Jordan Spieth shrugged off the historic aspects of his runaway lead after two rounds at the Masters, dismissing them as meaningless without capturing the champion’s green jacket as well.
Spieth fired a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to stand on 14-under 130, the lowest halfway score in Masters history and level with the best 36-hole start in major golf history.
“As far as history and what happened the last couple days, doesn’t mean anything unless I can close it out,” Spieth said.
“I don’t want to go in as the 36-hole best record, but somebody who didn’t win.”
The 21-year-old American could have been the youngest champion in Masters history last year, but squandered a lead on the front nine and settled for a runner-up Masters debut finish behind Bubba Watson.
“The hardest thing to do is put aside wanting to win so bad, and just letting my ball striking and putting happen,” Spieth said.
“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.”
Spieth had a seven-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole that would have given him the lowest 36-hole start in majors history with a 129, but he pushed the putt just left of the cup.
“I wanted it bad,” Spieth said.
“I was surprised on that specific putt. I wasn’t trying to make a statement or reach a certain point. Didn’t know what any of these scores meant in history or anything like that. I just knew I had a good look at birdie and had a good read on it, and it was just barely off.”
Spieth resists the comparison to the dominating form of Tiger Woods in his “Tiger Slam” run of four major wins in a row, saying his own job is unfinished.
“It’s only the halfway point, so it’s very difficult to compare it to something like that,” Spieth said.
“Tiger in 2000, that was something special. The only way to compare is to somehow continue that with a tougher course this weekend.
“This is only the halfway point and I’m aware of that. Not going to get ahead of myself. I’m going to try and stay in the moment and very patient these last two days and understand it’s going to feel like a whole other tournament.”
Spieth attributed his improvement over last year to patience and putting.
“I’ve been making a good amount of short to mid-range putts and that has certainly been the key so far, because, if you miss a couple of those, it’s tough to regain the confidence out here,” Spieth said.
