Jordan Spieth has vowed to “stay in the moment” and draw on the wounding experience of last year’s Masters finale after taking a five-shot lead at the halfway point of the first major of this year.
Spieth made history on Friday by adding a 66 to his first round of 64, thereby beating the previous best 36-hole Masters aggregate score by one. Charley Hoffman is his closest challenger with Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Paul Casey all seven adrift.
Twelve months ago, Spieth held the joint 54-hole Masters lead. Bubba Watson was to triumph on that occasion. Success this time around would mean Spieth becoming the second youngest Masters champion in history.
“What I learned was patience,” said the 21-year-old Spieth. “What I learned was that the weekend of a major, those rounds can often seem like two rounds with kind of the mental stuff that’s running through your head, the stress levels. Sometimes they are even higher than that.
“The hardest thing to do is put aside wanting to win so badly, just letting my ball-striking and putting happen.
“I got off to a great start and had a chance to win last year on Sunday. I’d like to have that same opportunity this year. This is only the halfway point and I’m aware of that. I’m not going to get ahead of myself.
“I’m going to try and stay in the moment and be very patient these last two days and understand it’s going to feel like a whole different tournament.”
Spieth’s showing has already earned widespread plaudits. Darren Clarke, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, joked that the young Texan “must be playing a different course” to the rest of the Masters field.
Henrik Stenson, who partnered Spieth over days one and two, was equally complimentary. “Jordan is very impressive,” Stenson said. “The strongest part of his game is his putting and pitching. He hits a lot of fairways and greens but his putting really stands out. Even the really hard Augusta putts, he’s been rolling them in. That’s why he’s so far ahead and living up to expectations.
“He is obviously coming here with some great form and he’s taking his chances. He’s got an old head on young shoulders because he’s playing very sensibly, very maturely.
“When he does make a mistake, he hits a great recovery shot. He’s in a great position and it’s his to lose from here.”
