Former champion Jordan Spieth insists he still has high expectations of himself in this week’s Masters, despite his current form allowing him to fly under the radar.
Spieth looks an unlikely contender for a second green jacket given that the former number one has slipped to 33rd in the world rankings and has failed to finish better than 30th in a strokeplay event in 2019.
However, the three-time major winner’s record in the Masters is simply extraordinary and includes second place on his debut in 2014, a record-breaking victory the following year and third in 2018 following a closing round of 64.
A comparatively-modest 11th place in 2017 is his worst finish in five appearances and last year he led after 18 holes for the third time in four years following an opening 66, the ninth time in 17 rounds he had held at least a share of the lead at the end of the day.
“My expectations are high this week,” the 25-year-old said. “I feel great about the state of my game right now.
Congratulations to @JordanSpieth on his historic victory. #themasters pic.twitter.com/lHyo7f2OWa
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) 12 April 2015
“I feel like my recent results aren’t a tell of where my game is actually at and I feel I’ve made a lot of strides in the last couple of days off the tee, which has been the only separation from being able to win golf tournaments over the last month or so.
“It’s just a matter of trust in the stuff that I’m working on and I don’t feel like I have to play well. I don’t feel like there’s any added pressure this week. I feel kind of under the radar, which is really nice.”
Spieth rewrote the record books with his victory in 2015, becoming the first player ever to reach 19 under par in the Masters and setting new marks for the most number of birdies and lowest 36 and 54-hole totals.
But he admitted it took his father’s intervention before he watched a re-run of his victory earlier this week.
The 2019 Champions Dinner portrait. #themasters pic.twitter.com/oyXtqRbsre
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) 10 April 2019
“It’s very rare, I probably should watch it more often,” Spieth added. “Last night (Monday) they were doing a replay on the Golf Channel and my dad came over and I was just watching the pre-game before the National Championship (basketball) game.
“He said, ‘2015 is on, do you want to watch it?’ I said, ‘sure, you can turn it on.’ We were playing cards, it was just on in the background. It was really cool to relive some of those shots and some of the putts that were holed.
“I was kind of commentating to my team and it was very memorable because it was the highest of highs I’ve had in this sport.”
