HUMBLE, Texas -- Just in case anyone was worried about complacency setting in after his first Masters triumph last year, Jordan Spieth offered a few words Wednesday to summarize his feelings about defending the title.
"The Masters is within 10 days away," he said. "Just saying that makes you just want to go out and do pushups or something. It makes you really, really excited."
He concluded this statement not by dropping down and giving us 20, one-armed style, but reminding us that next week is next week and this week is, well ... this is exciting, too.
Even if it's not, you know, pushup exciting.
"The focus right now is on this week," he insisted, "because there's a lot I need to do this week to better prepare for the Masters and feel that I have the confidence to win."
Some elite-level professionals choose to rest and practice the week before the year's first major championship, employing what's become known as the Tiger Woods strategy of Masters prep. Others take the Phil Mickelson approach, competing their way to Augusta National inside the ropes.
So far, that game plan has been working for Spieth.
Last year, he parlayed a playoff loss here at the Shell Houston Open into that Masters victory seven days later. It proved to be the perfect formula for entering his second trip down Magnolia Lane: Any further down the leaderboard and he might have lacked for confidence in the following days; one more notch up and the win might have left him a bit too fulfilled.
Not that Spieth is buying into those hypotheticals.
"The Masters is the Masters; I would imagine it wouldn't have changed much," he explained. "I felt like I hit good shots down the stretch and in the playoff. I hit a really good drive that just kept on drifting and ended up just creeping over that hill to stay on the hill. But it wasn't a scared shot, and I could take that with me even though I wasn't the one with the trophy. I don't think it made a whole lot of difference. Masters week I think I still would have been just as motivated.
"[But] it's a hypothetical. Who knows?"
A year ago, Spieth maintained that his game just needed a little fine-tuning at the Golf Club of Houston, an assessment that proved to be prophetic once he was draped in a green jacket.
He isn't making a similar proclamation this time around.
Despite an 8-stroke victory in Maui to start the year and finishes of 21st or better in six of his other seven 2016 appearances, there's a sense that Spieth needs to improve upon some things before next week.
He doesn't disagree with that notion.
"I need to do a little bit more than just trimming the fat," he said. "Last year, my consistency was there. We had just won and finished runner-up, coming in here. I feel like I would be a better player if I were in contention next week than I was last year, and even this week, having the success from last year and also the failures."
In the next breath, though, Spieth dispels any idea that his game isn't close.
"Everything is exactly where it was last year. It's right where we want it to be going into the Masters. It's just a matter now of hitting nerve-racking shots and putts before that week, which means I've got to get myself into contention this week.
"I would like to get into contention is because that will just build a little bit more confidence in me. That can't hurt. A little bit more confidence in my game, not in me personally, but a little more confidence in the state of my game."
He does know this much: Next week won't be a celebration.
Sure, he'll enjoy hosting the annual dinner with his fellow champions on Tuesday evening, but the reminiscing is over. He's more interested in making new memories than reliving the old ones.
Until then, he'll attempt to once again employ the same recipe to spawn further success.
"We had a correct formula last year," he said. "I think that we can just kind of use that again, and I don't think I have to guard against much because I don't think it will feel much different. Might just feel a little bit more comfortable possibly, but who knows? I'll let you know when I'm there."