JORDAN SPIETH admitted that his astonishing Claret Jug conquest at Royal Birkdale last night was the biggest high of his career.

The 23-year-old Texan hauled himself back from the brink of disaster on the 13th hole to produce a thrilling late thrust which swept him to a three shot win over Matt Kuchar with an 11-under aggregate of 268. Spieth won two Majors – the Masters and the US Open – during a shimmering 2015 but this was the ultimate silver lining. Spieth said: “This is as much of a high as I’ve ever experienced in my golfing life.”

Covering his last five holes in five-under, the best in Open history, was the perfect way to make up for suffering a Masters meltdown at Augusta last year, when he squandered a five-shot lead on the back nine.  Spieth exorcised those ghosts last night with a remarkable resurgence just when it looked like the Claret Jug would slip from his grasp.

“I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this,” he added. “I look back on 2015 and think, ‘yeah, I enjoyed it’, but I never realized the significance until you kind of hit a low, hit a pitfall, to appreciate the high so much. I’m going to enjoy this more than I’ve enjoyed anything that I’ve accomplished in the past.

“Growing up playing golf, I just wanted to be able to play in major championships and compete with the best in the world, and things have happened very quickly.  “And it’s good and bad, because a lot comes with it. There’s lot more attention, against just being able to kind of go about your own thing.  “And I never realised how underrated that was. I wanted to be in this position it becomes harder when it doesn’t go your way. And you’re harder on yourself because you expect so much.”

At the end of a tumultuous afternoon of wildly fluctuating fortunes, Spieth admitted that the physical and mental demands of Open Sunday had pushed him to the limits.

He added: “This round took as much out of me as any day that I’ve ever played golf.”

Spieth watched his three-shot  overnight lead slowly erode away  as Kuchar edged ahead for the first time after that episode on the 13th.  “Once I lost my lead completely I actually felt the nerves go away for a few holes until I got the lead again,” he said.  “And then they were back. And it’s just kind of powering through that. You just don’t know really what your mind is going to do to you sometimes.  “You can control it to an extent  but certain situations are going to  bring more tension and you have to kind of channel that the right way and play the right shots.  “That was a difficult thing to do today because it was just so up and down.”

With the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow round the corner, the career grand slam beckons for Spieth.  He would be the youngest player to achieve the feat and just the sixth of all time after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods.

Spieth reiterated his preference not to be bracketed in with some of the greatest names in the history of golf, however.

He said: “It’s amazing. I feel blessed to be able to play the game I love, but I don’t compare myself [with those others]. And I don’t think that they [comparisons] are appropriate or necessary.  “To be in that company, no doubt is absolutely incredible and I certainly appreciate it.

“But I’m very careful as to what that means going forward because what those guys have done has transcended the sport. And in no way, shape or form do I think I’m anywhere near that, whatsoever. So it’s a good start, but there is a long way to go.”