FROM NEIL McLEMAN in Augusta
JORDAN SPIETH claimed he has left “a panic place” to arrive in Augusta with his old Masters form.
The Open champion has an extraordinary record in Georgia with two runner-up spots and a 2015 victory in his first three appearances. But the world No.4’s preseason preparations were ruined by a December illness and, struggling to regain his putting touch, he missed the cut at the Valspar Championship last month after a firstround 76. But back home in Texas for the Houston Open, the 24-year-old finished tied-third after completing his final round with a 29-foot putt. “I come in after a good week last week so I can use that as momentum,” Spieth said. “I feel really good about this week. “I made big strides in the last two weeks to get from kind of a panic place to a very calm, confident place. It’s difficult to do in two weeks. Sometimes it takes years. I feel like I’ve been able to speed that process up. “I don’t shoot 5-over very often and you’re like, ‘What the heck happened?’ And then you get a few tournaments in a row where the putter isn’t working. “Sometimes I get that for a day, sometimes it’s a couple of weeks, and I was getting it for a couple months. I was getting frustrated. I spent most of December in bed very sick so I couldn’t do all the basic stuff like alignment and I was trying to play through it. I feel better coming into this week than I did in 2016 and 2014 when I came off missed cuts in Houston. Settling into that from round one will be important, “Over the last four years I have found my way into the last group or second-last group on Sunday and nothing beats that 2.45 tee-off time, waking up in the morning with a chance to win the Masters.”