Spieth already stealing show
21-year-old just short of history in 1st round
AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is nothing peculiar about 21-year-olds looking in total control and on the verge of blowing away the field at the Masters.
They saw that here in 1997 when a young phenom named Tiger Woods opened with a 40, played the back nine in 30 and went on to a 12shot victory to become the youngest Masters champion in history.
And maybe the same thing happened on a warm, steamy Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club when Jordan Spieth, another 21year-old phenom, put his foot down on the eighth hole, made six birdies in a seven-hole stretch and took control of the 79th Masters with an impressive performance of precision and control.
Not that he hasn’t been doing that for a while, anyway.
“I was very pleased,” Spieth said. “It's one of the better rounds I've ever played.”
Spieth’s opening round of 8-under 64, capped by a 17-foot birdie at the final hole, gave him a threeshot lead on four players, including four-time major champion Ernie Els, who has never won the Masters despite a series of nearmisses.
Australian Jason Day birdied
five consecutive holes on the back, beginning at No. 12, to tie Els, former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and Charley Hoffman at 5 under.
“It’s really cool,” Spieth said of his round, which included nine birdies, only one bogey and came within one shot of tying the lowest score in major tournament history. “I’ll take three more.” Keep this in mind: Spieth is no stranger to runaway victories. He won the Australian Open by six shots in November and the Hero World Challenge by 10 shots in December.
And, in his past three starts on the PGA Tour, he has a victory in the Valspar Championship, a playoff loss at the Shell Houston Open and a second-place finish at the Valero Texas Open. That stretch has moved Spieth to No. 4 in the world rankings.
“He’s special; it’s great to see,” Els said. “He’s just the most magnificent guy. He does everything well. Nothing really stands out. He’s very good at everything.”
Spieth, who was leading the Masters with 11 holes left last year only to finish second to Bubba Watson, was threatening the recordlow score for a major championship (63) until a threeputt bogey at the par-5 15th.
Spieth never shot lower than 70 last year when he was trying to become the youngest player to win the Masters. He bettered that by six shots in the opening round.
How dominant was Spieth?
Even when he missed the fairway at No. 14, he responded with an approach from the pine needles that hit the pin and stopped 2 feet from the hole for his sixth birdie in seven holes.
Afterward, playing partner Billy Horschel said to him, “I need a tape recorder that keeps saying, ‘Nice hole, Jordan,’ on the next tee box.”
Things were going so well that when Spieth thought he missed a 10-foot birdie at the par-3 12th, he started unhappily walking after the putt when it fell in the hole.
“It's kind of the coolest par-3 in golf and I had a chance to make a two and didn't hit a great putt,” Spieth said. “But I got away with it.”
Then he added: “When you’re getting good breaks, the easiest thing to do is be OK with them and laugh at them. The hardest thing to do is grind and take advantage of them. That’s what we did.”
The previous time Spieth played a competitive round at the Masters, he bogeyed the eighth and ninth holes and lost his two-shot lead to Watson in the final round last year. This time, he pushed his round into another gear when he made birdies on both holes, then made it three birdies in a row with a 10-footer on No. 10 to tie for the lead at 5 under.
When he went through Amen Corner and made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 12 and 13, he took the outright lead at 7 under.
“I sort of joked at him and I said Amen Corner has been changed to Jordan's Corner,” Horschel said.
Day, 27, tried to steal some of Spieth’s spectacular theatrics with some of his own, making five consecutive birdies on the back nine. That is nothing new for Day — not at Augusta National. He has finished second and third in four previous appearances there.
Els eagled the par-5 15th to momentarily take the lead at 6 under, but a bogey at the final hole dropped him into the four-way tie, three shots from the lead. None of that, though, was enough to match Spieth.
“Jordan is 21, and what a player,” Els said. “You just cannot see this kid not winning many, many majors. I think he is by far the most balanced kid I've seen. He's got that little tenacity to him and he's really got a fighting spirit, and he's the nicest kid in the world.”