Jordan Spieth has a great perspective on his Masters collapse

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Jordan Spieth is going to be just fine.

On Tuesday, Spieth made his first media appearance since he fell apart on the back-9 of Augusta National on Sunday at the Masters. He sounded positive and motivated, ready to get back on the golf course and move on from last month’s collapse.

Spieth has clearly put the heartbreaking moment in great perspective, noting that there are worse things in the world and that his dog “didn’t die.”

“I’m not taking it very hard,” Spieth told reporters at Oakmont before this weekend’s FedEx St. Jude Classic. “I’ve got ladies at the grocery stores putting their hand on me and going, ‘Really praying for you; how are you doing.’ I’m like, my dog didn’t die. I’ll be okay. I’ll survive. It happens.”

“But actually I laugh about it now, I really do. But it will keep coming up. I understand that. And it’s tough every time it comes up. It was very tough to go through.”

Spieth is of course referring to the calamitous par-3 12th at Augusta, where he put back-to-back shots in the water to fall out of first place after leading for the entire weekend and gift the tournament to Danny Willett. To make matters worse, Spieth then had to ceremonially reward Danny Willett the green jacket — an Augusta tradition that this year was excruciatingly awkward to watch.

But on Tuesday, Spieth said that although parts of his final round at this year’s Masters were tough to go through, others were among the fondest of his young career.

“The fact that not only I walked to 13 tee box and still believed I could win; but I also felt the crowd believed I could still win. When I look back on that, when I was walking from 15 to 16 tee box, 15 green to tee box after making two birdies to come back, was arguably the coolest moment I’ve had at the Masters,” Spieth said, rather surprisingly.

That’s some way for Spieth to look back on this year’s Masters, which will be remembered for much different reasons by just about everyone else who watched that 12th hole.

Now Spieth — who recently returned for a Bahamas getaway with Rickie Fowler that exploded across social media — is focusing his attention toward Oakmont, a course he has never played.

“Obviously very excited, as one of the great golf courses in the United States,” Spieth said. “It’s a bucket lister for me, so it’s very exciting to play there tomorrow.”