Jordan Spieth in '˜fantastic place' heading into 2018

By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Jan 2018, 17:57 BST
Updated 3rd Jan 2018, 18:01 BST
Jordan Spieth celebrates on the 16th after his birdie putt during the final round of the Open at Royal Birkdale. Picture: Ian RutherfordJordan Spieth celebrates on the 16th after his birdie putt during the final round of the Open at Royal Birkdale. Picture: Ian Rutherford
Jordan Spieth celebrates on the 16th after his birdie putt during the final round of the Open at Royal Birkdale. Picture: Ian Rutherford
Jordan Spieth has revealed how his favourite quote from former US President Theodore Roosevelt about 'the man in the arena' helped him silence his critics as he overcame a second potential final-round major meltdown to become Open champion last summer.

The newly-engaged Texan starts his 2018 campaign today in Hawaii, where his rivals in the $6.3 million 
Sentry Tournament of Champions include two other major winners from last year, US Open champion Brooks Koepka and US PGA title holder Justin Thomas, as well as world No 1 Dustin Johnson.

Spieth is excited about a year that has seen excitement levels rise considerably in the game on the back of Tiger Woods making his promising return in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December after a ten-month injury lay-off.

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The 24-year-old felt he accomplished a lot of his goals for 2017, the main one being his Claret Jug success at Royal Birkdale, where he was in danger of suffering a repeat of his last-day collapse in the 2016 Masters before showing great resolve to win by three shots after covering the final five holes in five-under-par.

“I’m in a fantastic place compared to where I was last year,” confessed Spieth, speaking in his press conference for this week’s PGA Tour event at Kapalua, where the field also includes 2015 Scottish Open champion Rickie Fowler and last year’s DP World Tour champion, Spaniard Jon Rahm.