I truly could have shot 59 - Spieth reflects on Augusta charge

Ahead of his first competitive outing since his final-round 64 in the Masters, Jordan Spieth said: "I thought I truly could have shot 59."

Jordan Spieth believes his spectacular Sunday charge at this month's Masters could have yielded a final-round 59.

Patrick Reed ultimately prevailed at Augusta to claim his first major title, but Spieth threatened to pull off a golfing miracle as he came from nine shots back to tie the lead with two holes to play. 

A bogey on the 18th hole meant the 2015 champion signed for an eight-under 64 and finished third, two behind Reed and one adrift of Rickie Fowler.

In a news conference ahead of the Zurich Classic, where he will return to competitive action this week, Spieth was asked if he had taken any time to reflect on how close he came to achieving something historic.

"I watched it. I watched the Sunday coverage. I wanted to learn a bit from it," replied the three-time major champion.

"I felt like it was the best my swing has ever held up under the gun, especially my driving. So I wanted to kind of see what that looked like compared to other times and also I was interested in how it looked from the viewers' perspective.

"I look back on it and I actually thought that I truly could have shot 59, without doing much more than making a few more putts.

"I gave myself the opportunities on each hole to shoot 59 that day, which is really, really cool."

The course record at Augusta is 63, a score achieved by Nick Price and Greg Norman in 1986 and 1996 respectively.

Spieth is hopeful he can build on his efforts at the Masters and the Houston Open that preceded it, where he recorded another third-placed finish in a welcome return to form.

"I think I got on the right path," he added. "I was kind of working on things throughout the year, thinking I was doing the right things, and I finally feel like I got the short game back on track in Houston and Augusta.

"To hit those kind of putts under pressure and see some of those go in, I think it will be beneficial going forward this year. It very well could be a spark for a really solid year.

"I'm very pleased with the last couple of tournaments I've played and where I've come from the month prior to that."