Spieth wiser for Masters loss in 2014

Phil Casey 08:45 09/04/2015
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  • New wave: Jordan Spieth.

    Jordan Spieth believes he will be better equipped to cope with the pressure of trying to win the Masters after coming close to creating history last year.

    Spieth held a two-shot lead after seven holes of the final round 12 months ago as he looked to surpass the absent Tiger Woods as the youngest ever Masters champion, as well as being the first player to win on their tournament debut since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

    That lead became a two-shot deficit as he bogeyed the eighth and ninth and Bubba Watson birdied the same holes, Watson eventually going on to win his second green jacket in the space of three years.

    Spieth finished joint second with Sweden’s Jonas Blixt and comes into this year’s event having won his second PGA Tour title in the Valspar Championship and finishing second in his next two tournaments.

    Speaking about last year’s final round, the 21-year-old said: “That was definitely the highest amount of pressure I’ve ever felt. That first tee shot, I think I hit it into the ninth fairway and was just real quick off the tee. Played pretty much the entire round feeling different than I’ve ever felt on the golf course.

    “I enjoyed it, but at the same time when you’re feeling that kind of pressure, it’s hard to get comfortable picking fearless shots, and then I kind of bailed out on a couple of swings, trying to look up a little quickly.

    “I guess the hardest lesson taken from last year was that I had an opportunity to make a dream come true, and I had it in my hands, and then I was just a little anxious. You can make the excuse that as a firsttimer and 20 years old, that that’s likely to happen.

    “But in my mind, I was playing the best through 61 holes and had an opportunity to continue that the next 11 holes and didn’t quite close it out.”

    Spieth, who has been paired with Henrik Stenson and Billy Horschel for the first two rounds, added: “Last year I remember being in here saying I had no expectations, didn’t know what it was going to be like, never played the tournament before.

    “This year, I come in maybe expecting to play well on a course I feel very comfortable on. I feel like it suits my game nicely and also I feel like I’ve been playing well.

    “Having been so close last year and having a little experience and riding some momentum, I hope to put myself in contention and use what I’ve learned since last year.

    “I think last year’s event, I certainly took a couple things out of it, as well as the positives that came from closing out a couple of tournaments at the end of the year and a few weeks ago.”

    Fowler’s feeling good

    Rickie Fowler is flying way under the radar in the buildup to the 79th Masters and it bothers him not in the least.

    Long touted as the best US player to emerge since Tiger Woods, the 26-year-old Californian had a superb 2014 with top five finishes in the four majors – just the third man to achieve that feat after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

    Master: Rickie Fowler.

    But he ended the year still without a major title win to his name and like many before him the question marks over his ability to close out the big wins are starting to be raised.

    On top of that, Fowler, on his own admission, has had a poor season to date with just the one top-10 finish in seven tournaments. Hence the lack of backing for him to finally win a major later this week.

    “That’s fine with me,” he said of his lack of support. “I haven’t played particularly well to start out the year. I haven’t had the performance that I would have liked. I haven’t had very good finishes.

    “But I’m excited for this week. Doesn’t matter what the odds are or favourites or anything like that.

    “A couple more practice sessions, maybe go play nine in the morning, and I’ll be ready to go. I don’t care if I’m a favourite or not or if the odds are with me or against me. I’m going to go out there and try to win myself a major.”

    One of main obstacles standing in his way will once again be close friend Rory McIlroy. McIlroy denied Fowler in the last two majors – the Open and the PGA Championship – who then handed him a 5 and 4 drubbing in the singles at the Ryder Cup.

    Fowler, who will play alongside Jason Day and Sergio Garcia on Thursday, added: “He’s obviously playing well and he has shown that he can play well here at Augusta, and I know he’s just as ready as anyone else to go out and play well this week.

    “He’s going to be tough to beat if he’s on top of his game. But I don’t think no one is going to lay down by any means.”

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