Spieth showing maturity as he prepares for RBC Heritage

In the midst of a whirlwind media tour of New York City on Monday and Tuesday in which he participated in 26 interviews and appearances in 25 hours, Jordan Spieth and his entourage took the time to have a nice dinner.

The paparazzi were there waiting.

Welcome to life as a record-setting, 21-year-old Masters champion.

Spieth arrived in Hilton Head Island at about 10 p.m. Tuesday night and will tee it up at Harbour Town Golf Links in Thursday’s opening round of the 47th RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing with an elevated level of celebrity.

“It was a little crazy in New York having paparazzi know where we were going to eat dinner even though we never told anybody,” Spieth said. “So that part was kind of different and gave me a little insight into what it could be like here and there. But also it was the first few days right after the tournament.”

Spieth matched Tiger Woods’ record 18-under-par 270 total in winning the Masters on Sunday by four strokes over Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose.

He is the first Masters winner to play in the Heritage the following week since Zach Johnson in 2007. Johnson finished sixth that year.

The last player to win the Heritage the week after winning at Augusta National was Bernhard Langer in 1985.

“I like how laid back it is, and I really, really love this golf course. That's No. 1. I like coming to Hilton Head, but I really love playing this course,” Spieth said. “The greens are phenomenal. It requires all types of shots. You've got to be smart.”

Winning the Masters was something Spieth envisioned several years ago. He professed that winning the Masters was his dream and goal in a video he shot when he was 14 and a letter he wrote at 16. The actual victory was better then he imagined.

“That started just walking up 18 on Sunday, and I realized that this is actually going to be cooler than I ever could have dreamt it being, just the feeling that I had then,” Spieth said.

Spieth’s media tour included appearances on The David Letterman Show and The Today Show, he received countless texts and exchanged Twitter posts with the likes of actor Matthew McConaughey and athletes Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders, Patrick Peterson, Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki.

“It was cool to experience that different side and to see the impact that the Masters has internationally, and not only in the golf community,” Spieth said. “And it just shows the interest in the golf and how it's growing. I got to experience that firsthand and it was awesome, as well as sharing my own story.

“I was very much looking forward to getting back here, getting on solid ground and taking a deep breath and it’s been nice.”

Spieth estimated his energy level on a scale of 1-10 to be at 2 Tuesday and about 6 Wednesday. “I should be at a 9 tomorrow,” Spieth said. “Fortunately I'm [teeing off] in the afternoon the first round, otherwise that might have been tough.”

Spieth surprised many by honoring his commitment to play this week considering the emotional drain of last weekend and the media and travel obligations that followed. It reflects his commended maturity level.

On Wednesday, he referenced the sponsor exemption he received from Heritage organizers as a 19-year-old in 2013 when he didn’t have any status on tour. He tied for ninth to earn a spot in the field the next week en route to gaining temporary tour membership. He tied for 12th at Harbour Town last year the week after finishing as the runner-up to Bubba Watson in the Masters.

“This tournament has been very good to me,” Spieth said. “… It’s a tournament that’s close to me and I love it here. I'm really looking forward to this week. This is a tournament that I love; a course that I think suits my game. And I've had just a great experience at the Heritage in the two years I've played.”

Spieth is the hottest player in golf. He has two wins and two runner-up finishes in his past four tournaments, the last three coming in the past three weeks.

He won’t be feeling much pressure this week.

“No offense to this week, but I will be more comfortable on the first tee than I was last week, especially after everything that just happened,” Spieth said. “I'd like to get myself into contention. We've had success being in contention the last four tournaments. I don't plan on having a hangover tournament, by any means. I feel like this course is a good course for me. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't feel like I could win this week.”

Spieth’s recent stretch of golf has helped him set another standard as the youngest ever leader in the FedExCup points race.

He now has another attainable goal in his sights.

Spieth wants to be the No. 1 player in the world, and there is now just one player – Rory McIlroy – between him and that achievement. “There's still the goal of still a guy to chase. Rory is No. 1 in the world. So that's on my mind,” Spieth said.

His elevated fame will give Spieth more things to think about moving forward.

“I don't want to change anything that I'm doing on or off course, but I think the only added pressure is going to be staying focused off course on how we want our brand to move forward,” Spieth said.

Spieth will tee off Thursday without the benefit of playing a single hole in a practice round. He practiced on the range Wednesday afternoon. “I'm obviously not as prepared, maybe, as I'd like to be as far as getting on the golf course,” Spieth said. “But I am going to practice some and try and get myself back to the shape we were just a few days ago.”

Spieth is one of nine of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking competing this week, along with No. 10 Jim Furyk, Patrick Reed (14), defending champion Matt Kuchar (17) Billy Horschel (19), Zach Johnson (23), Chris Kirk (24), Bill Haas (25) and Ian Poulter (26).

This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Spieth showing maturity as he prepares for RBC Heritage."