Spieth may be peaking at right time
Apr. 3—AUGUSTA — Jordan Spieth certainly has had his ups and downs during his now 10-year career, and no tournament seems to mirror his career more than the Masters.
In 2015 he won his first green jacket at age 21 and it looked like there would be many more to come, and maybe in rapid succession.
The following year he had a three-shot lead heading to the final round and was derailed in his attempt to win back-to-back Masters by a quadruple-bogey seven at the par-3 12th. He lost by three shots to eventual champion Danny Willett.
In 2018, he started Sunday nine-shots out of the lead and fired a final-round 64. A birdie on the 18th hole would have set a new record for lowest score in a major, and would have tied Patrick Reed for the lead, but a bad drive led to a bogey, and he finished two shots back.
In his nine starts Spieth has had five top three finishes, including finishing second in his debut, and has only missed one cut. He has used his experiences at Augusta National as a way to help him grow into the player he is today.
"I think I've learned that it's a game," Spieth said. "It's a game, and I've approached the highs and lows as life-and-death in different scenarios, and that's not the case. Ten years here, a lot of experience, I can look back and say I learned a lot from winning, and I learned a lot from losing."
While he hasn't won on Tour yet this season, it seems as if his game is rounding into form as he arrives at the season's first major. Spieth has three top-6 finishes in his last six events. He finished sixth in Phoenix in mid-February. In March he posted a fourth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a third at the Valspar a couple weeks ago. Add in a 19th-place finish at the Players Championship and it shows his game is trending in the right direction.
It might be fitting for him to get his first win of the year at a place he dreamed about winning growing up. And where his local knowledge now makes him one of the favorites nearly on a yearly basis.
"It was my favorite tournament growing up, so qualifying to get here was always a lifelong goal of mine," Spieth said. "I really fell in love with the game because of this tournament, back to Tiger's chip-in to Phil's first win.
"Yeah, 10th appearance now feels crazy and I hopefully can match some of those greats that played in how many over the years, I don't know what the record is, probably Mr. (Gary) Player (with 52) would be up there.
"It would be pretty special, but at the same time when you get opportunities at a young age and you feel good about your chances, I want to win it again. That's the goal."
