PGA Tour star Jordan Spieth recently attended a Brown win over Maine men’s basketball game to watch his younger brother, Steven, a senior wing and the Bears’ leading scorer who is enjoying the best season of his career. We sat down with the two brothers — who are a little more than a year apart — to talk about a variety of topics, including the time Steven lost a tooth because of his brother, Jordan’s hair (of lack thereof) and how Jordan has changed since becoming a golf icon.
Jeff Goodman: How competitive were you guys when you were growing up?
Jordan Spieth: Really competitive. I think we got it from our parents. They’re both college athletes, and we just were raised to play all sports and certainly have fun with it. We certainly got overboard. That’s when we normally had to stop. It probably made us both better at what we do.
JG: When was a time where you remember going at it against each other?
Steven Spieth: I don’t know if there’s a specific story because you can’t really get aggressive going at it in golf. We had a makeshift hole in the front yard, but all you can do is say, “Hey, I hit it closer than you,” and then the other person’s like “All right.” Then that’s the end of it.
JG: What about with basketball?
SS: We definitely used to get after it a little bit. There’s been a couple broken bones. We’d normally start out going outside saying we’re just going to shoot around, then we end up playing a game and we end up somewhere inside actually legitimately fighting.
JG: Steven, how do you describe your older brother?
SS: Hairless. [Laughs.] Um, no. Wise.
JG: Jordan, I don’t think your hair is that bad.
JS: No, it’s not. I don’t know what his big deal is.
JG: Jordan, what’s it like watching your brother play?
JS: In high school it was easier because I was at every game and I had friends on the team, too. We were in the student section, so everyone was going crazy the whole time. Now, watching it, via laptop or an iPad or whatever, I get so into it. I actually broke an iPad one time. I have an actual broken iPad after watching one of the games. I think it was [because of] a bad call.
