AUGUSTA, Ga. — There was never any back-down in Jordan Spieth. For four days, he walked majestically through the Georgia pines, carrying himself like Bobby Jones and displaying the cool precision of James Bond.
On the rare occasion when he stumbled, as he did Saturday on the 53rd hole, he made a remarkable par save on the final hole that reminded everyone this is not an ordinary 21-year-old.
In the end, Ben Crenshaw was right about his fellow Texan: Spieth did indeed look like Wyatt Earp the way he took down golf’s biggest stars who were trying to catch him on the leader board.
When it was over Sunday, when the golf world and patrons at Augusta National Golf Club witnessed something they hadn’t seen in 18 years, Spieth ended what he started in impressive fashion Thursday by tying Tiger Woods’ 72-hole scoring record and winning the 79th Masters by four shots.
“It’s the most incredible week of my life,” Spieth said after winning his first major championship. “This is as great as it gets in our sport.”
Spieth’s final-round 70, which included six birdies and four bogeys, allowed him to tie Woods’ record score of 18-under 270 in 1997 — a record Spieth would have had to himself if he didn’t bogey the final hole.
What’s more, after opening with a 64, Spieth became only the fifth player and the first since Ray Floyd in 1976 to lead after all four rounds of the tournament. And he did it by not allowing Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose — two former major champions — to never get any closer than three shots in the final round.
At 21 years, 9 months and 17 days, Spieth became the second-youngest player to win the green jacket, behind only Woods, who was 21 years, 3 months and 14 days when he won his first Masters in 1997.
“It was very nerve-wracking,” Spieth said. “I didn’t sleep well [Saturday] night. With two major champions right behind, I couldn’t let up.”
And Spieth never did.
Once he birdied the 13th hole Thursday to get to 7 under, Spieth took the lead and never let go for the rest of the tournament.
The only time it got a little dicey in the final round was when he bogeyed the par-4 seventh to shrink his lead to three shots on Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion who got off to a fast start with birdies on the first two holes.
But he came right back with a 4-foot birdie at No. 8, then all but put an end to the drama when he made an 18-foot birdie at No. 10 to push his lead back to six.
“Phenomenal,” said Rose, who shot 69 to finish tied with Mickelson at 14-under 274. “He was so comfortable in the lead. Every time I thought there was a chink in his armor, he’d come out and make a putt.”
Spieth didn’t just win the Masters, he blew away the field for four days and compiled more records than Porky Chedwick.
In addition to tying the 72-hole scoring mark, he set the 36-hole (130) and 54-hole (200) scoring records and was the youngest 18-hole leader in Masters history. His six birdies in the final round gave him 28 for four days, blowing away the record of 25 set by Mickelson in 2001.
Spieth, a Dallas native, also became the 13th player from Texas to win the Masters, more than any other state.
“I got outplayed,” said Mickelson, whose final-round 69 gave him a second-place finish in back-to-back majors. “Eighteen-under par was just astounding. Even though the course had some birdies out there, it’s never a pushover. He played some amazing golf.”
Spieth’s run to the green jacket was the pinnacle of what has been a remarkable stretch. In his past four starts, he has two victories, a playoff loss at the Houston Open and a second-place finish in which he birdied four of his final five holes at the Texas Open.
It has elevated him to No. 2 in the world, making him America’s highest-ranked player and trailing only Rory McIlroy.
What he did at Augusta was not a surprise to anyone.
“If someone told me I’d finish 12 under at the start of the week, I’d taken it and sit back and see where I finish,” said McIlroy, who shot a bogey-free 66 to finish alone in fourth at 276 in his quest to win his third consecutive major championship. “Jordan started fantastically well and kept his foot down. It was very impressive.”
McIlroy had a final-round pairing with Woods that matched the game’s two biggest stars. But Woods didn’t hit a fairway until the 13th hole, which produced the only bright spot in his round of 73 — an eagle from 15 feet.
But even their marquee pairing couldn’t take away from Spieth, who never wavered in his attempt to bounce back from a loss a year ago to Bubba Watson when he blew a two-shot lead with 11 holes remaining.
“It still hasn’t kicked in,” Spieth said afterward, wearing his green jacket. “I’m still in shock a little bit. I’m sure it will kick in later.”
Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.
First Published: April 12, 2015, 11:10 p.m.
Updated: April 13, 2015, 1:10 a.m.
