Pacific Palisades, February 17

World No 1 Jordan Spieth says he wants to emulate the relentless drive of tennis icons Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as he aims to cement his place at the pinnacle of world golf this year.

After a dominant 2015 which saw him seal back-to-back Major victories at the Masters and US Open, before a fourth placed finish at the British Open and a second at the PGA Championship, Spieth has already won his first tournament this year. The 22-year-old Texan will be chasing a second victory of 2016 when he tees off on Thursday in the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club in the wealthy Los Angeles enclave of Pacific Palisades.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Spieth said the enduring hunger and consistency of Federer, Djokovic and other leading lights of men’s tennis was an inspiration as he plots his own career path. “It’s really amazing how anywhere from two to five tennis players at a time can just completely carry the sport,” Spieth said. “It’s bizarre. It seems like you’ve got three of the top four ranked, always, in the semi-final matches. You can certainly take a lot from watching those guys and understanding that even when they were No 1, it seemed like that almost fuelled them to want to work even harder, which you don’t necessarily see everywhere across the board in life,” Spieth added.

Spieth is relishing the opportunity of playing at Riviera this week, a course he has played nearly 30 times over the course of five tournaments in the past, including a college championship game. “It’s one of my favorites in the entire world. I was out yesterday and it’s just in spectacular shape,” he said.