Updated at 10.30am.

ACCORDING TO SOME of the younger, cooler, people in The42 towers, a ‘neg’ is an insult disguised as a compliment.

Speaking after Jordan Spieth’s wire-to-wire Masters victory this weekend — during which the young Texan equalled the former world number one’s record total of -18 — Tiger Woods appeared to be praising his young compatriot.

“I think it’s fantastic. [Spieth]‘s doing all those things he needs to do. . . . He’s one of those guys that like Rory, can go off and make bunches of birdies in a row.”

However, Woods did add the following caveat:

“With the length of the golf course, I didn’t think that people would be getting that low, but they kept it soft all week.

“And that’s something that the older guys in the clubhouse and in the Champions Locker Room were all talking about, that we haven’t seen it that soft.

“It wasn’t springy until today.”

Basically, Spieth’s -18 in 2015 is not as good as Woods’ in 1997.

But does Tiger have a point?

Actually, maybe he does. 18 years ago, Tom Kite finished in second on -6, 12 strokes back from Tiger and only 16 golfers were under par for the tournament.

This week, double that number finished under par with the top five of Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Rory McIlory and Hideki Matsuyama shooting a combined 69-under par.

Still, Woods probably didn’t need to qualify Spieth’s remarkable achievement.

Rory McIlroy is joining One Direction to sing on stage at the home of the Patriots

Tiger Woods says he popped a joint back into place and kept playing at the Masters