KAPALUA, Maui » Jordan Spieth doesn’t bang clubs off trees, doesn’t throw his bag into the water, doesn’t blame his caddie when a blade of grass sends his golf ball sliding by the hole.

At the ripe, old age of 20, he isn’t concerned with the PGA Tour’s pension plan or how many zeroes are to the right of the first number in the checkbook. A year ago, he was playing for the University of Texas golf team without a care in the world. Since then, he won the John Deere Classic, had a shot at the FedEx Cup, played in the President’s Cup and a World Golf Championship and was invited by Tiger Woods himself to tee it up at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge.

Not bad for a guy who can’t drink a beer legally or even rent a car unless his mom and dad are with him at the counter.

The "next big thing" label is thrown around carelessly when trying to find a successor to Tiger Woods. Suffice it to say, the native Texan is phenomenal for his age in an era where 20-somethings don’t mind beating their elders with a flat stick.

Granted, he came up a shot short in the final round of Monday’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, standing by as Zach Johnson pocketed the keys to a new Hyundai and a $1.14 million check. But you get the feeling that this is the start of something big, and where it lands will depend on the rub of the green.

The next stop for the 2013 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year is none other than the Waialae Country Club, where neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson has ever played at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Oahu golf fans will quickly note that not only does Spieth play the game beyond his years, but his maturity belongs to someone twice his age.

Fellow tour competitor Billy Horschel put it best.

"That kid is unbelievable," Horschel said. "They’re talking about this guy and he’s good, no doubt about it. But he’s seven years younger than me. He’s 20 years old. I mean, geez, when I was 20 I was on the (Florida) golf team doing well, drinking beer and partying and having fun and he’s out here mixing it up with all these guys."

Spieth even has a certain command of the media, discussing at length what happened at Nos. 14 through 16 that arguably cost him the tournament. The par-5 15th was particularly troubling, where after he hit his second shot from the fairway, he yelled, "Yes!" and started walking after it, expecting the ball to be on the green.

When it landed 3 yards short, drifted down the false front and settled 40 yards from its original destination, he yelled out, "You’ve got to be kidding me." He flubbed his next shot, eventually settling for a par at the second-easiest hole for the day. But instead of sulking at his misfortune, he closed par, birdie, birdie and had an eagle putt at 18 that would have forced a playoff.

"When I hit it, I yelled ‘Yes!’ I mean it was exactly what I wanted," Spieth said of his second shot at 15. "I hammered one. It didn’t quite get high enough. I knew that. But it must have been going 200 miles an hour. I mean I hit it hard. I thought I had a putt. I was very surprised."

As for the eagle putt at 18, well, Spieth figured his chances of it going in weren’t good. He left it 10 feet short, but still knocked it in for birdie and a lone finish for second.

"That’s probably a one-out-of-50 putt there," Spieth said. "It did exactly what I thought it would do. I just thought it would be a little faster, speed-wise. With the break, if I hit it any harder, it would have skidded the hole."

As for playing the Sony, Spieth likes his chances, even with the dramatic difference between the Plantation and Waialae tracks.

"History shows from last year that I’ve played better after I’ve played the week before," Spieth said. "There wasn’t much rust this week. I was very happy about that. But next week’s a tight golf course and flatter and a different golf course. I’m playing really well. So when you’re playing really well, why not go right into another event."

Why not, indeed.

This guy has game, on and off the course. And he’s not afraid of rolling up his sleeves at the thought of hard work.

"I made the changes necessary (from last year)," Spieth said. "And I was happy to not have the ball in the hazard this week, and only made two bogeys for four rounds. I mean, I can’t ask for much more."