Spieth staying confident ahead of Masters

Charlie Naismith 02:48 31/03/2016
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  • Mixed form: Jordan Spieth.

    Jordan Spieth insists his confidence hasn’t been affected by losing the world No. 1 spot to Jason Day.

    Spieth has been atop golf’s tree since September last year but Australian Day seized it from him after winning the WGC Dell Match Play last Sunday, his sixth PGA Tour win in his last 13 starts.

    Spieth has endured a decidedly-mixed start to 2016 with a tied-fifth at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January but since then he has failed to finish inside the top 15 in three of his five events on the PGA Tour. He missed the cut at the Northern Trust Open and last Saturday lost to Louis Oosthuizen in the last 16 of the WGC Dell Match Play.

    The American plays the Shell Houston Open this week for the fourth year in a row – a tournament he finished runner-up in 2015 – in a bid to get his game back on song ahead of the Masters, which tees off next Thursday.

    Spieth said: “My game is solid. I’ve been working hard on it. I’ll be trying to hold my consistency this week. I’ve got great memories here. It’s a great golf course, a place I’m very familiar with. It’s in phenomenal shape. Everything is there. It’s right where we want it to be going into the Masters.”

    The Shell Houston Open has become the warm-up event for The Masters – so much so it tries to mimic the green speeds of Augusta National and the course will also be mown in the same direction as the fairways and rough at Augusta.

    Spieth is joined in Texas by likely Masters front-runners Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler but Day is neglecting to compete instead travelling to Augusta to get his preparations underway early.

    When asked on Day’s elevation to world No1, Spieth added: “He certainly deserves it, no question. It’s amazing what he can do on a golf course when he has confidence in his game. When Jason’s on, he’s on. When he’s off… he’s still on.”

    Spieth will be joined by a familiar face with his room mate Kramer Hickok making his PGA Tour debut after coming through the qualifier on Monday. Hickok and Spieth are friends from Dallas and the former caddied for the latter at the 2011 Byron Nelson Championship.

    Reigning champion JB Holmes is eager to create more happy memories as he returns to the Golf Club of Houston to defend his title.

    Holmes, who beat Spieth and 2008 champion Johnson Wagner in a play-off last year, said: “That day just started off great. I birdied the first five holes out, was seven under through nine and nine under, I think, through 12 and I was just fortunate enough to come out on top.”

    Meanwhile, it was last night cofirmed that the qualifying age for enshrinement in the World Golf Hall of Fame had been raised.

    Candidates for inductions must be at least 50 at the start of the year when selections are made, rather than the prior age of 40, or have not actively played for five years.

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