Putting and ball-striking excite Jordan Spieth for Masters

Jordan Spieth celebrates after putting out on the 18th green to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Picture: Jeff Gross/Getty Images

“I think this was as well as I’ve struck the ball closing a tournament,” said the Texan as he reflected on his four-shot success in the AT&T Pro-Am at the iconic Californian venue. “This is the most greens in regulation I’ve ever hit on a Sunday with the lead, and it was because my ball-striking is much improved.”

Spieth said he had already felt that was the case as he recorded three top-10 finishes to start his 2017 campaign, and his patience was duly rewarded as the putts started to drop en route to his ninth PGA Tour triumph and first since the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii 13 months ago.

“My misses in previous tournaments had been on the greens. I’ve just been waiting for the putter to come around with mid-range length, and it did in the middle two rounds this week,” he said of carding two 65s to take a six-shot lead into the final circuit.

“I was able to see rounds go to seven-under versus stopping at three or four-under because I just couldn’t get them to keep falling. I got a lot of confidence in my putter back this week.” It was on fire, of course, when Spieth became Masters champion in 2015 then making it back-to-back major wins by adding the US Open. He was on course for a successful Green Jacket defence last April until running up a quadruple-bogey 7 at the short 12th in the final round, but is suddenly sounding bullish - and rightly so - about heading back to Augusta National again.

“I didn’t hit the ball great at the 2015 Masters. I putted out of my mind,” he said. “At the US Open, I struck it pretty well, but I actually hit the ball the best in the second half of that year and I’m back to kind of that level of striking the ball. And, when the putter it like it was in those middle two rounds here, then we can be pretty dangerous.”

The 23-year-old is the youngest person to chalk up nine PGA Tour victories since Tiger Woods, admitting that milestone had been achieved at one of the game’s special venues. “This is a bucket list place to win,” he said. “Here, Augusta National, St Andrews. There’s only a few places in the world that it feels really special walking up to the 18th green knowing that you are going to win. It’s such a unique position, and I tried to soak it in.”

In addition to those victories, Spieth has had 10 runner-up finishes and 44 top-10s already in his short PGA Tour career. He knows it’s inevitable that he’s continually being compared to Woods at the same age, but is determined to block that out. He already feels that disappointments such as last year’s Masters are helping shape his career as much as those successes.

“It’s been a tremendous four years, but you are always trying to get better,” he said. “We’ve had ups and downs and everything in between. I’m probably more comfortable than I was a couple years ago just because I recognise the longevity of a career. I feel like in the last two-and-a-half years I’ve had enough experiences that people normally have in a 20-year career on Tour.

“Recognising the longevity of a career, I don’t think anyone’s going to win at the same percentage that Tiger won at, so I don’t think it’s fair to necessarily compare to it and I think less of that than I have in the past. Getting to where you’re the first guy, even including Tiger, to do something, is maybe the next goal, but that might be pretty hard.”

As, he admitted, will be trying to emulate 2015, when he chalked up no less than five victories. “A year like that takes a bit of luck,” said  Spieth. “You have got to be in the right position at the right time and have the right breaks. I feel like I’m in a position where I can get myself those chances, but I don’t think  comparing to the 2015 as being the standard is fair because that would be comparing to someone who would win  45 majors and almost a hundred events.

“I’m not sure what my standard is yet and I think it maybe takes a decade to figure that out. But I’m trying to improve each day, trying to improve my ball striking, which was No 1, and we have done that. I’m really looking forward to what this season has to bring. I’ve had four great starts to the new year, and I’m not going to let up. I want to try and carry on this momentum as we dive into the season.”