There are many different ways to explain why Jordan Spieth is so popular among his fellow players, even though he has an annoying habit of out-playing them all a lot of the time.
Go back to July at the Open Championship, when Spieth's final birdie putt swerved just left of the 18th hole at St. Andrews, leaving him one shot out of the playoff. Those three inches separated him from a chance to win a third straight major, a chance to keep alive the possibility of making unimaginable history.
Most players would have bolted the premises as quickly as possible and gone off to play the what-if game.