Crenshaw expects Texas's new "Big Three" to add to state's Masters wins

As the last Texan to win the Mas­ters Tournament exits this week, there is no shortage of candidates who could add to the state’s fame at Augusta National Golf Club.

More Masters have been won by Texans – 12 – than by players from any other state. Ben Crenshaw is the last winner, and that was 20 years ago.

“I’d love to see a Texan win (this year), you bet,” said Crenshaw, who is playing in his 44th and final Masters this week.

Texans Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Jimmy Demaret combined to win seven Masters from 1937-1953. Add in Ralph Guldahl and Jackie Burke Jr., who each won at Augusta, and the state won nine of the first 20 Masters.

Three current Texas stars are riding a wave of momentum with victories this season. The new Texas “Big Three” are Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed.

Combined, they have seven wins in the past 16 months and are all ranked in the top 15 in the world. All three made their Mas­ters debuts last year. Spieth finished tied for second, Walker tied for eighth and Reed missed the cut.

Dallas native Spieth, 21, is ranked No. 4 and Walker, of San Antonio, is No. 10.

Reed, a 24-year-old Augusta State golfer who lives in Spring, Texas, is ranked 15th.

“They’re unbelievable,” Cren­shaw said of the trio.

The three were among the few bright spots on last year’s losing U.S. Ryder Cup team, losing only two matches. Reed was unbeaten at 3-0-1, Spieth was 2-1-1 and Wal­ker 1-1-3. Spieth and Reed were unbeaten as a team, going 2-0-1.

When Reed won his first tournament, at Greensboro in 2013, he beat Spieth in a playoff. And when Spieth won at Tampa this season, Reed was one of the players he beat in a playoff.

“Patrick Reed impressed all of us last year in his Ryder Cup play last year,” Crenshaw said. “He seems to get better and better. He’s very consistent.”

Walker is the PGA Tour’s only two-time winner this season, winning at the Sony Open and in San Antonio.

At 36, he’s older than the other two and was a late bloomer on the tour in terms of winning. He has five tour victories, all since October 2013.

“Jimmy Walker, I tell you what, you watch him up close,” Crenshaw said. “The way he played last year and the way he’s playing, he’s got so much momentum. God, he’s got a glorious golf swing. He kind of reminds me of a (Tom) Weiskopfian move (with his swing). It is just beautiful.”

Crenshaw saves his highest praise for Spieth, a fellow former Texas Longhorn golfer he says is “something very special.”

Spieth led last year’s tournament with 11 holes to play before tying for second place.

“I love the way he looks at you,” Crenshaw said. “The first time I met him, he has a certain look about him like Wyatt Earp or somebody. He looks at you different. He’s just as nice as can be, but there’s a competitive fire in there.”

That side of him came out after he won in Tampa and was asked what he thought about moving up to No. 4 in the world ranking. He mentioned the fact that there were still three people ahead of him.

“He has a great dimension of scoring and his imagination is great,” Crenshaw said about Spieth’s game. “He takes things in stride, plays his own game but he’s a scorer. He gets the ball in the hole. He’s got a great temperament. He’s been in a lot of tight situations thus far in his career. His confidence is up. So we’ll see.”

Spieth was at Augusta National on Monday, less than 24 hours after losing in a three-way playoff at the Houston Open. The week before that, he finished second in San Antonio, losing to Walker. Two weeks before that, he won in Tampa.

“Having it be the third (week) in a row, historically I’ve played well the second, third week in a row on a stretch,” Spieth said. “So, I’d like to think that that’s part of the reason behind the scheduling. I just seem to get some of the kinks out of the way early in the first couple weeks and not make as many mental errors. My swing starts to really fall together and the putting stroke as well by the second, third week.”

In his words, Spieth said he was “trimming the fat” from his game in the past two events to make it as sharp as possible for this week.

As for Walker, if there was one thing he learned from his Masters debut, it was to hit more putts in the practice rounds.

“I got in some spots where I wish I had a little more knowledge,” Walker said.

He already knew about all the shots that are needed from tee to green.

“I think playing Augusta requires you to have really good control of your golf ball,” Walker said. “You have to be able to work it both ways, cuts, draws, soft fades, soft draws, because Augusta likes you to hit golf shots into greens that the fairway doesn’t want you to hit.”

Reed is not on the kind of torrid streak that Spieth and Walker are on, though he has finished in the top 20 in three of his past four events, with a playoff loss.

Though he missed the cut in his Mas­ters debut with rounds of 73-79, he felt it was a valuable learning experience.

“Last year I felt like I hit the ball really well there,” Reed said. “It’s one of those places you need to know where to put the golf ball. When that pin is front left, middle of the green, sometimes it is probably the worst spot you could put it on some holes. That’s normally how I would play a golf course. Going into there, I didn’t really play it very much before so I didn’t quite understand that until come Thursday and Friday.”

He will have a better game plan this year.

“Kind of where to attack each hole and where to leave myself for pin placements so I can hopefully give myself a little easier chance,” Reed said.