Spieth wins Masters wire-to-wire

Eighteen years ago, a 21-year-old American dominated the Masters Tournament for a stunning breakthrough victory with a tournament record 18-under-par 270.

Tiger Woods went on to set or challenge all of golf’s significant records.

How close to achieving that greatness and stardom Jordan Spieth will come remains to be seen, but he’s off to a similarly spectacular start.

The 21-year-old Texan became the second-youngest Masters champion to Woods, and matched the 14-time major champion’s record score of 18-under 270 to win the 79^th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club by four shots over Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose.

“To join the club that is the green jackets and to join Masters history and put my name on that trophy and to have this jacket forever, it’s something that I can't fathom right now. It is very, very special to join this club,” Spieth said. “This isn't an honor that's carried lightly. I feel ready to carry that baton.”

Spieth, who would have been scheduled to graduate from the University of Texas next month had he not left school to turn pro after three semesters, moves to No. 2 in the world behind four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, 25.

The Masters win is a salvo of sorts to McIlroy in what has quickly become a budding rivalry.

“The ultimate goal … is try to become the No. 1 player in the world,” Spieth said. “I don't think I am with this. I think that I'm still behind, and so I'm still chasing that goal. It's going to be very difficult, but to be a large step closer is huge.

“… As far as with Rory, he's got four majors. That's something I can still only dream about; and just numerous wins. I look forward to getting in the heat of the moment with him a couple times in the near future and see if we can battle it out and test our games.”

Spieth began the final round with a four-stroke lead and his closing 70 was enough to keep it from dipping below three strokes.

The only true drama that remained down the stretch was whether Spieth was going to be able maintain his 19-under score and break Woods’ record.

He did with one-putt pars on the 16^th and 17^th holes, but he missed a 6-footer for par on the 18^th and now shares the record with Woods.

The challenge came very early from Rose – his playing partner in the final group – with birdies on the first two holes to pull within three shots, but it wasn’t sustained, and Spieth answered it with birdies on the first and third holes. “Justin obviously made his putt to start and it was really nice to drop one on top to start the round,” Spieth said.

The quick birdies got Rose to 14 under but he didn’t improve on that number until he made three consecutive birdies on holes 13-15. Rose dropped back on the front nine with bogeys on holes 6 and 9.

Mickelson began the day five shots back and never made a move, alternating between 11 and 12 under until the 13^th hole, where he found himself six shots back, and he holed a bunker shot on the 15^th for an eagle to reach 14 under. Only Spieth, Rose and Mickelson reached 13 under Sunday.

“I played just a good solid round of golf but I needed something exceptional,” said Mickelson, who was seeking his fourth green jacket and sixth major title. “I made some birdies but every time I made a birdie here or there I stalled with a bogey.

“I played exceptionally well to shoot 14 under, I just got outplayed by Jordan. … Eighteen under par is astounding.”

Perhaps the biggest shot on the back nine was a 5-iron Spieth hit into the par-5 13^th hole on his second shot. Standing in the fairway with a four-shot lead, on a side slope with the ball well above his feet, Spieth chose not to lay up but instead went at the flag over the creek fronting the green.

“When it landed, from my angle, I thought it hit short in the water and all of a sudden the roar came up and the pitchmark was right on that little peninsula,” Spieth said. “And there was another moment where I thought, ‘This could be destiny.’”

Spieth salted away the win with a birdie on 15, a par save from behind the 16^th green with a 7-foot putt and par save with a good chip on 17. A bogey on the 18^th was academic.

“He has awesome composure,” Rose said. “Every time I thought maybe there was a chink in the armor, he'd come out and hole an 8-foot putt.”

In addition to sharing Woods’ 72-hole tournament record, Spieth set Masters records for the most birdies with 28, youngest 18-hole leader, 36-hole scoring mark and 54-hole scoring mark. He set the mark for lowest 36-hole major championship score in relation to par, and shares the lowest 36-hole aggregate score of 130.

He opened with a 64 and is just the fifth person to win the Masters wire-to-wire and the first in 39 years.

In just two Masters appearances he has a win and runner-up, and already feels at home at Augusta National.

“I think it’s imagination,” he said of his affinity for the course. “I think very feel based. I grew up playing a lot more than I did hitting balls on the range and just hitting the same thing over and over again. I like to see lines. I like to see shapes, and especially on the greens, I like putts that break.”

Spieth has been in contention nearly every time he has teed it up since winning the Australian Open by six shots late last year. He followed that up with a 10-shot victory in Woods’ 18-player Hero World Challenge and now has two wins and two runner-ups in his last four events alone. The first of his now three PGA Tour wins came at the 2013 John Deere Classic in a playoff.

“The first one was almost a fluke, right, I thinned a bunker shot and it went in and I just hung around in the playoff,” Spieth said. “But [in Australia and the Hero] I was able to see putts go in. I knew that I could make them under pressure and I knew the strategy mentally, most importantly, to get the job done.”

Many major jobs likely lie ahead.

“It’s obviously very, very impressive,” McIlroy said. “He's way more mature than I was at 21 and a hell of a golfer and a great person as well. It's nice to get your major tally up and running at quite an early stage of your career. It's great to see, great for the game. And I'm sure he'll win many more.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2015 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Spieth wins Masters wire-to-wire."