In big moments, Jordan Spieth looks like he belongs

Here on the edge of Lake Michigan, we’ve arrived at the last day of golf’s major championship season and perhaps the only thing we know for sure is Tiger Woods isn’t going to win.

We’ve known that for a while, in fact.

Just how this PGA Championship plays out remains to be seen and if the first three days set the plot in motion, the finish figures to have enough twists and turns that you halfway expect Tom Cruise to show up on a motorcycle.

Maybe it’s finally Jason Day’s day. Maybe Tony Finau surprises everyone and wins. If Matt Jones wins, maybe he’ll buy drinks for everyone in the hospitality chalet he visited during Saturday’s third round.

Martin Kaymer? Been here. Done that. Justin Rose? If he can remember how to putt. Branden Grace? Don’t be shocked.

And, oh by the way, Jordan Spieth’s name is there again.

Just like at the Masters. Just like at the U.S. Open. Just like at the Open Championship. And just like we expected it to be this week at Whistling Straits.

There was a time when Woods’ name lived on leader boards. If Woods’ name wasn’t there, it would be eventually and every player in the field was waiting for it.

It’s that way with Spieth now, just like it was that way for Rory McIlroy last summer when he blew through the Open Championship and PGA the way that Wizard of Oz-like storm ripped through Whistling Straits Friday night.

It will take something improbable for Spieth to win Sunday because he’s starting with several players in front of him but what’s he’s accomplished already this season deserves an ovation.

Spieth has had an epic season and if he should somehow steal this PGA Championship, it would put his 2015 among the best years in the game’s long history. If Spieth finishes 30th, it won’t take any of the sparkle off what he’s already done.

Among the many things to admire about Spieth is the way he looks like he belongs in the big moments. It’s like a de facto address for the 22-year old.

Looking for Jordan? Check the back nine late on a Sunday afternoon.

Spieth’s quest to win the Open Championship at St. Andrews was mesmerizing and it spoke to his magnetism that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was walking Whistling Straits in Friday’s heat watching Spieth and McIlroy play together, doing his best to ignore the many “Hey, Rodgers, discount double check” comments thrown at him from the gallery.

Whistling Straits is a spectacular setting, evoking an old-world look with a new-age design. It’s completely manufactured, mountains of dirt trucked in years ago to convert what had been an Army training facility in the 1950s into a Scottish-looking layout that’s as unforgiving to spray hitters as its steep slopes are to weak ankles. But it works.

Where else would you find Phil Mickelson intentionally sliding down a steep hill on his rear end like he did Friday afternoon?

“I got going a lot faster than I thought,” Mickelson admitted.

Where else would you see then tournament leader, Matt Jones, playing from the blue carpet of a hospitality chalet left of the ninth hole? It was his best option after a terrible tee shot, plus the hors d’ouerves were pretty good, too.

Whistling Straits is a great character in the PGA Championship story because its allows birdies to be made.

The thrill of tournament golf is seeing the best players do what they do best.

One more day of it to go.

This story was originally published August 15, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "In big moments, Jordan Spieth looks like he belongs."