Masters joint runner-up Phil Mickelson has praised Jordan Spieth after the 21-year-old became the tournament's youngest champion in 18 years.

Spieth dominated the tournament at Augusta National and held on to win by four shots from both Mickelson and Justin Rose, who finished on 14 under par.

Mickelson told reporters: "He's obviously a tremendous player but he's a tremendous individual, too. It's hard not to like, hard not to pull for the guy."

On his own performance, he added: "I played just a good, solid round of golf, but I needed something exceptional today. I needed to shoot something in the mid to low 60s to get a chance.

"It was a fun tournament. I thought I played some great golf but I just got outplayed. I would have taken 14 under at the start of the week and thought that would have won it."

The second major of the year is the US Open in June.