HOUSTON — Jordan Spieth is so excited about returning to Augusta National next week to defend his Masters championship that just thinking about it makes him feel like doing pushups.

First things first. Spieth believes a strong showing in the Shell Houston Open, which starts today, could have a significant impact on how well he plays in this season’s first major championship. It certainly did last year.

“A win here would obviously be the goal, to get as much momentum as possible,” he said. “I drew a lot on this week last year. It certainly kept the momentum alive (and led to) coming out on top.”

Spieth had a playoff victory and a runner-up finish before Houston a year ago, then took the 54-hole lead here last spring before losing in a three-way playoff, in which he secured a spot by sinking a nearly 12-foot putt on the final hole, calling it “a nice putt to have hit going into a major.”

Although he didn’t win — J. B. Holmes prevailed over Spieth and Johnson Wagner — he took plenty of confidence with him to Georgia. The end result there was a record-tying 18-under-par 270 and an easy four-stroke victory. At 21, Spieth became the youngest start-to-finish leader since Walter Hagen in 1914, and the first four-day front-runner in Augusta since Raymond Floyd in 1976. He also broke the Masters record for birdies, and at one point was the first player to reach 19 under-par.

That success carried over to the U.S. Open, which he also won to get halfway to golf’s Grand Slam.

But that was last year, Spieth was quick to remind everyone at a news conference Wednesday. While looking forward to hosting the Champion’s Dinner on Tuesday in Augusta, where he’ll serve Texas barbeque, he said, “I won’t be celebrating whatsoever. The week is solely about the 2016 Masters to me.”

He knows defending his title will be a tall order with a deep field of contenders who have been playing better than Spieth has in recent weeks.