When a talent comes along as special as Jordan Spieth, winning becomes more expected and less appreciated. And in the midst of dominance, it’s easy to take for granted the hunger and mentality it requires to remain dominant. That’s why when Spieth gave us a look into his psyche on Sunday, we want to pay full attention.

Below, I’ll take a look at the stats and numbers from Spieth’s blow-out win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, then we’ll break down his post-tournament press conference where he gives us a look at his mind frame during the event, and thoughts about his future and his place in history.

Related: Spieth’s Winning WITB

The performance 

The par-73 Plantation Course at Kapalua is the easiest track on the PGA Tour. Last year, the course played at 3.075 strokes under par. This year: -3.195. This does not change the fact, however, that Jordan Spieth beat a field of 31 other golfers, all of whom won in 2015, by eight strokes. Patrick Reed, who won the tournament last year, actually finished a stroke better this year to take second place. Again, he was still eight strokes behind Spieth.

Thus, Spieth has shown that he can fill his plate at a birdie buffet (this win, John Deere Classic), as well as win with smart, conservative golf (U.S. Open).

Here’s how Spieth performed in key statistical areas during his rounds of 66-64-65-67 en route to the win. 

• Driving distance — 283.7 (17)
• Fairways hit — 44/60 — 73.3% (T12)
• Greens hit — 60/72 — 83.3% (T11)
• Approach shot proximity — 34’11” (3)
• Sand saves 1/1 100.0% (T1)
• Putts made distance — 368’0″ (1)
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-green — 2.391 (1)
• Strokes Gained: Putting — 1.914 (1)
• Strokes Gained: Total — 4.305 (1)

A few tidbits from the PGA Tour’s post-tournament notes:

The eight-stroke win is the largest on Tour since Jimmy Walker won by nine at the 2015 Sony Open in Hawaii. Spieth collects his seventh PGA Tour victory in his 85th start at the age of 22 years, 5 months and 14 days. By comparison, the youngest winner of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions is Tiger Woods, winning in 1997 at the age of 21 years and 13 days.

Most wins on Tour by a player 22 and younger: Horton Smith (14), Tiger Woods (7), Jordan Spieth (7).

Lowest winning 72-hole scores on the PGA Tour (in relation to par): 31 – Ernie Els (2003 Hyundai Tournament of Champions), 30 – Jordan Spieth (2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions)

Most strokes under par (72 holes): 33 – Steve Stricker (2009 CareerBuilder Challenge, first four rounds of 90-hole event), 31 – Ernie Els (2003 Hyundai Tournament of Champions), 30 – Jordan Spieth (2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions)

Spieth now has six consecutive rounds in a row in the 60s at the par-73 Hyundai Tournament of Champions dating back to his first appearance in 2014 when he finished solo second.  

In his own words

Let’s take a dive into Spieth’s post-win remarks, where he gives us a look inside his state-of-mind during a dominant performance, and speaks on comparisons to Tiger Woods.

On the key moment in the fourth round…

Q. A great up-and-down at 1, a birdie at 2, and another good up-and-down at 4.

JORDAN SPIETH: Definitely. 1 and 2 to play those two holes 1-under with where we were, that was spectacular. It’s a dream start on this course because that’s the meat of the course is those two holes, with this Kona wind.

So, it looked like Brooks may get a shot on the first hole. All of a sudden I flipped that around and got a shot on him. That was key.

On his approach to the final round, getting to 30-under…

Q. You talked about how you’ve never gotten to 30-under par. Were you really pushing for that on the back nine?

JORDAN SPIETH: I wasn’t really pushing much for it. I was hitting irons off tees and just protecting the lead. Staying away from double bogey.

Then once I hit my tee shot on 15, that’s when I knew I could be more aggressive. I had big fairways, I had wedges in my hand, I hit a great 3-iron in there close for eagle. Just missed it. Nice wedge there and a nice wedge on 18.

So when I got to 17 tee box, that was certainly in my head, I really wanted to get to 30.

Q. Couple irons off the tees there in the middle of the back nine. Wondering, obviously you did want to shoot 30-under, but were you also playing a little safe to just make sure that let’s get the win and then we’ll see?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. I wanted to hit driver on 13, just because it was the play and it’s straight down wind, it’s not a hard tee shot. I was talked out of it by Michael. I ended up just roping a 4-iron. Just absolutely flushing one, which I didn’t mean to do, it ended up in actually a tough spot.

At that point with a five-shot lead, yeah, you’re just going to go ahead and protect the lead. You want to stick to your goal, but you got to be smart. You just protect against double bogey and make sure it doesn’t happen, and that’s what we were able to do.

On the psychology of playing with a big lead…

Q. A new year, a similar result. Jordan, what is it like beginning the final round with a big lead, setting a target score, all while trying to accomplish the one and only thing that matters and that’s winning the golf tournament.

JORDAN SPIETH: It’s a bit tricky. Your mind wanders throughout the round. I got off to a dream start, which helps it. But it’s tough.

Patrick’s making a serious run to start the tournament and then you know that he’s not going to let up. The last thing he wants to do is lose a golf tournament, which is why he makes a lot of birdies and it’s why he’s such a great competitor.

We just tried to stay patient, realized we had more holes than he did left, a lot of birdie holes out here, and eventually if we stuck to our goal and just waited for our opportunities, then it was going to happen. It was inevitable. And that’s what ended up becoming the case.

…We came out and did what we needed to do. It’s one thing to be in that position after yesterday, it’s another to actually kick out the demons, saying, if you don’t win this one tomorrow, it’s going to look really bad, after blowing a five-shot lead. But it’s a possibility.

In golf you get a couple bad breaks, shoot even par or 2-under, someone shoots 8-under. It’s possible on this course. So that all comes to mind and you got to flush it out and get into a rhythm.

On comparisons to Tiger Woods…

Q. You were asked this outside, but can you expand on the comparisons to Tiger Woods? Clearly it’s not something, I don’t want to say you’re not comfortable with, but it’s not something you believe in, I guess?

JORDAN SPIETH: I just think it’s premature, but I’ll say that probably my entire career. There’s just such an age gap that I understand there’s comparisons are going to be there. I hope they continue to be there, that means I’m still being in the same ballpark as he is.

But at the same time I grew up watching. I know what he did and what — I just find it hard to believe that it can be matched. I know we’re in a position now where we’re actually maybe ahead of the curve age-wise. But, boy, it would be hard to believe I could be compared to him the entire course of a career. I hope that’s the case, but I’m certainly going to strive for it. But what he has done for the game of golf is something special and I just don’t feel I deserve to necessarily be compared to him right now, but maybe I do. I don’t know. Personally I don’t think so.

On where his game is at…

JORDAN SPIETH: My putting feels — I would rank it, if I compared it to last year’s events, probably third, behind Tour Championship and Masters. Masters being first, Tour Championship being second, and I would consider this, in a span of a year’s time from this time, that it is my third best I’ve putted or felt also putting. And the results I believe were probably similar along the lines of the other two events, yeah. It feels good.

Q. Along those lines, how close do you feel your game is overall just getting back to that level or exceeding it?

JORDAN SPIETH: I scored — it’s — I don’t think it’s right for me to sit here and say that I felt like parts of my game wasn’t quite ready because 30-under is, you know, spectacular, I’m very pleased with that. I don’t know how I really could have scored better this week.

I kept the ball in play every hole. Had chances almost every hole for birdie. I got a lot of them to go.

My putting feels like it is 100 percent ready for major championships, and I’ve just got to just dial in everything else just a little bit more.

But I can sit here and say that my putting certainly is ready for Masters to be next week. It’s a really good feeling to have that confidence with the flat stick.

On dealing with expectations, social media…

Q. With your statement today come more expectations about another blockbuster year ahead of you. I’m curious how much you felt expectations like this build up after the Masters, after the U.S. Open, into the Open Championship, and how you learned to cope with it.

JORDAN SPIETH: Certainly did. Expectations after the Masters, definitely more so off the U.S. Open. Obviously there was the questions about the slam. And it will still be there. It’s the target on my back. It’s just what comes with what I love to do, I guess. I guess accepting that is the first step. Just accepting that everything’s in the spotlight, everything’s going to be judged. Some people aren’t going to like your swing, the way you grip the club, it’s just everything’s under a microscope to, at least in the golf world, and now extending outwards. I guess accepting that and realizing accepting that everyone has their own opinions and, warranted or not. I struggle a bit with social media. Trying to quiet the noise there, just people that just want to make comments that — so I’ve just gone away from looking at any comments on Instagram, Twitter. People just want to say stuff just to say stuff. You guys see it everywhere. That’s the hardest part for us now is actually social media…

…that’s just something that you have to learn to block out. I think just accepting that everyone’s just going to say something, we just go about our own business, that’s what we did last year, we just tried to stay real quiet about everything, just keep everything within our team, our goals, what the plan was for the weeks, that’s how we did it. This year? Yeah, I mean, I have as high expectations as anybody else. So, if I’m not reaching my own, I’m going to be upset with myself. I’m not going to let other people’s expectations take the best of me.

Finally, this seems to be Spieth’s ultimate takeaway. It’s astonishing to hear what a true champion has to say in the wake of a dominant victory: Rather than resting on his laurels, Spieth is motivated to work harder.

“I got to keep working hard. Everyone — this was kind of a tournament where a lot of guys were knocking rust off and I felt like mine was already off. So, everyone’s going to be bringing it, we got to work harder.”