It was September 2008 and you never would have suspected that two members of the United States Junior Ryder Cup team were less than a decade away from superstardom as the top-ranked American professional golfers.

The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky., was the site of the U.S. vs. Europe international team competition, a match that preceded the Ryder Cup at nearby Valhalla Golf Club. In the afternoon portion of the first day, the youngest American boy, 15-year-old Jordan Spieth, was paired with the youngest American overall, 13-year-old Lexi Thompson, in a mixed four-ball (better ball) match. Thompson, with a mouth full of braces, and Spieth, sporting longer, wavy brown hair, looked like they would be better candidates for this spring’s Drive, Chip and Putt competition. But they won five of the first seven holes en route to a 6-and-5 victory over Europe’s Stanislas Gautier and Lisa Maguire.

“Alexis did everything, and she is almost unbeatable,” Spieth said. “This is a great feeling. We expected to play well, but the chemistry had to come together and it has so far.”

The U.S. team rolled to a 22-2 victory, perhaps adding momentum for an American Ryder Cup team victory later, its only win in the past seven Ryder Cups.

The duo’s rise has been very quick and similar. They even have similar quirks, as Thompson recently began experimenting with putting during competition with her eyes closed. Spieth has been known to look at the hole instead of his ball on short putts.

They could also be a roadmap for a recently announced partnership between the LPGA and PGA TOUR that includes “exploring the potential development of joint events.”

Here is a chart comparing their career and current statistics on the PGA TOUR and LPGA:

CATEGORY	SPIETH	THOMPSON
Age	22	21
Turned Pro Age	19 (2012)	Age 15 (2010)
First Pro Event Start	Age 16 (2010)	Age 12 (2007)
World Ranking	1	3
Wins on Pro Tour	7	7
Major Wins	2	1
Age of 1st Win	19	16
Age of 1st Major Win	21 (2015 Masters)	19 (2014 ANA Inspiration)
Starts/Cuts Made	88/72 (82%)	121/101 (83%)
Second Places	9	5
Top-10 Finishes	34	37
Career Scoring	69.93	71.05
Career-Low Round	61	63
Current Driving Distance Avg. (Rank)	295.6 (60)	287.6 (1)
Current Putting Avg./Round (Rank)	27.61 (3)	30.69 (97)

Lexi Thompson and Jordan Spieth Share Common Path to the Top

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