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 Spieth is the front-runner to land the coveted honor after clinching
the first two majors of the season -- the Masters and U.S. Open --
before finishing one shot out of a British Open playoff and being
runner-up at the PGA Championship.
The 22-year-old American ended his campaign in triumphant style with
victory at the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta last week
where he also clinched overall FedExCup playoff honors and the $10
million jackpot.
Spieth made 21 of 25 cuts on the PGA Tour, including four runner-up
spots, as his earnings for the season ballooned to $22 million
because of the FedExCup bonus.
He set a record for official earnings on the U.S. circuit, his tally
of $12,030,465 eclipsing the previous mark of $10,905,166
established by Vijay Singh in 2004.
Spieth is expected to claim Player of the Year honors over three
rivals -- Australian Jason Day, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and
American Rickie Fowler -- in a vote of his peers.
Of that trio, Day has pushed Spieth hardest in the battle for the
prized accolade as he also triumphed five times on the 2014-15 PGA
Tour while claiming his first major title at the PGA Championship.
Spieth, who is known for his brilliant putting and mental strength,
displayed remarkable consistency as he dominated golf for most of
the year. He came close to recording the first ever calendar grand
slam of the four professional majors, his worst finish a tie for
fourth at the British Open.
SURPRISING FORM DIP
A surprising dip in form over the past month coincided with a
red-hot run by Australian Day, who won four of six events, including
the PGA Championship and two of the FedExCup playoff tournaments.
That stung the highly-competitive Spieth, who made a mental
adjustment as he turned things around after missing the cut in the
first two FedExCup playoff events.
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"I got frustrated. I missed two cuts in a row, had never done that,
lost the number one ranking. I was watching Jason Day just dominate
golf," said Spieth.
"I got to work, put my head down a little more than I did right
after the PGA (Championship), knowing that we could still peak this
week (at the Tour Championship) and that's what we did."
As for his entire 2014-15 campaign, Spieth has a great deal to
savor.
"Unreal, this year was unreal," said the American. "I don't know how
we sit down and figure out how to improve on it, but we are going to
try to do that.
"It's the greatest season I've ever had, obviously ... we took our
game on course and off course to a level that I didn't think would
be possible at different times in my life.
"It gives me a lot of confidence going forward for the next 20
years. To know that if I remain healthy, that even when things are
poor, we can get back to this level quickly and that's what we
showed in the playoffs."
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank
Pingue)
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