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Spieth, 21, ties Masters scoring mark and wins by 4 shots

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The people who follow professional golf always have sought the next great player since before the days of Arnold Palmer. They found one 18 years ago at the Masters where 21-year-old Tiger Woods set records that few thought would ever be approached.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The people who follow professional golf always have sought the next great player since before the days of Arnold Palmer. They found one 18 years ago at the Masters where 21-year-old Tiger Woods set records that few thought would ever be approached.

Then Jordan Spieth came along last year and displayed his talent and his competitive nature right away, entering the final 18 holes of his first Masters with a share of the lead. Although he eventually lost to Bubba Watson, he created a buzz where people expected he would contend again someday at Augusta National Golf Club.

"Someday" happened Sunday when Spieth, 21, concluded his record-setting weekend of incredible golf with a 4-stroke victory over Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson on a day when the tense moments were few because Spieth carried out his laserlike focus for 18 holes.

After setting scoring records for 36 holes and 54 holes the previous two days, Spieth had to settle for tying Woods' 72-hole record of 18-under 270 after he missed a five-foot par putt at the 18th. But that might have been the furthest thing from his mind considering his performance.

Spieth finished the week with 28 birdies, besting Mickelson's record by three. He became just the fifth wire-to-wire winner of the event and first since Raymond Floyd in 1976. After he started the round with a 4-shot lead, the margin never dipped below 3.

"I was already hungry from last year, having already had an opportunity and watched it slip away, and watched Bubba win and everything that came with Bubba being Masters champion and the announcements of it," Spieth said. "I knew I had a chance to win the tournament.

"So you get reminded of it all the time because when you're Masters champion, it's a different legacy. So that definitely left me hungry."

Spieth spent the week dining on birdies and clutch par putts and pristine ball-striking and imaginative shots out of trees and off pine straw. He led by 3 strokes after 18 holes and by 5 after 36, and spent the weekend forcing challengers to breathe in his exhaust fumes.

"It's not an easy game," said Rose, seeking to add a green jacket to his 2013 U.S. Open win at Merion. "Anyone who comes out and has played at the level that he has and how consistently he's doing it and how easy he's making it look, yeah, absolutely I'm surprised. It really shouldn't be that easy."

"He has no weaknesses," Mickelson said. "He doesn't overpower the golf course, but he plays the course strategically well. He has that ability to focus and see things clear when the pressure is on and perform at his best."

If there was a moment of trepidation all day, it came at the par-3 16th, where Spieth, leading by 4, went over the green with his tee shot and Rose hit one 20 feet below the hole. Spieth chipped up to eight feet and the possibility existed for a seismic 2-shot swing on the leader board.

"When Justin had that birdie putt and I had that slider for par, that's when I really felt like it could get out of my hands if I'm not careful here," Spieth said. "But I stepped over that putt just trying to put good speed, feed it out there and visualize a line. I would call that the biggest putt I've ever hit in my life."

Spieth, whose parents grew up in the Lehigh Valley and whose grandfather still lives in Bethlehem, Pa., made the putt and rendered anticlimactic the rest of the round. He soaked in the applause, finished the round, hugged members of his family and his friends, signed his scorecard, and donned a new green jacket as the latest Masters champion, the second-youngest in tournament history.

"It's incredible," he said. "It's one of the best feelings I've ever felt. This was arguably the greatest day of my life."

SPIETH'SNUMBERS

270

Ties low 72-hole score

200

Low 54-hole score

130

Low 36-hole score

28

Birdies in one Masters tournament, a record

5

Wire-to-wire winners in Masters history (no ties)

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