The doubts did creep in

would have been fine too but there are a lot of roads to get there,” said Spieth.

“Today took as much out of me as any day that I’ve ever played golf but I showed some resilience because, as you can imagine, thoughts come in from my last scenario when I was leading a Major on Sunday.

“All of a sudden it creeps into your head. I was so confident and, all of a sudden, the wheels have kind of come off.”

He added: “This is as much of a high as I’ve ever experienced in my golfing life and I’m going to enjoy it more than I’ve enjoyed anything that I’ve accomplished.”

Playing partner Matt Kuchar was forced to wait 29 minutes between shots while Spieth consulted with rules officials and decided what to do from his problem position 100 yards wide of the 13th fairway – Spieth apologised afterwards for a hold-up he admitted was unfair on his opponent.

But runner-up Kuchar, left, said: “We knew Jordan was in a great deal of trouble on 13. We knew we were going to be there for a while. “We made ourselves comfy and told some stories. “Certainly it was not anything I was ever going to be upset with. It was a very difficult situation.

“Jordan is a great champion and certainly played that way in the finishing stretch. It was impressive stuff. It’s crushing. It hurts.

“But all you can do is sit back, tip your cap and say ‘well done’. And it was certainly a show that he put on.”

Spieth’s win means he has become a triple Major winner quicker than Tiger Woods. He will now shoot for a career grand slam at next month’s US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

“It’s incredible. It’s a life goal of mine. It’s a career goal. Growing up playing golf, I just wanted to be able to play in Major Championships and compete with the best in the world and things have happened very quickly,” said Spieth.