Record-breaking American Spieth is new Masters champion

Having already set new 36 and 54-hole scoring records, Spieth also equalled the 72-hole record of 18-under set by Tiger Woods in 1997 after a bogey on the 18th, finishing four shots clear of Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson .

Spieth’s total of 28 birdies beat the previous best of 25 set by Mickelson in 2001, his last of the week on the 15th also making him the first player ever to reach 19 under par in the Masters.

The 21-year-old is the first player since Ray Floyd in 1976 to lead outright from start to finish, as well as becoming the second youngest champion ever behind Woods.

Now ranked second in the world, Spieth is just five months older than Woods was in 1997, having almost become the youngest ever champion when he led by two shots after seven holes of the final round on his debut last year.

World number one Rory McIlroy, needing to win to complete the career grand slam, had to settle for fourth place on 12 under par after a flawless closing 66, with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama fifth and Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Dustin Johnson sharing sixth.

“If someone had told me I would finish 12 under at the start of the week I would have taken it and sat back and seen where I finished,” McIlroy admitted. “Jordan started fantastically well and has kept his foot down and been really impressive.”

Rose twice got within three shots of Spieth on the front nine thanks to birdies on the first and second and bogeys from Spieth on the fifth and seventh, the latter coming after Rose conjured up a remarkable pair after twice tangling with the trees.

Spieth had said after his third round he could not rely on his short game to secure a first green jacket, but an excellent pitch from just short of the eighth green set up a birdie that Rose could not match.

And when Rose three-putted the ninth Spieth had the comfort of a five-shot lead with nine holes to play, with Mickelson another shot back having also bogeyed the ninth.

Spieth took another massive step towards the title with a birdie from 20 feet on the 10th and saved par after a wild tee shot on the 11th to maintain a six-shot lead over Rose and Mickelson - who had also birdied the 10th - with seven holes to play.

A lapse in concentration saw Spieth three-putt the 12th as Mickelson birdied the 13th and the six-shot lead was suddenly down to four.

But Spieth responded with a superb long-iron approach on the 13th and although he missed from 14 feet for eagle, the resulting birdie took him five clear with five holes to play.

Rose closed the gap once more with a birdie on the 14th seconds before Mickelson joined him on 14 under by holing out from a bunker on the 15th for an eagle, the roar causing Spieth to back off his par putt on 14.

However, Spieth responded once more with a birdie on the 15th to become the first player ever to reach 19 under par in the Masters and that effectively made certain of the win.

The star pairing of McIlroy and Woods had failed to produce the early fireworks they needed to get into contention and Woods had more pressing concerns after appearing to hit a hidden tree root when playing his second shot out of the pine straw on the ninth.

“A bone kind of popped out and a joint went out of place but I put it back in,” Woods told CBS after just this third appearance of 2015. “Considering where I was after Torrey Pines and Phoenix, to make the complete swing change and rectify all the faults and then come here and contend, I am proud of that.”

Woods hit just two fairways in his closing 73, but finishing joint 17th was still a vast improvement on his 82 in Phoenix and withdrawing injured after 11 holes at Torrey Pines.

Here are the final round scores for the Masters.

Collated final scores (USA unless stated, par 72):

270 Jordan Spieth 64 66 70 70

274 Phil Mickelson 70 68 67 69, Justin Rose (Eng) 67 70 67 70

276 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 71 71 68 66

277 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 71 70 70 66

279 Dustin Johnson 70 67 73 69, Paul Casey (Eng) 69 68 74 68, Ian Poulter (Eng) 73 72 67 67

280 Hunter Mahan 75 70 68 67, Charley Hoffman 67 68 71 74, Zach Johnson 72 72 68 68

282 Kevin Na (Kor) 74 66 70 72, Bill Haas 69 71 72 70, Rickie Fowler 73 72 70 67, Kevin Streelman 70 70 70 72, Ryan Moore 74 66 73 69

283 Tiger Woods 73 69 68 73, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 74 71 70

284 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 69 71 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 73 70 68

285 Russell Henley 68 74 72 71

286 Keegan Bradley 71 72 75 68, Mark O’Meara 73 68 77 68, Ernie Els (Rsa) 67 72 75 72, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 69 73 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 75 70 70 71, Patrick Reed 70 72 74 70

287 Steve Stricker 73 73 73 68, Morgan Hoffmann 73 72 72 70, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 72 70 70 75, Jason Day (Aus) 67 74 71 75, Webb Simpson 69 75 72 71

288 Chris Kirk 72 73 72 71, Brooks Koepka 74 71 71 72, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 74 71 72 71, Ryan Palmer 69 74 74 71, Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 74 71 76 67

289 Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 70 74 72 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 70 73 75, Adam Scott (Aus) 72 69 74 74, John Senden (Aus) 71 74 72 72, Bubba Watson 71 71 73 74, Danny Willett (Eng) 71 71 76 71, Jimmy Walker 73 72 74 70, Cameron Tringale 71 75 69 74

290 Matt Kuchar 72 74 72 72, Lee Westwood (Eng) 73 73 70 74

291 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 74 70 73 74

292 Jason Dufner 74 71 74 73, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 71 75 74 72

293 Erik Compton 73 72 74 74

294 Graeme McDowell (Nirl) 71 74 76 73, Darren Clarke (Nirl) 74 71 77 72

295 Vijay Singh (Fij) 75 70 79 71

297 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 75 70 80 72