AUGUSTA, Ga. » Playing a little catchup to Jordan Spieth after he birdied the 10th hole, you can’t help but be struck by how quickly the people just disappear.

A woman security guard sitting by one of the exits off the 10th fairway was like the Maytag repairman — by herself.

"Anybody come through here lately?" she was asked. "Just the birds and an 8-foot timber rattler waking up from his winter nap. I let him go on his way."

Five minutes earlier, Spieth moved to 18 under at the 10th green en route to winning the 2015 Masters by that same record-tying score, but there was no one left to tell the tale. Even the tee box at 11 was a lonely outpost, just one CBS cameraman breaking down his equipment.

The green is 505 yards away without a soul in sight as you trudge up the fairway for the madness you know awaits at Amen Corner. About 100 yards into your journey, you encounter a gallery control man coming back the other way. He looks a bit winded.

"Hey man, the circus has left town."

His reply, "Keep walking, buddy. The sea of humanity is that way. It’s like a tsunami down there."

And then you see it. Spieth and Justin Rose, the last pair making their way around Augusta National, are walking toward the green and then you’re there. A wall of people awaits, the back end of 50,000 folks crammed in between you and the 18th tee, which happens to be about 50 yards to your right if you decide against making this dangerous trip.

Spieth barely misses a birdie putt at 11, but it’s hard to see through the den of cigar smoke sitting about 10 feet above you in the still air of Augusta on this cool late afternoon. It looks like a Saturday night in Caesars Palace a few minutes after the Final Four is done. You don’t need to buy a cheap cigar, just take a deep breath and exhale.

Imagine a sellout crowd at Aloha Stadium — yeah, it’s tough, but think back to UH vs. BYU circa 1990 and it will come back to you — jamming over the back nine in a party-like atmosphere filled with beer and smoke. It’s something you won’t soon forget.

Keeping up with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Charley Hoffman, and Spieth and Rose is not that difficult because the holes run parallel to each other. It may be 400 to 500 yards long, but not more than 150 yards wide between 13, 14, 15 and 17.

The 13th green is next to the 14th tee, which isn’t that far from the 15th green, which is right next to the 16th tee with the 16th green next door to the 17th tee. The only thing separating them are these huge bleachers where lots of folks take residence during the final two hours of the Masters.

You learn what’s happening by the sounds as much as the sightings. Phil hits his second shot into 13 and it’s crickets. He’s on the green in two, but 30-something feet for eagle. He misses the putt, settles for birdie and the good folks at Augusta give him polite applause.

Now later, when he blasts out of the bunker and into the hole at the par-5 15th, the roar can be heard in downtown Augusta 10 miles away. These folks who watch these closing holes have been doing so for years. They’ve seen greatness and they’ve seen ho-hum. You can’t fool them.

After walking off the 15th green, the par-3 16th is tucked in a corner where thousands of people sit up on a hill that gives them a clear view of the 15th and 16th greens. The rest is just the tee box, water and the 16th green 170 yards away. Only after teeing off at 17 do you leave this madness behind and then head for home.

On this day, most folks want Phil to win. They like Mr. Spieth, but they know Mr. Mickelson a lot better. Spieth receives plenty of applause as he birdies the 13th, pars the 14th, birdies the 15th and then pars the 16th with a clutch 6-foot putt. They appreciate what he’s doing, but they aren’t ready to welcome him to their home just yet. You can understand that.

A good example is the birdie at 15 by Spieth that pretty much wraps it up. Or that par putt at 16 that would have been much more difficult had Rose made his birdie to produce a possible two-shot swing. They applaud, but there isn’t a roar.

By the time Spieth walks down the 17th fairway en route to another par, the crowd that was around Amen Corner and beyond has made its way to the 18th, where you really get an impression of just how many people are here. From tee to green it’s 30 people deep as they crowd the 18th fairway and green to get a final look at this 21-year-old champion.

A group of kids, the same age as Jordan Spieth, decide against joining the fracas, and instead, head slowly toward the exit that leads you through a crosswalk of the eighth, ninth and first fairways. They stop every now and again, look around and take it all in one last time as dusk gathers across this great expanse.

"Don’t know when we’ll be back," one says. "Better take a good, long look."

Another says, "IF we’ll be back," emphasis on the word ‘if’ because tickets here are hard to come by. They all stop for a second and try to remember what it’s like to walk among the pines of Bobby Jones’ back yard. You stop with them, hear the roar after Spieth sinks his final putt and realize those last two or three hours flew by.

This is Augusta. You don’t have to hoist the trophy or be fitted for a green jacket to know you are among a fortunate 50,000 allowed on the grounds. Is this the last time? That’s something you can’t answer. But if it is, you saw something millions watched on television.

And every one of them wishes they were by your side as you leave the golf course behind.