Spieth's superb putting, determination led to first green jacket

All you need to know about Jordan Spieth and the Masters Tournament is that he’s a quicker learner at Augusta National Golf Club than Tiger Woods, who has had a pretty good career there.

When Woods won his first of his four Masters titles in 1997, it came in his third Masters appearance, at age 21 years, 3 months old. He tied for 41st and missed the cut in his first two starts.

Spieth tied for second in his debut last year and went on to tie Woods’ tournament scoring record of 18-under 270 and win by four shots in wire-to-wire fashion this year. He’s 21 years, 9 months old.

Bill Haas, who tied for 12th place, called Spieth’s performance “impressive beyond belief.”

The book on Spieth since he left the University of Texas golf team to turn pro early in his sophomore year of 2012 has always been that he is very good in every phase of the game, but not great in any of them.

“He has no weaknesses,” Phil Mickelson said of Spieth after he tied for second place with Justin Rose in the Masters. “He doesn’t overpower the golf course, but he plays the course strategically well. He plays all the shots properly.”

Spieth’s putting performance, however, in the 79th Masters overshadowed the rest of the game, leading to a tournament record 28 birdies. He had 25 putts in both his first-round 64 and second-round 66 and finished with 108 putts, third-best in the field.

“He played well,” said Woods, who tied for 17th place. “I know when I won in 1997, shooting 18-under, I didn’t miss a single putt under 10 feet for the week. If you’re going to run away and hide like that, you have to make a lot of putts.”

Spieth also had an intangible that serves him well on the golf course.

“He has that ability to focus and see things clear when the pressure is on and perform at his best when the pressure is on,” Mickelson said. “That’s something that you really can’t teach. Some players are able to do it, some players aren’t, and he is.”

Spieth didn’t have any of the tournament-record 47 eagles, which is probably because he ranked 44th in driving distance at 282.6 yards.

His putting helped him take the lead early in the first round and never relinquish it on the way setting the 36- and 54-hole scoring records.

Of the 72 holes, he had 37 one-putt greens, made two putts of more than 20 feet and seven of more than 15 feet.

After Spieth’s victory, two-time Masters champion and fellow Texan Ben Crenshaw said he had already been impressed with Spieth’s prowess on the greens five years ago.

“He showed such exceptional talent as a 16-year-old at the Byron Nelson tournament, and we all could see the progression from then on,” Crenshaw said. “He had such a determined focus, a fine bit of competitive fire and a lethal putting stroke.”

On putts between 3 feet and 10 feet in the Masters, Spieth made 32 of 42 attempts. One of those misses was a 5-footer for par that came on the 72nd hole and would have given him the tournament scoring record.

Not that Spieth minded that much.

He had already started thinking about the victory as he walked up the hill on No. 18 to his chip shot with a five-shot lead.

“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,” said Spieth, who wasn’t aware at the time that a par on No. 18 would have given him the tournament record.

“It was special time for him to be able to walk up the last hole and enjoy it and let it sink in; not many people get to have that for their first major championship,” said Rory McIlroy, who closed with 66 and finished fourth.

McIlroy was also 21 years old when he carried a four-shot lead into the final round of the 2011 Masters, just as Spieth did. But McIlroy shot 80 and tied for 15th.

“He’s a lot more mature than I was at 21,” McIlroy said after his round Sunday. “He’s a helluva golfer and great guy. It was very, very impressive.”