Master Speith relishing rivalry with McIlroy

Having denied Rory McIlroy a career Grand Slam, Jordan Spieth looks forward to a spirited rivalry between two of the game's brightest young stars.

Spieth won the Masters at age 21 yesterday, romping to a four-stroke victory and the first wire-to-wire triumph at Augusta National since Raymond Floyd in 1976. The youngster also tied the tournament scoring record with an 18-under 270 total.

McIlroy settled for fourth place, six shots back, and will have to wait a year to make his next attempt at the Grand Slam. He already won the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship, leaving the Masters as the only big victory missing from his resume at age 25.

"He's got four majors. That's something I can still only dream about," Spieth said. "I'll never hit it as far as he does, so I'll have to make up that somewhere else."

McIlroy began the final round 10 shots behind Spieth, and a sluggish start essentially ended his chances of a historic comeback. He played well down the stretch, finishing with a 6-under 66.

"I look forward to getting in the heat of the moment with him a few more times in the near future," Spieth said. "We'll see if we can battle it out and test our games."

McIlroy needed Spieth to falter to have a chance.

That never happened.

"I didn't start that fast and got going in the middle of the round," McIlroy said. "But even that wouldn't really matter. Jordan just went out and played … a really, really solid round of golf."

Clearly, the future of the game is bright.

"He's been playing great for a 21-year-old," McIlroy said of Spieth. "He's way more mature than I was at 21."

Hideki Matsuyama turned in his best round yet at the Masters and his fifth-place finish has him setting his sights even higher at Augusta National.

"I would really like to become a Masters champion one day," Matsuyama said Sunday.

In his fourth Masters, Matsuayama matched McIlroy, the world's No. 1 player, with the low final round. Four birdies and an eagle helped the Japanese player shoot a 6-under-par 66 for the fourth round and 277 total.

Not bad for someone who just turned 23 in February. But then, Matsuyama quickly is putting together quite a career.

He was the first rookie to win the Japan Golf Tour money list. He already has seven worldwide wins, including one as an amateur in Japan, and winning Memorial last year put him face-to-face with Jack Nicklaus. He came into Augusta National ranked 17th — one of seven men under the age of 27 among the world's top 20 players.

Matsuyama missed the cut here last year in his first time in the Masters as a professional. As an amateur, he was the first to make the cut in consecutive years since Manny Zerman in 1991 and 1992.

He started Sunday at 5 under, 11 strokes back of third-round leader Spieth, and just worked his way up the leaderboard with good iron play. He stuck shots within 4 feet on the par-5 8th and the par-4 10th. He rolled in from 29 feet on No. 11 for his third birdie in four holes. Despite hitting his drive into the pine straw right of the fairway, he still managed to eagle the par-5 No. 13.

"I had 211 to the pin, and I cut a 5-iron in there," Matsuyama said. "It was probably a 10-footer, 11-footer (putt). And I was able to make it."

That put him at 10 under, and he finished up with an 11-footer for birdie on 18, a stroke back of McIlroy and with all four rounds this week under par.

"I really played well this week, and I'm happy with the way I played and so I have no complaints," Matsuyama said.

"With that said, I have a lot of work left to do still."

#national #masters #speith