Rory McIlroy got a stark reminder that his dominance of world golf will not go without its challengers as American prodigy Jordan Spieth closed out his victory at the Australian Open in spectacular style.
The 21-year-old Texan simply blew away a field containing the world number one and number three Adam Scott in difficult conditions with a flawless round of eight-under-par 63 to win the Stonehaven Cup by six strokes on 13 under par.
Australia's Rod Pampling came a distant second on seven under after a 68, while Scott was fifth after closing with a level-par 71.
McIlroy, who kick-started his march back to the top of world golf with victory in Sydney last year, finished in a tie for 15th spot on two-over-par after closing with a one-over 72 at The Australian Golf Club.
And Spieth believes his victory was a major step on the path that he hopes will take him to the top of the world rankings one day.
He marked himself out as a future Major champion when, on debut, he led by two strokes at one stage in the final round of the US Masters in April and ended up sharing second behind Bubba Watson.
After he had a share of the lead at the start of the final round at the Players’ Championship in May only to shoot a 74 for a share of fourth, however, golf pundits started talking about his “weekend troubles”.
There were no such problems on Sunday.
“This week was big because I was able to close it out, I felt the pressure, felt the nerves and performed the best I’ve ever performed,” he told reporters after what he described as his best ever round.
“There’s a big difference between being great at Augusta and coming up just short and closing out a tournament. It just feels completely different.
“Even though that week was one of the most memorable of my career, it still wasn’t the same as this week and walking down the 18th.”
Shortly after he turned professional at 19, Spieth became the youngest player in 82 years to win a PGA Tour event at the John Deere Classic and was named PGA Rookie of the Year in 2013.
Despite his brilliant week at Augusta, eight top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour and a Ryder Cup debut, however, he looked like ending 2014 season winless.
“There’s been a lot of close calls from the last time I won until now and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was eating at me a little bit,” he said.
“It’s tough when you get so close at big events and you are not able to pull it off and I decided to take care of business by a healthy amount today.
“If I had the follow-up year Rory had this year, I think I’d be pleased,” he added with a grin.
