Masters 2016: Spotless Jordan Spieth hits top form to send a shudder through the field

The Texan put an indifferent start to the year behind him at Augusta

Spieth holds up his ball after putting for birdie on the 13th green (Getty)

Jordan Spieth leads the Masters. Where have we heard that before? His mid-afternoon round of 66, six-under-par, put him in position to make it five consecutive rounds at the top of the leaderboard and leave him only one behind Arnold Palmer’s historic mark set in 1960/61.

Justin Rose and Paul Casey led the early pursuit with a pair of assertive 69s, and on the course Shane Lowry and Jason Day both reached the turn at five under, but it was the blemish-free contribution of Spieth that sent a shudder through the field.

Concerns about Spieth’s welfare after an indifferent start to the season melted in the haze of a beautiful if blustery spring day. The red strikes were impressive enough but equally significant was his ability to minimise mistakes, not a blob on the boy’s card in winds gusting at 25mph.

To be in this position again is really cool

&#13; <p>Jordan Spieth</p>&#13;

Had playing partner Casey maintained the same level of control, he might have had a share of the lead, a hat-trick of bogies pegging him back to three under par. You also need a little luck. Spieth turned his back on his tee shot at the 10th. Had you or I pulled the drive into the copse down the left side of the fairway, chances are it would have found an impossible lie beneath a bush.

Not Spieth, the ball bouncing kindly off the timber into the fairway. From there he biffed the approach to eight feet and rolled in the putt. Hello four under par.

Another kind bounce to keep him out of Rae’s Creek at the entry to Amen Corner allowed him to save par at the 11th. No-one comes out of this celebrated trio of holes like Spieth, who birdied the 13th every day of the week en route to victory here in 2015. The surprise yesterday was the eagle spurned from 15 feet. Hey hum.

“To be in this position again is really cool,” Spieth said, suggesting his opening statement might have been even better than the 64 with which he began last year. “I got the most I could possibly get out of the round today.”

Rory McIlroy puts on the 2nd green at Augusta (Getty)

While Spieth was assiduously dismantling a course the majority found testing, Rory McIlroy was opening his shoulders on the range. It was McIlroy who insisted that worries about Spieth’s form were premature. He’ll be just fine, he insisted. Yes, but did he have to be this fine so soon? How this, or some such sentiment, must have churned through McIlroy’s mind.

The world No 3 made a confident start, carding his first birdie at the second hole, the strategy of choking down to the three-wood off the tee paying early dividends. A bogey at the par-three fourth was probably not part of his plan, however.

The wind played havoc with his tee shot, leaving him a lethal chip across the slope. He rolled it to six feet but missed the par putt. He was back in the red at the seventh and another birdie after a sumptuous approach at the ninth took him to the turn on two under par.

A three-putt at the last took the edge of Lee Westwood’s afternoon. Playing alongside Tom Watson, Westwood rolled back the years himself with a magnificent display of ball-striking in the wind. You might recall Westwood leading into the final round six years ago, losing out only to the brilliance of Phil Mickelson. Given his form this season, he would have accepted a 71 at the start of play.

Rickie Fowler is playing only for pride after posting an opening 80, his highest score at a major. “I had a couple of bad breaks and made a couple of mistakes on the back nine, but that’s golf,” he said.