Spieth Wins John Deere Classic

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DFW native Jordan Spieth claims his first PGA TOUR win at the age of 19 years, 11 months and 18 days in his 49th career start on the PGA TOUR, extending exempt status through the 2014-2015 season.

Spieth becomes the youngest player to win on TOUR sine Johnny McDermott won the 1911 U.S. Open at the age of 19 years, 10 months and 14 days.

Spieth began the week as a Special Temporary Member , who started the season with no PGA TOUR status. He played this week’s John Deere Classic on his own number and holed a 45-foot bunker shot on the 72nd hole for birdie and a 6-under 65 resulting in sudden death with defending champion Zach Johnson and David Hearn. Spieth won with a par on the fifth extra hole.

As a Special Temporary Member, Spieth needed a win to become a regular member in order to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs. With the win, his 614 Non-Member points become retroactive and are added to the 500 he earns for the win, giving him 1,114 points. With that, Spieth is projected to move inside the top 20 in FedExCup standings, safely securing his spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. (Top 125 players plus ties through the Wyndham Championship qualify for The Barclays).

With the win, Spieth earns the last spot into this week’s The Open Championship at Muirfield, Scotland. Since 1934, only 10 players have followed a win with a major championship title the next week. The last to do so was Tiger Woods in 2007, when he won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational the week before claiming his fourth PGA Championship crown.

If not otherwise exempt, Spieth earns a spot into these additional 2013 and 2014 PGA TOUR events: 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, 2013 PGA Championship, 2014 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, 2014 Masters Tournament.