Spieth would love another green jacket, ‘maybe a little bigger’

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - There’s something about playing in the Masters that brings out the best in Jordan Spieth.

He’s had five top-three finishes in his first nine appearances here. Only Arnold Palmer has matched that record.

“It was my favorite tournament growing up, so qualifying to get here was always a lifelong goal of mine. I really fell in love with the game because of this tournament, back to Tiger’s chip-in to Phil’s first win,” he said.

“These were kind of heroic moments when I was at an age where I was playing some other sports and loving golf, and it inspired me to really take up the game and see what kind of moments you can create, because the ball is always in your hands.”

So now he’s making his 10th Masters appearance this week.

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“From the moment I got here, I was always very excited, and I wanted to learn it and fall in love with it. Just a lot of positivity. Didn’t know what to expect, and got off to a nice start my first year and tried to carry it on every year,” he said.

Winning “would be pretty special, but at the same time when you get opportunities at a young age and you feel good about your chances, I want to win it again,” he said.

He’s learned a lot about himself at Augusta National.

“I think I’ve learned that it’s a game. It’s a game, and I’ve approached the highs and lows as life-and-death in different scenarios, and that’s not the case. Ten years here, a lot of experience, I can look back and say I learned a lot from winning, and I learned a lot from losing,” he said.

“I feel better perspective now than ever, and hopefully that continues to grow.”

His green jacket from 2015 means so much to him.

“I was able to go to Mavs games, Rangers games, go on the court, go on the field, to University of Texas and a football game and do some of the stuff where you wear the jacket, and everybody knows what the jacket is,” he said.

“I’d love to have another one, maybe a little bigger.”

But after a lot of success early in his career, things don’t happen as easily now as they once did for Spieth.

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“I tried working really, really hard without really knowing what I was doing, and I think that put me more in a hole,” he said.

“Then there was a time period where I, along with some help, talking to some guys that I trusted and knew and using my same team and letting my guard down and being a little less stubborn and underworking, until I got to that point, where I was like, ‘OK, let’s refigure this out. Stop trying the same thing and overworking it, thinking something is going to click and it’s all over.’”

Instead, he tried to reverse engineer what made him so successful that he did without knowing.

“Falling in love with the process starts with knowing what you need to work on and then from there, putting in the hours. I mean, I’ve got the scars to show the hours. But it’s what I want to do, too, because it’s really, really enjoyable when you start to feel progression and confidence coming back,” he said.

“You know, to me, there’s nothing like it. It’s everything to kind of re-fall in love with the game and enjoy working it back.”