The Loop

Jordan Spieth won the Australian Open, but his brother may have had an even better week

November 21, 2016
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AP

On Sunday, Jordan Spieth made headlines for winning the Australian Open for the second time. It was an impressive come-from-behind victory, and one he hopes leads to a great year of golf like the first time he won in Sydney two years ago. But it turns out Jordan might not have even had the best sports week in the Spieth family.

On Monday, Spieth's younger brother, Steven, was named the Ivy League Player of the Week in basketball. In three games, the senior at Brown University averaged 22.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, while shooting 42 percent from three-point range. Spieth had 25 points and seven rebounds, while making all 10 of his free throw attempts in Brown's 80-76 loss to Albany on Sunday, hours after his older brother won Down Under.

It continued a great start to Spieth's final collegiate campaign. On Nov. 13, Spieth nearly became the third player in Ivy League history to record a triple-double, coming up one assist shy in a 27-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist performance against Niagara. His first weekly honor didn't include that game.

Jordan Spieth is about to enter a quiet stretch with the PGA Tour officially on break until he'll attempt to defend his title at the Tournament of Champions in January. Spieth is also expected to join Tiger Woods at the Hero World Challenge in December, but with a lot of open dates, that could mean taking in one of his brother's games. Although, that doesn't seem like it would be the most relaxing of off-season activities.

In March, Jordan watched Steven play in Providence, R.I., and according to Providence Journal columnist Bill Reynolds, Spieth “was sitting with about 20 or so people, he was wearing a floppy gray hat, and he was screaming at the referees at every call that went against Brown."