AUGUSTA — Jordan Spieth tied Tiger Woods' record for best score in Masters Tournament history, closing out a wire-to-wire win Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.
Spieth came into the final round with a four-stroke lead and never let any of his challengers get closer than three as the 21-year-old Texan captured the green jacket. Spieth (64-66-70-70-270) finished four shots ahead of Justin Rose (67-70-6770-274) and Phil Mickelson (70-68-67-69-274), who tied for second place. Despite their fine efforts - in addition to strong performances from World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Columbia native Dustin Johnson, among others near the top of the leaderboard - all they were ever really playing for was second place. Spieth was so good all week, not even he could really believe what he accomplished.
"It's incredible. It's one of the best feelings I've ever felt. This was arguably the greatest day of my life," said Spieth who made his Masters debut in last year, tying for second place despite holding the lead entering the final round. Being beaten by Bubba Watson fueled the fire that already burned bright inside the intense Spieth.
"I was already hungry from last year having already had an opportunity and watched it slip away and watched Bubba win and everything that came with Bubba being the Masters Champion, and the announcements of it, going on the shows and whatever, I knew I had a chance to win that tournament. So you get reminded of it all the time because when you're Masters champion, it's a different legacy. And so that definitely left me hungry."
Spieth feasted on Augusta National this week. While he was a scoring machine, recording 28 birdies, he did a great job of avoiding trouble. Over 72 holes on one of the toughest golf courses in the world, Spieth had just eight bogeys and one double bogey. On the rare occasion when he made a mistake, he was quick to limit the damage, avoided any funks and often responded with a birdie to make up for the shot he surrendered.
"Jordan didn't really open the door, and I didn't really expect him to," Rose said of Spieth who came to Augusta red hot, with a win followed by back-to-back second place finishes in his last three tournaments. "He's played with the lead now, it feels like, for the last month, and he's obviously got very comfortable doing that. ... You just need to take your hat off and marvel at it and congratulate him, because it's very impressive."
Mickelson, a three-time green jacket winner, had similar things to say about Spieth's performance.
"I've played really well to shoot 14‑under and I just simply got outplayed by a young player who just played some incredible golf," Mickelson said of Spieth, crediting his shot making, putting and short game as keys to his incredible performance. "He has no weaknesses. He doesn't overpower the golf course, but he plays the course strategically well. He plays all the shots properly and he has that ability to focus and see things clear when the pressure is on and perform at his best."
Lost in the excitement of Spieth's breakthrough is that McIlroy will have to wait another year to attempt to complete the career grand slam. Winner of the final two majors of 2014, McIlroy lacks only a green jacket in his trophy case among prizes from golf's top championships.
McIlroy (71-71-68-66-276) actually turned in his best four-round score at Augusta National, improving every round to finish in fourth place. But it wasn't enough to catch Spieth, who he now must fend off as the Texan pursues the top spot in the world ranking.
"I played well. I can take a lot of positives from it. It is my best ever finish here," said the 25-year-old McIlroy, who had nothing but praise for Spieth. "It's obviously very, very impressive. ... He's been playing great for a 21-year-old, he's way more mature than I was at 21 and a hell of a golfer and a great person as well. So I'm really happy for him."
Spieth also spoke highly of McIlroy, downplaying the possibility of a longtime rivalry forming between the two young stars.
"As far as with Rory, he's got four majors. That's something I can still only dream about; and just numerous wins. I'll never hit it as far as he does and I have to make up for that somewhere else. He's an unbelievably nice guy. Carries that World No. 1 with class," Spieth said. "I don't know, as far as a rivalry right now. (I) look forward to getting in the heat of the moment with him a couple times in the near future and see if we can battle it out and test our games."
Area fans won't have to go far to see Spieth the next time he puts his game on display. Despite the emotionally draining performance, Spieth said he remained committed to playing the RBC Heritage starting next Thursday in Hilton Head. Even if he's winning a week from now, it will be hard to compare to his first major championship.
"That was really, really cool to be able to walk up to the green with a few shots to spare and not worrying about anything and being able to enjoy that walk, soak it in," Spieth said. "I'll never forget watching the front of the hole as the last tap‑in went in the front edge. There was no need for crazy celebrations. At that point I was just really, really pleased with the whole week, being out on top, being able to stay on top and to conquer my favorite tournament in the world."
Noah Feit is the sports editor for the Aiken Standard and has been a professional journalist for more than 15 years after graduating from Syracuse University.