Monday Backspin: Spieth's success; Haney talks Tiger

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For now, it's back to school for Jordan Spieth, the 16-year-old who moved the HP Byron Nelson Championship from the sports page to SportsCenter.

Spieth becoming the sixth-youngest player to make the cut in a PGA TOUR event (not to mention contending) is a well-known story by now. If he wasn't before, Spieth is definitely the coolest kid in his class at Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas. That's what happens when you're trading texts with Tony Romo, getting your classmates out of school and into the tournament for free, and single-handedly putting on the type of performance that was somewhat reminiscent of a 20-year-old Phil Mickelson in 1991.

Spieth didn't win, but the game of golf did and it will continue to with an influx of young talent that's arguably the best we've seen in maybe 20 years. All of a sudden, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas look like grizzled veterans.

Consider this: Jason Day became the ninth player in his 20s to win on the PGA TOUR this season and he joins Rory McIlroy as players to have won before their 22nd birthday (McIlroy, in fact, turned 21 right after his win at Quail Hollow). It was also the 38th win by a player in his 20s since 2007.

Champion's Replay

Want to hear what Jason Day said about his win at HP Byron Nelson Championship? Click here Final round: Replay Scott's round MORE HP • Shot of the Day • Final-round highlights • Complete tourney coverage

And that list doesn't include 16-year-old Grayson Murray, who made the cut in the Nationwide Tour's Rex Hospital Open last week.

As for Spieth, the most impressive thing about him may be that he seems to grasp the moment. On the weekend, he talked about wanting to get the crowd into it and he did just that, especially on Sunday.

"I kind of chickened out the last three days on 17 and I finally said alright enough with this," said Spieth, who tied for 16th. "You're going to look back and say that you wish you'd fired at this pin, even if it goes in the water. You've got to try to make a hole-in-one here."

If Spieth can take that approach as he continues his career, next at the University of Texas and eventually the professional level, he's going to be a special player.

Stock up

Ben Crane: That's back-to-back top-10s for Crane after a final-round 66 that led to a T7 in Dallas. He hasn't done that since 2005. Call me crazy, but I think Crane wins again this season and makes the Ryder Cup team. FedExCup rank: 8th (11th last week) Jeff Overton: It's been a career year for the former Indiana star -- he has already surpassed his season-high in earnings just five months into the year. His runner-up in Dallas was his second in a month and with his length and ability on the green, it won't be long before he gets his first win. FedExCup rank: 27th (44th last week) Cameron Beckman: This guy is the definition of feast or famine and proof that a few weeks can make an entire year. Beckman has missed eight of 12 cuts, but he got his second top-5 of the year Sunday, sparked by a second-round 61, and he jumped to 68th in the FedExCup standings. FedExCup rank: 68th (98th last week)

Stock down

Hunter Mahan: He opened with a 66 then vanished the next three days to finish at 4 over. I know he had three straight top-20s coming into Dallas, but that had to leave a bad taste in his mouth. FedExCup rank: 12th (13th last week) Vijay Singh: He missed the cut in Dallas, which means he'll have to go through a 36-hole qualifier if he wants to make it to the U.S. Open and keep alive the longest active streak on TOUR for consecutive majors. Unfortunately, Singh is working on another streak: Number of consecutive weeks (4) in Stock Down. FedExCup rank: 102nd (95th last week) Rickie Fowler: As good as Fowler is/will be, he's been wildly inconsistent in his rookie campaign. After back-to-back top-10s, he's missed his last two cuts. Like Vijay Singh, Fowler will now face a 36-hole qualifier to get into the U.S. Open. FedExCup rank: 24th (23rd last week)

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. What an absolutely chaotic finish in Dallas with Jason Day finding the water on the 18th hole for a third time in four days -- and Blake Adams putting it in the drink right on top of him. It's also unbelievable that Adams didn't know Day had hit it in the water. Maybe Adams would have rinsed his second shot anyway, but in that situation you have to know what the other player lies because you're basically in a match-play situation.

2. Maybe the biggest thing Jordan Spieth learned this week? To control his emotions. That's not exactly easy to do as a 16-year-old, but playing with Tom Pernice Jr. and Corey Pavin the last two days, Spieth said he noticed how calm they stay whether they make bogey or birdie. That's going to help Spieth a lot as he pursues his career.

3. Spieth reminds me a lot of Rickie Fowler in terms of confidence and how he handles being in the spotlight. Confident yes, cocky no.

4. Hearing Ernie Els react to all the criticism over the changes made at Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship reminds me of a line Billy Payne once said about Augusta National: "It's like when you go to a piano recital of one of your granddaughters and you hear somebody say, 'Boy, that's the worst kid I've ever seen.' It hurts your feelings." Els' feelings certainly seemed hurt given his comments -- "A lot of the guys I've known for a long time came out and basically put the knife in," he told The Guardian. Maybe so, but Els himself admitted there needs to be changes to the host site of arguably Europe's biggest tournament.

5. Over the years, we've heard how good of a golfer former Braves pitcher John Smoltz is, that he's even taken a little cash off Tiger Woods. Well, Tony Romo is on the doorstep of accomplishing something very few athletes have. If he can get through next month's 36-hole sectional qualifier, he'll become what looks like just the fourth professional athlete to qualify for the U.S. Open.

6. Herein lies the beauty of golf: Jordan Spieth is 16 years old, and as noted by AP golf writer Doug Ferguson, his playing partners for the final two rounds, Tom Pernice and Corey Pavin, are a combined 100 years old.

7. We never hear enough about the charitable side of the game and what players do, so here's a nugget from earlier this year: Players voted in February to donate half their pro-am earnings in 2010 to foundations benefiting fellow player Chris Smith and former TOUR member Ken Green. Smith, you might remember, lost his wife in a horrific car crash nearly a year ago, while Green lost his girlfriend, brother, dog and his own right leg also in an auto accident as well. Smith made the cut at the HP Byron Nelson Championship last week, the first time he's done so since the accident.

8. I talked with Hank Haney Monday morning for what I thought might be 15 or 20 minutes only for the conversation to last just over 45 minutes. The biggest thing I came away with? He's incredibly relieved to no longer be coaching the No. 1 player in the world. Haney said the decision was one he had been thinking about for a while, but the last six months weren't the sole reason for his decision to resign. A factor, yes, but not the only one. "Six years is a long time," Haney told me. Especially when you're under a microscope the way he was. It's like dog years, you have multiply everything by seven.

9. One of the other things that came out of our coversation was that this had been building with Woods. For example, for the first five years, Haney said he spent about 110 days a year with Woods. Last year, that number was down to 50. Haney also said he has no plans to coach any other players, except for maybe those at his Hank Haney academies and some of the kids he'll work with from The First Tee program. The one guy Haney thinks has the total package out there among the game's young players? Rory McIlroy.

The Forward Spin

The last leg of the Texas Swing takes place at Colonial Country Club, where defending champion Steve Stricker is back after missing the last month with a shoulder injury. Stricker played 18 holes at Maple Bluff CC in Madison, Wis., with Jerry Kelly and Andy North last week in what was his first 18-hole round since he pulled out of the Zurich Classic in New Orleans after the pro-am. Masters champion Phil Mickelson will also be in the field. He won at Colonial in 2008 and 2000 and was a runner-up there in 2001.

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-3, 171-yard 13th at Colonial CC THIS WEEK: Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker are currently tied for the lead in the Kodak Challenge, which resumes this week in Fort Worth, Texas. Click here to tour the Kodak Challenge holes | Current Kodak Challenge standings