Jason Day claimed this past weekend's RBC Canadian Open for his second PGA Tour win this season, the latest example that this is a "very exciting time for the game," according to CBS' Jim Nantz. The 27-year-old Day joins Rory McIlroy (26), Jordan Spieth (22) and Rickie Fowler (26) as players under 30 years old in the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings with multiple wins this year, and Nantz said, "This young brigade is bringing a lot to the game." CBS' Ian Baker-Finch said the players are "fine young athletes, but even more so when you look at guys like Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, they're fine young fellas, too." Baker-Finch: "They're really good, strong, upstanding, likeable young men" ("RBC Canadian Open," CBS, 7/26). In DC, Jacob Feldman noted Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Ollie Schniederjans were once "members of the hyped high school class" of '11, but now they "represent some of the biggest young names in golf." Swing instructor Sean Foley said, "This group of kids is a special petri dish of individuals. We might not see one like it for another decade." Feldman noted Schniederjans, who made the cut in both the U.S. Open and British Open as an amateur, was "not yet in first grade" when Tiger Woods won the '97 Masters, and by the time the young golfers were "deciding which sport to specialize in, Woods was winning his sixth PGA Tour player of the year award in seven seasons." Schniederjans said he was "fascinated" by Woods in those early years. He added that seeing how "quickly Spieth and his peers adjusted to PGA Tour play helps set the standard for him and others, allowing them to succeed more quickly" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/25).
HEIR JORDAN: ESPN's Jemele Hill said what impresses her about Spieth is that in a "time in sports where there's a lot of yapping and sometimes not a lot of product, he's the opposite." Hill: "He's all product, little talk. So I appreciate the humility he approaches the game (with). At a time where everybody is in this forever-ending quest to search for the next Tiger Woods, he's able, I think, to stand outside of that shadow." Hill said Spieth "may never be as 'big as Tiger Woods,' but he doesn't need to be." The N.Y. Daily News' Manish Mehta said Spieth "made golf appointment TV again." Mehta: "We wondered for a long time when Tiger was tumbling if we'd ever get to that point, and this is really an exciting time for the sport." ESPN's Howard Bryant added, "I love the fact that you don't have to be Tiger Woods. There's not going to be another (Michael) Jordan, there's not going to be another Tiger. This kid stands on his own" ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 7/26). Golf Channel's Paige Mackenzie said of Spieth, "One thing that could change between now and the end of the year and '16 is his impact in pop culture. I think outside the golf world, we're starting to see him kind of pop up every now and then, more on nightly shows." Golf Channel's Matt Ginella added, "The only thing that I think is really marketable in terms of who he is in the world of pop culture is this ... layer of competitive nature he has that not a lot of people get to see" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 7/27).
