SINGAPORE - World No. 1 Jordan Spieth, regarded as one of the best putters in the game, believes his much-heralded short game will be key to success at this week's SMBC Singapore Open.

The 22-year-old American headlines the US$1 million (S$1.44 million) tournament at the Sentosa Golf Club and is on his first visit to Singapore.

He finished joint-fifth at last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, a decent result for most golfers but not for the planet's top ranked player.

He said on Tuesday's press conference at the SGC: "I normally can rely on my putter when everything else goes off.

I had a lot of chances from that mid range distance that I normally feel very confident from and I just misread them or the speed was just off and you have weeks like that."

He arrived on Monday and spent the day recuperating and stressed that his physical condition was fine and ready for the demanding test presented by the heat and humidity in the Republic.

Welsh Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson backed Spieth to excel this week despite the Texan's unfamiliarity with the Serapong Course.

Said the world No. 50: "Sometimes playing a new course for the first time can be a good thing, especially if it suits your eye. And Jordan is a very good putter and that always gives him a chance to win."

A maiden victory in Asia is exactly what Spieth is targeting.

He said: "The greens are massive so I'm going to go out there and really work on my speed control on the greens amongst anything else.

"Just make sure I'm not three-putting. You could have 60-70 foot putts regularly out there. But yeah the goal is to win this week."