Crenshaw, Masters challengers impressed by Spieth

Ben Crenshaw flashed a Hook ’em Horns sign as he left the Masters Tournament stage for the final time. The last Texan to win the green jacket ceded the Augusta floor to perhaps the next great Texas golfer.

“When I first met him, I tell you, I’ll never forget it,” Crenshaw said about Jordan Spieth before the tournament. “I looked right at him and he looked at me and I thought I was looking at Wyatt Earp. … He looks at you and he’s going to gun you down.”

Earp was, among other things, a lawman who survived without a scratch the bloody gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Spieth, the 21-year-old ranked No. 4 in the world, is turning the Masters into his own little version of Tombstone.

Spieth followed a sterling 64 on Thursday with another low-round 66 to set the 36-hole scoring record at 14-under par. His five-shot lead at the halfway point matches the largest in Masters history.

“I’m amazed at Jordan,” Crenshaw said. “He plays it like he’s been here forever.”

In a very short window, Spieth is threatening all sorts of forever records at Augusta National. A year ago through 61 holes of his Masters debut, he led with the chance to become the youngest winner in Masters history. He’s a few months older now than Tiger Woods was in 1997, but he’s already pushing some of the record numbers Woods posted when he set the golf world afire with his romp to victory.

“I didn’t have that separation after two rounds,” said Woods, who sits 12 shots behind Spieth’s pace. “I believe I only had a three-shot lead at the time. So there’s a big difference. He’s put out a big enough gap between the rest of the pack.”

Spieth is changing the way we look at a 21-year-old at Augusta. Woods tore the course apart with his power 18 years ago, playing a game nobody was familiar with, as Bobby Jones once said of Jack Nicklaus.

The young Texan, however, is dissecting the course more surgically with precise irons, deft touch and nearly flawless putting. He’s a master of all trades.

“He’s definitely an old head on young shoulders, isn’t he?” said Henrik Stenson, the No. 2 golfer in the world who played 16 shots worse beside Spieth for two rounds. “He’s playing strategically. He’s playing very mature. And, yeah, not making too many mistakes.”

Spieth has only had one bogey in two days. His only hiccups Friday were two missed short birdie putts at 9 and 18. The longest par putt he had to sweat was 6 feet on No. 3.

“I’ve just got to keep my head down and find greens in regulation so that I can continue to have looks,” Spieth said. “I’m getting some putts from mid-range to go, and I don’t really need to force anything.”

Of all his impressive tools, Stenson said “his putting is the one thing that stands out.”

“He’s made so many great putts here,” Stenson said. “And he’s made so many hard, difficult, Augusta putts, as well, with perfect speed with so much break and so much speed-sensitive, coming down and across. … And that’s why he’s far ahead of everyone else.”

Crenshaw – who finished low amateur at Augusta when he was 20 and 21 years old – marvels at Spieth’s gifts.

“He’s way more mature than what I was when I was 21,” Crenshaw said. “He has things together. He has an innate ability to score. … I think one of the really wonderful things that I really do like about him, he’s got competitive fire. You can see it. I think he carries that off in a great fashion.”

Ernie Els, the four-time major winner who sits nine shots behind him in seventh place, gushes about the player who was nine months old when Els played his first Masters in 1994.

“What a player,” Els said. “You just cannot see this kid not win many, many majors. I think he is by far the most balanced kid I’ve seen. … Jordan, you know, 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.”

What sets Spieth apart is he seems unafraid of the moment. He doesn’t see being 21 as an obstacle but an opportunity. History is on his side as he tries to make history of his own.

“Seems like there’s been quite a few guys that have had success at a young age here,” Spieth said. “I think Seve (Ballesteros) won it when he was 23, and Tiger at 21. Obviously I’m not comparing myself to those guys in any way. But I’m saying, it’s only taken them a time or two to figure it out to get into contention and to close out the tournament. It means that it can be done.”

As easy as Spieth has made it look for two days, however, it’s too soon to celebrate his coronation. They have a 10-shot rule at Augusta for a reason, and among the 10 guys within that range are major winners Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els as well as Dustin Johnson, who played the par 5s on Friday in 7-under alone. Things can change dramatically in the pressure of a Masters weekend.

“The hardest thing to do is put aside wanting to win so bad, and just kind of going through the motions and letting my ball striking and putting happen,” Spieth said. “I got off to a great start and had a chance to win last year on Sunday. I’d like to have that same opportunity this year. Again, this is only the halfway point and I’m aware of that. Not going to get ahead of myself and I’m going to try and stay in the moment and very patient these last two days and understand it’s going to feel like a whole ’nother tournament.”

I’m sure Wyatt Earp was cautious, too, when he faced the Cowboys with his brothers that afternoon in Tombstone, Ariz. We’ll soon find out whether Spieth can walk away with a green jacket unscathed.