Jordan Spieth: the construction of a golfing hotshot | Ewan Murray

Skipping forward to 2008, Spieths insistent focus on golf constructs perfect sense. Jordan Spieth shot a six-under-par 30 on the final nine, then sank a 10 ft birdie putt on the first playoff hole, to win the District boys individual title on Tuesday at Riverside Golf Course, reports the Dallas Morning News.

Scrolling through the microfilm in a Dallas library the week before the 80 th Masters, I observed the Texan city gripped by sporting fever of a different kind; the impending WrestleMania 32. You need to scrape pretty hard to find tracings of appreciation for Spieth. I find myself crestfallen as a library deputy doesnt so much as recognise his name. But when tributes arrive, “they il be” unfailingly warm.

Mike Rawlings, the mayor of Dallas since 2011, handed the first of his keys to the city to Spieth. This was before the golfer had even won a major championship, let alone blitzed the field at last years Master, when he became only the fifth golfer in history to win the tournament wire-to-wire, equalled the 18 -under-par winning rating set by Tiger Woods and broke the records for 36 – and 54 -hole totals on his style to the Green Jacket.

He has represented this city so very well and he dedicates back, Rawlings insists. I play at a golf course in north Dallas, we have a fundraiser every year for a domestic violence charity. Jordan constructs sure he comes and plays. There are not a lot of heroes that young but “hes one”. He is young, he is polite, he is gracious and he is a killer on the golf course. But what links Spieth and his home? I think it is about youth, Rawlings adds. People dont understand how young Dallas is as a city. We are only 160 years old. The new Dallas actually only took off after Erik Jonsson took over as mayor, post-Kennedy assassination. That is merely 50 years ago; the things that have happened in the city during that time are remarkable. We have so many young people moving into the city and I feel like we are about how old Jordan is, or a senior in college. We are not an adolescent any more but we are still in the early side of our lives.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Spieth would be part of a fairytale. The Midway Hills district in which he was raised has a batch of streets inspired by Walt Disney: Dwarfs Circle, Pinocchio Drive, Cinderella Lane, Snow White Drive and others.

Just north of Midway Hills, Brookhaven country club lies within minutes of Interstate 35, in a distinctly middle-class region. This suburb of Farmers Ranch achieved national notoriety due to a protracted legal battle that began in 2007 over a policy to prevent illegal immigrants renting. It took a supreme court judgment in 2014, deeming the law unconstitutional, to eventually aim the wrangling. Brookhaven itself could hardly offer a more contrasting surrounding. It is a wonderfully vast tree-lined defining including three golf course, practise facilities, tennis the tribunals and swimming pools. It was swimming that first attracted his mother, Chris, and Shawn Spieth to enrol the entire family. The membership is 3, 000, with 1,200 of that for golf alone. The emphasis is on family. Spieth soon moved from the pond to the driving range.

A banner outside the professionals shop nations: It is never too early to dream big. Yet, intriguingly, hailing of Brookhavens most well known son is understated, save an oil painting inside the clubhouse, a couple of signed flags and the other artwork, this time for sale, in the window of the pro shop. Brad McCollum, the director of golf, rather bashfully states that Brookhaven is planning more tributes to Spieth, nearly giving the impression the 22 -year-olds success has taken the club by surprise.

Spieth drifted south from Brookhaven, working under the close instruction of Cameron McCormick at Brook Hollow Golf Club and subsequently Dallas National. McCormick inherited a 13 -year-old who was both prone to frustration and, as seems unbelievable in 2016, a weak putter. Last year, when Spieth followed up his Augusta success with victory in the US Open before finishing fourth and second at the Open and US PGA, respectively, his long-time coach was named PGA teacher of the year.

One of many seminal moments in Spieths life arrived at that very age during a high school match at Dornick Hills Golf Club in Oklahoma. On the 2nd hole, the much-respected University of Texas golf coach John Fields caught a glimpse of the future.

It was a par three over water, 170 yards, pin was in a dicey back-right place, Fields says. He missed the green to the right and I can still find what happened next to this day. He had a downhill chip from a bad lie and the ball came out just like it knew what it was doing, it had spin on it and stopped within six inches of the hole.

I thought: Ive got to have this guy. You cant fabricate that kind of ability, it is God-given. Right there and then, I believed: Not only do I want this guy on my golf squad, he has something special.

Spieth would spend only a little over a year at college, helping the Longhorns to a long-awaited national championship in 2012. It wasnt like he was leaving after he had done nothing, says Fields. He helped us win something that we had been was intended to win for 40 years. He helped give us this wonderful gift.

Truthfully, I knew he was likely to leave Texas early. I knew that when he was in the hunt at the Byron Nelson Championship at the conclusion of his junior years in high school. What I was hoping at that point was that he would come to the school because what happens if he wins that golf tournament?

So the time that we had with Jordan was unbelievably wonderful. I appreciated every minute of it, everybody here did. When I left, I told him we knew he was going to have tremendous success. But I dont want you to go. I dont want you to ever think that I wanted you to leave here. Meaning, I didnt want him to get the idea that I was in any way angry with him or in any way happy he was leaving. I wanted him to know that he could always be at Texas and he was wanted here. But we absolutely understood it was the right time for him to go, we supported him 100%.

Dylan Frittelli, a team-mate of Spieth for that brief period and who sank the putt that won the championship, nicknamed “the mens” three years his junior Superstar. Frittelli, a South African now playing on the Challenge Tour, adds: I was 19, going on 20 and had heard about this kid in Dallas. He had won a few tournaments, all of a sudden he won the US Junior Championship and people were talking a lot more about him. John Fields was trying to recruit him, he would tell us a lot about this kid. I was like: Yeah … sure, sure, I hear this stuff all the time.

Then I played in Houston, an event with a South African team, Italian squad and American team. We all roomed together and I got to know Jordan pretty well there, he was still only 16. I played one round with him and afterwards was like: OK, this kid is pretty good. He had a long way to go but there was definitely something there.

At 16 he was very mature, very confident in his playing abilities. Socially, a 16 -year-old is ordinarily awkward and unfamiliar with their surrounds. Jordan waltzed right in, chatting to sponsors and knowing everybody.

When he progressed to college, he had that something … everybody talks about it without knowing exactly what it is. In my best deduction it is a longing, an all-encompassing drive and focus to achieve at whatever he does. We used to play ping pong in the locker room. If I managed to beat him six, seven games in a row he wouldnt be able to let me walk out until he beat me. Id beat him eight periods and he still hadnt had enough. Eventually when he beat me, then we could go out and practise.

Frittelli laughs when recollecting the team session when Spieth proceeded to offer an exact, hour-by-hour gale forecast. He was just so analytical. No stone left unturned.

It is not what Spieth achieves on the course that defines their own lives, however. That is his relationship with his sister, Ellie. It is why, understandably, there is a large component of privacy around so much of the Spieth story. Now 15, Ellie was born with a neurological disorder that puts her on the autism spectrum. She did not even have the power of speech until she turned four. Shortly after Jordan had put on the Green Jacket at Augusta, it was Ellie who Spieth spoke of, describing her as his inspiration and the most special part of our family. So much of the Spieth familys work Chris took on two jobs was to pay for Ellies place at the Vanguard preparatory school. Fees there range between $17,000 and $21,000 per year; Ellie still attends for 35 hours worked per week.

It is just such a sweet, loving relationship, says Rosalind Funderburgh, the schools founder, of the dynamic between Ellie and Jordan. It is very natural. It isnt stilted, it isnt condescending. It is exactly the kind of thing you would expect from an adoring older brother towards his young sibling.

I have known Jordan since he was in high school and whenever he comes to visit his sister, there has never been a single change in the way he is. They are a very low-key family; there has never been any bigheadedness.

Spieths journey, from model pupil to sporting inspiration, is one to cherish.