NORTON — Wise beyond his 23 years, Jordan Spieth walked away from his Masters collapse in April with a newfound appreciation for the countless rounds of golf still to come in his career.
Every day on the links was another chance for Spieth to allow the troubling memories to fade; another chance to rebuild the confidence he had last year as the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.
“The more times you prevail, the less you think about what happened in those tough times,’’ Spieth said Thursday at TPC Boston ahead of the Deutsche Bank Championship.
“[The Masters] was very much a low. It was a really tough thing for me for a while and I’m starting again to feel really good about the way I’m hitting the ball. I feel confident about that.’’
It’s almost unfathomable that a 23-year-old who cashed in on a $10 million bonus for finishing atop the FedEx Cup standings would struggle to find confidence, but Spieth admitted he wasn’t hitting the ball confidently at Augusta National this year.
He quickly rebounded from the meltdown, captured a win at Colonial in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational in May, and rose to No. 5 in the FedEx Cup standings.
“My swing seems to be getting into a position that it was last year,’’ said Spieth, who is currently ranked third in the world. “It took three or four months where I kind of had a little play or rerouting in it that I’ve been trying to get rid of.
“It was actually a play opposite of my natural golf swing, which is something I’ve been working hard on, trying to simplify, and it’s getting to a point last week where I felt like I was just taking it back and through and the ball’s starting on line.’’
Now, with his swing back on track and without the added pressure of trying to qualify for the US Ryder Cup team after earning one of eight automatic spots, Spieth just wants to build momentum this weekend as he chases a second straight FedEx Cup title.
“I think I take it for granted a little just being on the [Ryder Cup] team, take for granted the lack of pressure,’’ Spieth said. “That’s a team that everybody wants to be on as a goal, and as bad as anything that they’ve tried to accomplish this year.’’
Spieth qualified automatically based on his point total following The Barclays. He is joined by Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Brandt Snedeker, and Jimmy Walker.
The four remaining spots will be decided by captain Davis Love III and vice captains Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, and Tiger Woods. Spieth said the extra pressure of trying to earn a final spot on the team can “very well be a positive to just inspire even further,’’ but acknowledged it adds another level of difficulty to the upcoming tournaments.
“Now the guys that are just off the list that are in consideration,’’ Spieth said, “they pretty much have a playoff with each other over the next couple weeks, and really few tournaments, and it certainly adds excitement for those watching, but for those guys, that’s tough.
“Everybody wants to be on it, and there’s going to be some pretty fantastic players that won’t be able to. We have a great squad already.’’
Spieth and his Ryder Cup teammates visited Gillette Stadium Wednesday night ahead of the Deutsche Bank Championship. They tried on Super Bowl rings, met Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and hit balls onto the stadium turf.
A good friend of Tom Brady, Spieth even had the opportunity to stop for a picture in front of the quarterback’s locker.
Safe to say the Patriots fan — and Cowboys fan, “if you can have two teams’’ — will head into Friday’s opening round on a high note as he looks to do what he does best.
“The way you build momentum is obviously by having good memories on the golf course,’’ Spieth said. “You can see everything you want on the driving range, you can take all the confidence you can off the driving range, but the real confidence comes from producing on the golf course.’’
Emily McCarthy can be reached at emily.mccarthy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @emilymccahthy.
