Jordan Spieth reveals he took Greg Norman’s advice to heart

JORDAN Spieth spent one night savouring his Australian Open title with his family and then jumped on another plane for another tournament.

Jordan Spieth balances his driver while waiting to play a tee shot during the Hero World Challenge pro-am.

JORDAN Spieth stashed his replica Stonehaven Cup in his parent's house in Dallas, spent one night savouring his Australian Open title with his family and then jumped on another plane for another tournament.

On the PGA Tour, there is no rest for the wicked or the winners. Sydney is gone. Spieth has moved on, although on his arrival at Isleworth Golf and Country Cub yesterday he was only too happy to relive last week with the inquisitive American media.

During his 20-minute press conference, a delicious piece of Australian Open irony emerged as Spieth revealed the words of Greg Norman had helped soothe him as he dealt with the fallout from an emotional year.

Yes, the same Greg Norman who inspired a generation of Australian stars. The same Greg Norman who the vanquished Adam Scott regards as his mentor and idol. The same Greg Norman who once said you learn more about yourself in defeat than you ever do in victory.

Having endured a runner-up finish at the US Masters and suffered defeat as part of the American Ryder Cup team, Norman's words were like a warm blanket.

“Even though we fell short (in the Ryder Cup and Masters), last week I was reminded Greg Norman said ... ‘You learn a lot more from your failures than you do from winning’,” Spieth said.

“I took that to heart. I believe that you're going to learn a lot more from your close calls, your tough calls, than you will from victory.

“You can certainly learn from both and you will lose a lot more than you win out here in this sport that we play. That wasn’t the first time that I had heard it.

“It came back up last week. It was nice to go out there on a difficult course in difficult conditions and play one of the best rounds I've ever played.

“So it was really nice to get that victory, and one that I really tried to soak up the feeling the last few holes, remembering what it was like it to walk down comfortably.

“It had been a little while since I had had a comfortable win.”

Spieth may not get it so easy this week. The field at the Hero World Challenge includes seven of the world's top 10 players as well as a fit-again Tiger Woods.

The carrot for Spieth is a place in the top 10 should he prevail. Even if he doesn't get there this week, it seems only a matter of time. He already has something Woods has never been able to gets his hands on — the Stonehaven Cup.

“The Stonehaven Cup is a tremendous trophy to have your name on,” he said. “I knew that going into the week. That wasn’t something that I’m saying just because of the final tally. It was one I was targeting and looking forward to, so it was a great week.”

As for Woods, Spieth like everyone else is keen to see how the 14-time major winner goes on his return. His game has looked solid in practice and during yesterday's pro-am but Woods is yet to test it in a tournament.

Regardless, Spieth believes as long as Woods gets his health back, he will win again.

“I wasn't paired with him when he was killing everybody,” Spieth said. “I think that if he’s 100 per cent healthy I don’t have any doubt that he’ll get back to winning major championships and a lot of the golf tournaments. I look forward to really trying to be the one that’s stopping him.”