, Alabama’s Justin Thomas. Spieth’s match-play victory over Thomas was key for the Longhorns to come from behind to win the National Championship 3-2.
Currently No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Spieth burst onto the professional golf scene without missing a beat. In his rookie season, he only missed three cuts and had eight top-10 finishes, finishing twice as a runner-up. In just his second season on the tour, Spieth won the FedEx Cup Championship, becoming the youngest player to do so.
In the 2014 season, he won the Hero World Challenge, the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. Spieth also had 15 top-10 finishes that season, including four runner-up performances. He was also named Rookie of the Year in 2013.
Since then, he has been ranked the World No. 1 four separate times and has 13 career wins. Outside of golf, Spieth has stayed involved in the Longhorn community and was the celebrity pick for ESPN College Gameday when Alabama football came to Austin in 2022.
Spieth founded the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, which benefits four philanthropic areas, including individuals with special needs, junior golf, military families and veterans, and pediatric cancer patients. According to his website, “he dreamed of building a philanthropic legacy as large as an athletic one.”
The foundation has raised more than $3.2 million for pediatric cancer funding, created the Achieving Competitive Excellence endowment for junior golfers and worked with The Boot Campaign’s “Elf Week” to make holiday boxes for military families.
Spieth was inspired to help others when his younger sister Ellie was born with a neurological disorder.
“Because of Ellie, it has always been a priority to me to be in tune to the needs of others,” Spieth’s website said. “Jordan always believed he could make a significant impact, starting in his high school days. With a school mantra of ‘a man for others,’ he spent afternoons volunteering at Ellie’s school and seeing firsthand the great value of volunteerism.”
As the headlining member of this year’s class, Spieth and the rest of the Hall of Honor inductees will be officially inducted into the Hall of Honor on Friday and honored at Saturday’s football game against Wyoming.
