Spieth’s record-setting mastery of Augusta National has him in front by five shots

Jordan Spieth pointed out Friday afternoon that Tiger Woods won the Masters Tournament at the age of 21, and Seve Ballesteros won at the age of 23.

He wanted to be clear that he wasn’t trying to compare himself to them, he just wanted to make a point about the ability of a young’un with limited experience to win the Masters.

What Spieth has done this week in the first two rounds at Augusta National Golf Club is nearly beyond compare.

The 21-year-old Texan came a shot shy of matching the major championship record low round with a 64 on Thursday, and his 6-under-par 66 on Thursday gives him the lowest 36-hole score in the 79-year history of the Masters.

At 14-under 130, Spieth has a five-shot lead over Charley Hoffman and is seven shots ahead of a trio of golfers tied for third – Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Paul Casey. Phil Mickelson is alone in sixth, eight shots back.

“It's cool,” Spieth said. “Any time you can set a record here is pretty awesome.”

Spieth’s 14-under 130 also sets a major championship record for the lowest 36-hole score in relation to par, and ties for the lowest 36-hole aggregate score in a major.

He has made 15 birdies to one bogey. “I'm very excited about today and the way I struck the ball,” Spieth said.

Raymond Floyd previously held the 36-hole Masters record of 13-under 131 set in 1976, when he won by eight that year over runner-up Ben Crenshaw.

When Tiger Woods set the 72-hole tournament scoring record of 18-under 270 in 1997, he was 8 under through two rounds.

Spieth has displayed a deft short game and putting stroke that are already among the best in the world.

“His putting is the one thing that stands out,” said the world’s second-ranked player Henrik Stenson, who got a first-hand view of Spieth’s dominance as a playing partner in the first two rounds. “He's made so many great putts, 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. That's why he's far ahead of everyone else.”

Spieth has two PGA Tour wins in less than two years on tour and has four wins worldwide. He has proven to be a fast learner, and believes his experience of having a two-shot lead over Bubba Watson with 11 holes to play in last year’s Masters will serve him well this weekend.

“After getting into contention last year and seeing what Sunday in the final group was like, now it feels more like a regular event,” Spieth said. “I think just having the experience of playing it a few times was all I needed to feel that way.”

Spieth’s most ridiculous shot Friday came on the eighth hole. After plugging in a fairway bunker on the long, uphill par-5, he was forced to blast out, then hit a blind hybrid shot to 2 feet.

“I was actually left with a good hybrid number and hit one of the better hybrids I've ever hit, to hit right on that line that we were looking at,” Spieth said. “I didn't think I was going to make four. I was really hoping for five and stole a shot there.”

While Spieth has already quickly made a name for himself at No. 4 in the world, his third-round playing partner, Hoffman, created some notoriety for himself on the PGA Tour through long locks of blond hair billowing from beneath his cap for several years. But he chopped the hair down last year.

“Well, my hair stopped growing on top like it used to. . . so it wasn't that great a look anymore to be honest with you,” Hoffman said.

He now wants to become known for his golf game, which he has done for a couple days in Augusta.

“I guess the hair's gone, so I'm not that much different than any golfer now,” he said. “But most importantly, I just want to play good golf and give myself chances to win golf tournaments.”

Hoffman is coming off a pair of 11^th-place finishes in the Valero Texas Open and Shell Houston Open, and could have contended had it not been for third-round scores that were at least five shots higher than any other round that week. He’s hoping to quash that trend Saturday.

”I can't say why I played bad on Saturday the last couple weeks, . . . but I don't see that coming tomorrow at all, and hopefully it doesn't,” Hoffman said. “Hopefully I play four good rounds instead of three of them out here this week.”

Hoffman had a bogey-free round with five birdies going before failing to get up and down on the 18^th hole and making bogey.

This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Spieth’s record-setting mastery of Augusta National has him in front by five shots."