Jordan Spieth attends Korn Ferry Tour event, reflects on early days as pro

Jordan Spieth attended a Korn Ferry Tour event as a fan Wednesday. Yes, that Jordan Spieth.

Spieth made an appearance at the Veritex Bank Championship in his home Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, visiting with friends who competed in the pro-am at Texas Rangers Golf Club. Spieth’s buddies played nine holes with Matt McCarty and nine holes with Jamie Lovemark (Spieth’s close friend Richie Sapp, a groomsman in Spieth’s wedding, is the event’s tournament director).

Spieth, a three-time major champion, spent a brief period on the Korn Ferry Tour in his formative years, and he’s keenly aware of the game’s fine line between glory and the grind. Wednesday offered a chance to remember those days, and to reminisce on the vast depth in professional golf.

“These guys, they’re grinding,” Spieth said Wednesday. “They’re sometimes playing seven, eight weeks in a row … and all of a sudden they go on a run and they’re Scotite Scheffler. It’s where it all comes from.”

(This depth was further exemplified Thursday, when 24-year-old Frankie Capan III carded an opening-round 58 at Texas Rangers Golf Club, which wasn’t even the Korn Ferry Tour’s low round of the year. Cristobal Del Solar shot an opening-round 57 at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard in February.)

Spieth’s magical 2013 season included back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Korn Ferry Tour's The Panama Championship (T7) and Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard (T4). He then faced a decision point: continue on the Korn Ferry Tour, or head to the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open, into which he had received a sponsor exemption.

Spieth headed to Puerto Rico and finished second to earn a spot in the Valspar Championship, where he finished seventh to earn Special Temporary Membership on TOUR. The rest was history – he won the John Deere Classic later that summer to activate full membership, represented the United States in the Presidents Cup that fall and proceeded to global golf superstardom.

That year included a stint on the Korn Ferry Tour, which resonates to this day. (So much so, that he intended to track the competition as it unfolded at Texas Rangers GC.)

“Since I’m off this week, it will be fun (after) seeing this place, meeting the couple guys, looking this week on the app and seeing how they’re doing," Spieth said Wednesday. "Hearing a couple of the stories … Matt (McCarty), I know he was close last year and he’s doing pretty well this year so far, kind of right on the bubble.”

The top 30 on the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Points List will earn 2025 PGA TOUR membership, joining Spieth at the game’s highest level. He’ll know what it took to get there.

PGA TOUR Digital's Bret Clein contributed to this report.