Thursday 5 November 2015 06:10, UK
Jordan Spieth believes he's still capable of adding a sixth win of year at this week's WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, despite his longest lay-off from the sport for a decade.
The world No 2 didn't touch a club for two weeks after helping the United States to retain the Presidents Cup last month, with this week's Final Series event his first tournament since that victory in South Korea.
Spieth can replace Jason Day as world No 1 with a top-10 finish or better at Sheshan International this week, although the 22-year-old expects to be a little rusty after his lengthy break from competitive action.
"I am aware that it's going to be a little tougher than normal given I took off a lot of time in the last few weeks," Spieth told a pre-tournament press conference. "I didn't touch my clubs for two weeks, which is the longest time by a week that I've taken off since I was probably 12 or 13 years old.
"Coming in here and with what I've experienced within the last four or five days at home and here, I'm not hitting the same shots that I'm used to seeing.
"It's getting close; the more balls I hit, the more consistent it's getting. But I just have this stray one so my mindset this week is going to be to stay focused, to try and play with a smile on my face."
The American will partner Henrik Stenson and defending champion Bubba Watson in the first two rounds, with Watson chasing a first European Tour title since defeating Tim Clark 12 months ago after forcing a dramatic play-off.
Spieth's convincing TOUR Championship win is the most recent of five victories over 2015, but the Texan remains upbeat of adding further silverware to what has already been a record-breaking season.
"Obviously I still believe that I can get out there and compete," Spieth added. "I still believe that my best stuff can come out. I just know that I haven't had as much practice as I did leading into the previous tournaments.
"This past season was spectacular. We did some unbelievable work throughout the season to start strong and finish strong.
"I still consider this [event] in my mind part of 2015. Obviously it's part of the wraparound [PGA Tour] season, but this would be the icing on the cake if we were able to compete and capture a win here; obviously that's our expectation."
Watch the WGC-HSBC Champions throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf
