Young Jordan Spieth armed with confidence for Masters debut

It’s easy to forget how young Jordan Spieth is until you ask him to recount his earliest Masters memories.

“I remember very much Tiger’s chip-in on 16 off the collar and Phil’s putt to win his first one,” Spieth said. “Moments like that. It’s hard to remember past that.”

The Tiger Woods chip-in was in 2005, and this year marks the 10th anniversary of Phil Mickelson’s 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the 2004 Masters.

Spieth is just 20 years old. When Woods won his first Masters, Spieth was 3. For that matter, when Adam Scott won his first Masters, Spieth had no professional status on any tour.

In the past nine months he’s won his first PGA Tour event at age 19 in a playoff over 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson at the John Deere, lost another playoff, been runner-up in the Tour Championship, competed in a Presidents Cup and climbed to the brink of the top 10 in the world.

Now he’s coming to Augusta armed with the confidence of youth and is the No. 7 betting choice of bookmakers – his 25-to-1 odds equal to reigning U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and 2012 Masters winner Bubba Watson.

The likeable and approachable Spieth isn’t fazed by any of it. He believes his chances of winning the Masters are as good as anyone else’s, despite his rookie status.

“I don’t know what the typical expectations are,” he said. “I know there’s been a winner the first time they have played there before. … But yeah, I’m going to enter the tournament not just playing the Masters, but to try and win the Masters. I feel like it’s a good golf course for me.”

Since qualifying for the Masters, Spieth has made two visits to Augusta National. He played 27 holes in October then 29 more at the beginning of March.“Kind of the ‘awe experience’ is out of the way, which I think is very important,” he said. “I still walk the grounds with a big smile on my face the whole time. It’s heaven on earth to me.”

He thinks the course suits his game.

“I think it’s an awesome course for me,” he said. “I have not played it anywhere near in the condition it will be in the tournament yet, but I’m sure I’ll get a couple more rounds in and be really confident when I step on the first tee box and be focused on making birdies and not looking around and just seeing the crowds and azaleas and whatnot. I’ll be focused on my own game.”

His game, for all its obvious gifts, is still maturing. After being eliminated by Ernie Els in the third round of the WGC Match Play, Spieth said he was embarrassed by the way he acted on the course.

“I was a little mental midget out there,” he said that day. “Actually kind of embarrassing, looking back. I was dropping clubs and kind of just whining … and you just can’t do that. In match play you’ve got to keep your cool. Anytime you show that, it’s weakness.”

He’s determined to tighten up his flaws.

“It’s something I’ve been working on in really trying to remain neutral on the weekend and not force things,” he said. “I’ve slept on a couple leads and just been in positions where I didn’t have to come back and needed to push the gas pedal forward from being in the lead, and that’s new and I didn’t handle it the right way mentally. I didn’t just let it happen and trust my preparation and game.”

If he does, he will lead perhaps the most talented rookie class in Masters history on a quest to join Fuzzy Zoeller (1979), Gene Sarazen (1935) and inaugural winner Horton Smith in 1934 as the only first-timers to win at Augusta. Seeing a relative peer like Jason Day nearly accomplish the feat with a runner-up finish in his debut in 2011, Spieth is inspired.

“It just shows that guys have gone there and not been too into the whole experience of it and stayed focused like a normal golf tournament,” Spieth said. “I think that’s where I need to be when I go. You don’t forget your first Masters, is what I’ve heard, but ultimately it’s about trying to win major championships. That’s what our sport’s all about.”