Jordan rules: Spieth dominates Masters at age 21

Bubba Watson helps Jordan Spieth put on his green jacket for the second time after winning the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 12, 2015, in Augusta, Ga.
Bubba Watson helps Jordan Spieth put on his green jacket for the second time after winning the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 12, 2015, in Augusta, Ga.

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Hargis: Spieth an easy-to-like young champion

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Jordan Spieth's historic victory at the Masters on Sunday made a little girl -- sitting on her couch about 240 miles away in Rocky Face -- smile from ear to ear.

He has made Claire Holtzclaw smile on other occasions.

A few months before Spieth turned professional, he and the University of Texas golf team were hosted at the 2012 Carpet Capital Collegiate by the Holtzclaw family.

"He was probably the nicest on the Texas team," Claire said after she saw on her television that Spieth made a birdie on No. 13 at Augusta National Golf Club

"I thought he was really nice and he was good with kids," she added. "He would push me around on my Big Wheel, and he'd make a sharp turn and I'd almost fall out."

It's a story she'll share with friends and her fourth-grade classmates at the Bright School. She knew Spieth long before he became the second youngest Masters champion in tournament history.

She knew him when he finished runner-up in a college tournament, nearly 18 months before he tied for runner-up in the 2014 Masters tournament.

"I have a golf ball signed by him, and I also played guitar for him and he gave me a quarter," she said. "It's amazing that now he's in the Masters and he's winning."

It's not so much amazing with the talent he has displayed, but it certainly is impressive.

Spieth, a 21-year-old who left college after three semesters to turn professional, became the youngest green jacket winner except for Tiger Woods.

Spieth bogeyed his final hole Sunday but tied the tournament record with an 18-under-par 270 matched only by Woods' stunning 1997 debut. He won by four and maintained a lead of at least three shots for the entire day under gray skies.

"This was arguably the greatest day of my life," Spieth said.

Phil Mickelson, who owns three green jackets, tied for runner-up with Justin Rose by shooting a 3-under 69 on Sunday for a total of 14-under 274.

"Jordan is just a tremendous shot-maker -- great putter with a great short game," Mickelson said. "He has no weaknesses. He doesn't overpower the course, but he plays the course strategically well. He plays all the shots properly.

"He has that ability to focus and see things clear when the pressure is on and perform at his best."

Texas coach John Fields has known about those qualities in Spieth since he recruited him out of Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas. Fields helped hone those skills and supported Spieth when he chose to turn professional a couple of months after his team won at The Farm Golf Club.

"He loves competition and that goes for anything -- pingpong, golf, basketball," Fields said. "He loves to compete and he gives it everything he has to come out on top.

"He has a particular distaste for losing."

Finishing second had left some scars on Spieth. He entered the final round of last year's Masters tied for the lead. He watched on the 18th green as Bubba Watson won the tournament. He also finished runner-up last week and the week before -- two tournaments in his home state of Texas. Those scars were bandaged by a jacket.

"I was already hungry from last year, having watched it slip away," Spieth said. "And then also, having a chance to win the last couple weeks and not quite pulling it off, the combination of the two allowed me to keep my head down and not worry about anybody else in the field."

Rory McIlroy, the top-ranked player in the world, placed fourth at 12-under 276 after a horrendous 40 on his first nine holes Thursday, and Hideki Matsuyama placed fifth at 11 under.

"I played well. I played the last 45 holes in 15 under," said McIlroy, whose previous best finish at the Masters was a tie for eighth. "I did a lot of the things I wanted to do. I just left myself too much to do after 27 holes."

Woods, in his first tournament since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open in February, tied for 17th place at 5 under. Woods nearly added a right wrist injury to his medical history that already includes knee and back problems. He attacked a shot from pinestraw on No. 9 only to hit the ball and then a tree root he couldn't see.

"It definitely hurt," Woods said. "I told the guys in (scoring) that there was a little joint that popped out and I was able to somehow put it back in, which didn't feel very good, but at least I got it back in and I could move my hand again."

Nobody could move Spieth from his perch atop the leaderboard. In the final pairing Sunday, Rose birdied the first hole. Spieth didn't blink and poured in his own birdie at the first a few seconds later.

There were times when the competition could have closed in on Spieth. He had a bogey on No. 5 and another on No. 7, trimming his lead to three. But with two birdies in the next three holes, as well as bogeys from Rose and Mickelson, the lead swelled to a comfortable six shots.

His approach to No. 13, a par-5, just barely carried the water and left the eventual champion with a comfortable two-putt birdie.

"I was pinched by (caddie) Michael Greller and he said, 'All right, we've still got this thing,'" Spieth said. "He likes to say we've got pocket aces, we were already ahead. Michael beats me at poker a lot, by the way, so I just trust him."

But he still didn't think he'd won the green jacket.

"On No. 16, when Justin had that birdie putt and I had a slider for par, that's when I really felt like it could get out of my hands if I'm not careful."

He curled in the putt, setting up a stress-free stroll down No. 17, where he made a double-bogey Saturday, and a celebratory walk up No. 18.

Back in Rocky Face, Claire Holtzclaw beamed while watching the tournament with her father, Tad, who fondly recalls the 2012 Carpet Capital and continues rooting for Longhorns -- especially Spieth.

"He spent over an hour in our driveway with Claire and Rand," Tad said. "It wasn't just the rest of the team, just Jordan. They were downstairs playing pool.

"I don't think anybody realized he'd be Masters champion. We knew he was good."

Good at golf and good with kids. It wasn't long ago he was one.

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.

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