Spieth: Tiger Woods doesn’t get enough credit for impact on golf

Jordan Spieth believes Tiger Woods doesn’t get enough credit for his impact on professional golf, its coffers and its worldwide perception.

In an interview for Golf Channel’s “Feherty,” the first of two parts which aired on Monday night, Spieth expounded on how Woods took the mantle of the sport from Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

“Tiger Woods deserves a million thank-you notes and a million cases of nice wine from every golfer that’s coming up and wants to play the PGA Tour as well as those that are already on the PGA Tour,” Spieth said.

“He 100 percent deserves credit for doing what Arnie did in his day — Arnie and Jack. And taking it to the level it is today. He really doesn’t get the credit he deserves from us players. We all believe it. I don’t think we stress it enough to other people, how much we owe to Tiger and Phil and the greats before them.”

Woods’ role as a worldwide ambassador for the sport — and, to an unclear extent, influence on purses — are just starting to be understood, primarily because of players like Spieth, the generation of pro golfers directly influenced by Woods and the product of the PGA Tour he helped cultivate.

[H/T to CBS Sports]

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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