The Masters: Jordan Spieth looks made for green jacket
AUGUSTA - The most amazing thing about Jordan Spieth's first Masters is that no one is surprised by it, neither old-timers such as Ben Crenshaw, nor the accomplished pros he seems to consistently beat and certainly not the 20-year-old himself.
When Spieth starred on the U.S. Presidents Cup team last fall, it was evident he was ready for the big stage.
'He could take a lot out of this,' Adam Scott said, 'and win majors very soon.'
How about the very next one?
In 1997, Tiger Woods teed it up in his first professional major and ended up running away with the green jacket. No one was surprised then, either, although some were awed by how completely he took over the game.
Spieth isn't Woods, and it would be unfair to paint him as the next one. But somehow, it seems he just skipped over the learning curve straight to polished pro. He's something special not just because of his game but because of his mind. He has yet to be rattled by the moment or the opponent, although that will be put to the test Sunday when he tees off in the final group with Bubba Watson.
Consider, though, that Spieth played with Rory McIlroy the first two days and dusted him by seven shots, Patrick Reed by 11. When he played with Woods at Torrey Pines this year, he beat him by nine, and his first round with Phil Mickelson at last year's Deutsche Bank Championship, he shot 62. Sunday, he beat Scott by six.
Steve Williams, Scott's caddie, might have been having a few flashbacks.
What's amazing, too, is that Spieth has had to throttle back his aggressive nature and turn patient, not easy for anyone his age. But then again, when he was looking for advice before the tournament, he went to Jack Nicklaus, Crenshaw and Crenshaw's caddie, Carl Jackson, who walked his 51st Masters this week. Spieth's caddie, Michael Greller, was in on the skull session as well.
'What better voice to trust than Carl?' Greller asked. 'Jordan at one point in our practice round the next day joked with me that he was going to get me a shirt that read, 'Carl Says.' Because so many times I said, 'Carl says this and Carl says that.' '
The key piece of advice, it turned out, was not to be sucked in by flags. Play safe. Realize that the middle of the green usually sets up a two-putt for par.
'I've never picked so many targets at the middle of the greens,' Spieth said. 'It's one thing to pick targets in the middle of the greens, and then I always go away from that. Michael is always like, 'Right there. Right there.' And I'm like, 'Well, I want to go at the pin,' but you can't do it here.
'So I have a lot of respect for this golf course,' he added. 'It's not like hitting the smart shot gets you an easy par. You still have to work for it, and that's why I'll lose some more hair as we go on this week.'
That 'respect' is also extended to everyone he meets. He calls everyone older than he is'Mister.' He said he won't call Bubba 'Bubba' Sunday.
'Yeah, Mr. Watson, for sure,' Spieth said when asked if he planned to address Bubba Watson that way. 'Just because it'll mess with him.'
'That's fine,' Watson replied, 'when I'm hitting it past him.'
He probably knows that won't matter. The kid's unshakable.
'We joked about it on the range today when they were going to the tee,' Watson said. 'They said, 'We'll see you in the last group on Sunday.'
'And I was like, 'You'd better play good.' But obviously I should have played a little bit better.
'It's fun. It will be good. He's a great player obviously. A guy like that, he obviously has no fear. And he's just going to improve, his game is just going to get better and better.'
Any better on Sunday and the green jacket will be his.
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