Jordan Spieth might have reached his prime at 22, while Vijay Singh was 41. Tiger and Seve had two primes. When is a golfer at his best? » BY ALAN SHIPNUCK
few years ago former ESPN columnist Bill Simmons did a deep-dive on NFL quarterbacks. In weigh-
ing a trove of historical statistics he concluded that 32 is the average age a QB peaks—it is the moment when wisdom, experience and physical prow- ess are perfectly aligned. Football is obviously a more physical game than golf, but top quarterbacks can enjoy almost as much longevity as Tour players; this season Peyton Manning will be 39, Tom Brady a boyish 38. All of this has gotten us thinking about whether a similar metric can be applied to golfers. It should be trickier, because while virtually all quarterbacks are groomed in four-year college programs and arrive in the NFL at more or less the same age, golfers often take more
circuitous routes to the big-time. But a sampling of the all-time greats reveals some interesting trends. In the golden era of the game,
golfers definitely followed the Sim- mons template. Jack Nicklaus peaked in 1972, the year he turned 32. Palmer peaked at 31, in 1960. Lee Trevino was 32 (’71), while Tom Watson hit his apex at 31 (’80). (A panel of experts determined the peak year for each player; by panel, I mean me.) As al- ways, there are outliers: Johnny Miller was 27 (’74), although he didn’t peak so much as burn out. Gary Player was 39 (’74), although he says his most significant achievement came at 30, when he com- pleted the career Grand Slam.
Jordan Spieth is clearly going to have a monster career, but it’s entirely likely he’s already seen his peak, at 22.
FALL 2015 /
NCGA.ORG / 37
PHOTO: USGA
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