Jordan Spieth played his practice round at Augusta National on Tuesday with a couple of Masters newbies, Morgan Hoffmann and Brooks Koepka. He said he gave the young lads a few tips.
“Yeah, played with three first timers today,” Spieth said with a playful huff and roll of the eyes. “Those rookies.”
The interview room in the Augusta National press room broke out in laughter. While he’s miles down the road in experience, the 21-year-old Spieth is very much a peer of his practice partners. He himself was a Masters rookie only a year ago. But his adventures then make him feel like a grizzled veteran.
Spieth entered the final round last year tied with Bubba Watson for the Masters lead and a had a two-shot lead heading to the eighth hole. But he stumbled from there through the turn to the back nine and watched as Watson beat him and Jonas Blixt by three shots to secure his second green jacket.
“That was definitely the highest amount of pressure I’ve ever felt,” Spieth said. “That first tee shot, I think I hit it into 9 fairway and was just real quick off the tee. Played pretty much the entire round feeling different than I’ve ever felt on the golf course.”
Spieth – and much of the golf world – believes that experience and what has happened since has steeled the young Texan for another run here. He has won three times since – including the Australian Open last November – and comes to Augusta off a first- and two second-place finishes.
Las Vegas has him at 8-to-1 to win, the second-best odds behind Rory McIlroy (11-2).
“Having been so close last year and have a little experience and riding some momentum, I hope to put myself in contention and use what I’ve learned since last year,” Spieth said. “I think last year’s event, I certainly took a couple things out of it, as well as the positives that came from closing out a couple of tournaments at the end of the year and a few weeks ago.”
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