Ho-Hum. Jordan Spieth leading the Masters again
For the first five years this golf tournament was held, it was played under the name Augusta National Invitation Tournament. If things keep up as they’re going, the next five years it may be called the Jordan Spieth Invitation Tournament.
The man who placed second in his first Masters two years ago and won it on his second try last year picked up Thursday right where he left off in 2015, carding a 6-under 66 to lead the 80th Masters by two shots over Danny Lee and Shane Lowry.
Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia sit three shots off the lead at 3-under, and Rory McIlroy carded a 2-under on the opening day.
Spieth dominating this tournament is becoming a spring tradition. Like the groundhog seeing its shadow has come to symbolize six more weeks of winter, the start of the Masters has come to mean world’s best golfers staring at Spieth’s hindquarters for four straight days.
After winning last year with a record-tying 18-under, Spieth is now 24-under for his last five rounds here. He has led the tournament after each of his last nine, nine-hole segments.
“I enjoy this tournament more than anywhere else,” he said.
This place enjoys him, too. He received a standing ovation from the gallery as he walked from the 11th green to the 12th tee.
“It was one of the coolest moments I’ve ever had here,” he said. “To kind of see everyone start to rise, it was really, really cool to kind of feel like you belong as the Masters champion. I thought it was an awesome moment, and then I turned around and saw flipping winds into this tiny green. So that moment was short‑lived.”
The winds were an issue for everyone Thursday. The gusts weren’t overly powerful, but they weren’t at all predictable.
“It played difficult,” said 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott, who shot a 4-over 76. “It would swirl around and it’s very hard to know exactly what’s going on. You have to be paying attention. On 14 when I stood over it, it was hard, straight down. And by the time my ball was up in the air, it was kind of more quartering across. So my ball drifts 10 yards in the air and then catches the slope and I’m 75 feet away.”
None of it phased Spieth, though. He made six birdies and no bogeys, getting around with just 25 putts, as few as any player in the field. Paul Casey, a 38-year-old Englishman who has played professionally for 16 years, played in Spieth’s group Thursday and called the 22-year-old Texan’s performance “flawless.”
“It’s obvious he’s a major champion,” Casey said. “He just exudes that sort of, whatever that is, that you expect from a, he’s not world No. 1, but a world No. 1 major champion. But just know there’s something different, something cool. It’s a knowing, it’s a confidence. It’s the way he walks. It’s the way he stands. It goes all the way through from the way he speaks and the way he shakes your hand and the way he deals with people, as well. It’s wonderful.”
The frightening part for the competition is Spieth thinks there’s a lot more left he can get out of his game this week. He called his ball-striking “average-ish”
“If I can kind of straighten things out with the iron play, hopefully we’ll be in business,” he said. “I am extremely pleased with that round today. I felt like we stole a few.”
Theft might be the only one anyone other than Spieth sees a green jacket for a while.
This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Ho-Hum. Jordan Spieth leading the Masters again."