AUGUSTA, Ga. — Packing for a three-week road trip reminded Jordan Spieth that winning the Masters wasn’t as easy as he made it look.

Driving down Magnolia Lane made it all seem possible again.

Among the clothes he packed was the green jacket that had been hanging in his closet at home in Dallas for much of the year. Only the current Masters champion is allowed to take it with him from Augusta National.

“I was like, `Wow, this is actually ... there’s a possibility that I don’t have this back at my house anymore’ when I was leaving home,” Spieth said Tuesday. “It kind of fired me up a little. Just the jacket itself provides a little motivation, which is cool.”

Spieth last year joined the short list of wire-to-wire winners at the Masters, setting the 36-hole record, tying the 72-hole record and never letting anyone get within three shots of him after the opening round. It was the first step in a year that saw him win the U.S. Open and make a spirited bid for the Grand Slam.

No one is overlooking the defending champion, not when he started the year with an eight-shot win and stayed at No. 1 in the world until two weeks ago. Still, he hasn’t been in serious contention in more than two months.

A year ago, Spieth had a victory and two runner-up finishes when he arrived at Augusta National.