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Amateur golfer Jordan Spieth made his PGA debut in 2010 at the Byron Nelson on a Sponsor's Exemption. Of course there was another hurdle he had to cross before he could play. The High School junior had to get all his teachers at Dallas Jesuit to sign permission slips to allow him to miss class for three days.
Sunday the 19-year old former Longhorn took the next step towards a seemingly unlimited professional career by becoming the first teenager to win on the PGA Tour in 82 years.
Spieth defeated defending champion Zach Johnson and Canadian David Hearn to capture the John Deere Classic. The most dramatic shot of the day, however, came at the end of regulation when Spieth hit the sand shot of a lifetime to get into the playoff.
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As hard as it may be to fathom, this almost all seems predestined for the 19-year old. Spieth is the only player aside from Tiger Woods to capture multiple Junior U.S. Amateur Championships. His one year on campus at UT saw Spieth win three collegiate tournaments, make All-American and Player of The Year as well as help lead the Longhorns to their first National Championship in over 30 years.
He turned pro at the end of 2012 without any playing status on the tour. He relied on a limited number of sponsors' exemptions that are available and quickly won enough money to earn his temporary card.
With the win Sunday, Spieth has now played in 16 tour events - and finished in the Top 10 an amazing six times. That is a .375 batting average, an all-star performance on any golf tour.
With the win Spieth opens every other door in his profession that had heretofore been closed.
He is now a permanent member of the PGA Tour.
He passed $2 million in earnings this year as a temporary member.
He will play in the 2014 Masters
He is now qualified to compete in the Fed Ex Cup, the tour's season ending championship, and thanks to the retroactive adding of Fed Ex points he jumps all the way up to 11th on the points list.
The celebration over this win will have to wait, because Jordan is now on a charter tonight headed over the Atlantic to play in next week's British Open.
The biggest question for Longhorn fans from now on might be if we have seen the last of Jordan's Burnt Orange wardrobe. Up until this week, Jordan's sponsor - Under Armour - has supplied him with a Burnt Orange shirt for Sunday.
This time Jordan was wearing green, perhaps in honor of John Deere, but golfers, like a lot of athletes, are creatures of habit, so should be make the cut at the British Open we will just have to tune in and see what the sartorial selection is for finishing day.