Kelly: Jordan Spieth chases records as Woods sputters at Augusta National

A couple of days before the start of the Masters, Tiger Woods was trying to capture how much things have changed.

"The only difference is that, yeah, I won the Masters when Jordan [Spieth] was in diapers," Woods said.

From the vantage of Day 1, that looks like a prediction.

While Woods struggled through his return to Augusta on Thursday – cursing himself, windmilling clubs in anger – Spieth was in the midst of one of the great rounds in tournament history.

The 21-year-old Texan birdied 10 holes en route to a jaw-dropping 64. Only a club-selection error on the 15th separated him from the record for best round in any major – 63.

Spieth finished second at last year's Masters, but didn't crack 70 in any round. Bubba Watson won it at 8-under. That's Spieth's score right now.

He's already created some crucial distance from the leading pack, which contains several experienced winners. Jason Day is second at minus-6; Ernie Els, Justin Rose and Charley Hoffman are tied for third at 5-under.

Els and Rose are major champions. Hoffman is a 38-year-old journeyman who asked Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer for their autographs before the start of his round.

Did they say anything memorable to you?

"No," said Hoffman, a little wide-eyed. "I got in and out of there as fast as I could."

That sort of irrational exuberance is contagious here.

As Finnish golfer Mikko Ilonen teed off in the early afternoon, a man sprinted across the lawn in order to catch sight of it. Running is strictly verboten at Augusta. A postpubescent-looking security guard trudged up behind the runner, placed a firm hand on his shoulder and gave him a good talking to.

As the security guard wandered back, I asked, "Do you know who that was?"

"No."

"Teemu Selanne. He's one of the best hockey players of all time."

"Maybe I should have asked for his autograph," the guard said, and rolled his eyes.

It's a reminder that even the best of us are little people at Augusta National.

(After conferring with his colleagues, he did return to ask, "What was his name again?")

The heat was plainly getting to us. All of us but Spieth. It's very early, but if Spieth can approach this Vulcan level of concentration going forward, he cannot lose this tournament. He's on course to outstrip the best final score in Masters history – the 18-under 270 posted by Woods in 1997, the first of his four victories here.

That's one target now. There are others.

The greatest single performance in golf history is probably Woods's 15-stroke victory at Pebble Beach in the 2000 U.S. Open. Spieth is one-quarter of the way to matching that level of play – which isn't saying anything. Yet.

He doesn't seem at all awed by the situation, or any situation.

"I certainly played well today," Spieth said afterward. "I'm excited by the start."

That's as close as this spookily self-possessed kid gets to "Yee-hawing" and pony-riding his driver across a fairway. The best he would offer on the course was mouthing "Come on" to himself after a birdie on the 18th.

Spieth may be the best golfer on the planet right now. He may also be the best golfer – period – since the emergence of Woods 20 years ago. Woods won his first Masters at 21 – albeit five months younger than Spieth.

While Woods emerged with a handful of superlative power skills, Spieth is a silkier competitor. He isn't the best at any one facet of the game. He just does everything well, and with metronomic consistency.

That facility has deserted Woods. After two months off, his game see-sawed between flashes of the good ol' times, and bits of the bad not-so-ol' times. Between small meltdowns on the back nine, he was able to grind out a competent, if unconvincing, round of one over par.

For most of five or six years, we've talked about the moment when Woods would definitively hand off the mantle of greatest golfer alive to some newcomer.

Irishman Rory McIlroy has come closest to taking hold of it. But his defining Masters moment remains an epic collapse in 2011. He finished Thursday nine shots back of Spieth.

Maybe the time is finally here for that breakthrough. It deserves to be done in style. It's one of many virtues Spieth appears to possess in Woodsian abundance.