Jay Towsned tips Jordan Spieth for greatness following Masters success

Former American golfer Jay Townsend believes that new Masters champion Jordan Spieth can go on and become a great of the sport.

The 21-year-old dominated the famous tournament and held off Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose to claim his first major title by four shots on Sunday.

Townsend told BBC Sport: "This is a great story for American golf as we've been taking a beating. It was such an amazing performance. Greatness is something I don't use very often, in fact I think it gets overused. But I think this kid has the chance to become great.

"I think golf's in great shape. We have a young superstar in Spieth from the US, [Rory] McIlroy from Europe, [Hideki] Matsuyama from Asia. It's been a long time. Not since Tiger was coming up do I think golf's been in such a strong position."

Spieth's score of 18-under par matches Tiger Woods's winning total when he won his first Masters in 1997, also aged 21.