Jordan Spieth humbled in drive to Masters greatness
As the second-youngest Masters winner to don the green jacket, Jordan Spieth sports a proud smile, but his inspiration comes from a very humble place.
His biggest fan, he said, is his 14-year-old sister, Ellie, who has autism.
"It puts things in perspective when you look at the big picture and the struggles that she goes through each day just to do simple tasks that we take for granted," Spieth said Tuesday on "CBS This Morning." "To see her and her friends and how happy they are, and it just, it brings a lot of joy to us and also puts a bogie or a missed putt in perspective a little bit."
This year's Masters win was a bit of redemption after last year's runner-up finish behind Bubba Watson.
"I watched Bubba Watson walk up the 18th green to the standing ovation knowing he had won the Masters ... that's one I dreamt about," Spieth said. "It was tough to watch that happen to somebody else, so it kind of drove me the whole year to get back to that position."
This year he has good news for Ellie.
"Most of the time, she's asking me after each round if I won ... and then the majority of the time I have to tell her, 'No, I didn't win this week.' So to tell her I won and that I'll be coming home soon and get to share it with her, it'll be really special," Spieth said.
Spieth tied the tournament record Tiger Woods set when he was 21 and shot the lowest 54-hole score in Masters history. He came just shy of breaking Woods' scoring record, but many note since Augusta National Golf Club "Tiger proofed" the course it's been difficult for anyone to outshine the golf great.
"They lengthened it and added some trees that Tiger used to hit it over. I was playing with Tiger on Wednesday actually and he kept on pointing out, 'Oh they stuck this tree here after '05 and they moved this tee box back," Spieth said.
He said it wasn't really on his mind anyway.
"It was more just enjoying that last hole knowing that I had a couple putts to win and make a dream come true," Spieth said.
It was a dream he shared with his family. After sinking the winning hole, Spieth, who was named after basketball legend Michael Jordan, met his parents in the crowd, where cameras captured a heartwarming embrace with his father.
"The sacrifices that they went through to get me this position, it was really, really special. And it was the first time they've been there on the 18th green after a win, and this was a good one for them to be there for," Spieth said.
Spieth shot an 18-under 270 to become the first wire-to-wire winner of the green jacket since 1976. At only 21 years old, Spieth's championship dreams began not too long ago.
"I wanted to be professional and I thought it might be possible at about 15 or 16 when I first tested my game against the pros, and I thought 'I really enjoy this, and I have a good time with this,'" Spieth said.
The Dallas native sits at number two behind Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy. Spieth said it's too early to tell, but the green is already buzzing with memories of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, one of the greatest rivalries in gold history.
"Rory's had, certainly, the success that they had in their career early off. This was my first one," Spieth said. "I hope to continue this momentum to then creating that opportunity, but right now I think it's a little early to put myself in that position There's a lot of great young talent, great young American talent too."