Not exactly going out on a limb, eight-time major winner Tom Watson picks Jordan Spieth as the favorite for the PGA Championship next month at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Spieth's hopes of a calendar Grand Slam ended Monday at the British Open, as he fell one stroke short of a three-way playoff for the Claret Jug.
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But Watson is confident Spieth will bounce back — in a major way.
Watson, who captained the losing U.S. Ryder Cup team last year that included Spieth, highlighted the 21-year-old's short game as being among the best in the business.
"Jordan right now has to be the favorite the way he's been playing, but you never know," Watson told Omnisport at the Berenberg Gary Player Invitational.
"This golf game has so many ups and downs during the year for the player. Sometimes you're playing well, sometimes you're not playing well.
"Can you manage to be in the hunt? Can you manage to be there on Sunday, even if you're not playing your best? That's the true mark of a champion. A true mark of talent.
"Jordan's a wonderful short-game player, a great putter and he hits a number of quality shots. But we all go through spells where we don't play well. We try to limit our lows by using the tools that we have to do that – our short game.
"That's how we do that. Then when you start hitting the ball well, most likely you'll be in contention to win golf tournaments."
The Berenberg Gary Player Invitational is a charity event centered around the union of golf and giving. This year's event is raising money for De Paul UK, a charity that works to prevent youth homelessness.