Ian Poulter, not particularly well known for doling out praise, has given Jordan Spieth the highest of compliments, saying the 22-year-old "may be the best putter ever."
The 39-year-old Englishman told Reuters that Spieth's putting is the reason this year's Masters and U.S. Open champ is finding himself in contention every week.
"Statistically he's the best putter in the game and he may go down as he best anyone has ever seen," Poulter said. "If you look at the percentage of putts he holes from 25 feet it's remarkable. That's generally the distance you hit it to when you are playing well. It's an amazing percentage of putts that he holes and we all want that sort of putting stroke.”
Spieth holds a number of first-place rankings among his peers when it comes to putting. He leads the Tour in putting average (1.693 putts per hole), putts per round (27.88) and—the stat Poulter is so impressed by—putts from 25 feet (he makes 28.85 percent of them).
They say it takes one to know one. Poulter himself has an impressive resume when it comes to putting; he is 15th on Tour in strokes gained putting and 16th in overall putting average, with his big wins coming in at putts from seven feet (third) and putts from 10-15 feet (sixth). More than once he made heroic saves for the European team at the 'Miracle of Medinah,' where the Europeans came from four points back overnight to win the 2012 Ryder Cup 14.5-13.5.
Perhaps crowning Spieth the best of all-time is premature (the kid just turned 22 July 27), but he's well deserving of the praise.
Source: golf
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