Lee Westwood had just finished what would be yet another major runner-up, he watched his playing partner, Danny Willett, play well enough to win the 80th Masters.
What Westwood also saw was the shocking, incredible collapse of Jordan Spieth on a sunny Augusta Sunday afternoon. And Westwood summed it up perfectly:
“There is a fine line between disaster and success at this place.”
For nine holes, Jordan Spieth kept himself on the success side of that fine line. “Played a dream front nine,” was how Spieth himself described it. All the right things were happening. Bernhard Langer and Smylie Kaufman collapsed quickly on cue. So did Hideki Matsuyama. Only the three players who started the day at even par had a faint pulse — Willett, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day.
Spieth had one arm inside a second Green Jacket when he mustered four straight birdies, starting at the sixth. Before that, he scrambled as he has most of his short career — effectively. “I had my b-minus tee to green game but I made up for it with my putter.”
Momentum was Spieth’s best friend as he headed to the 10th tee, leading Willett by five and Willett was the only man who even looked like a threat. He was perfect on his round. He made the turn two-under then went par-par-par through the 10, 11 and 12 gauntlet. He added birdies at 13 and 14 and looked well on his way to a nice runner-up finish.
Then came the worst 45 minutes of Spieth’s career.
“I went to the back thinking par was good enough,” Spieth said, revealing the change in strategy that would cost him. He backed off, something Tiger Woods never did in his prime. Spieth bogeyed 10 then played it too safe on 11, leaving his second too far right of the green. Still, a wonderful chip left him about eight feet away, the same distance he was on the 71st hole at St. Andrews last year with the British Open there for the taking.
Like he did in Scotland, Spieth missed then went to seal his fate at the 12th tee.
“I didn’t take that extra deep breath,” Spieth said, replaying his huge mental mistake. “It was a nine-iron.” At the last minute, Spieth made the fatal mistake of not committing to the shot. “I decided to fade it at the hole. I should have just played the draw.” That draw to the middle of the green would have perhaps earned him his second Masters. Instead, his weak fade hit the bank and the watery grave that is Rae’s Creek drowned Spieth’s hopes with a quadruple bogey seven after he suffered the total indignity of chunking his third shot into Rae’s Creek for good measure.
Despite the disaster, Spieth still gave it his best shot coming in.
“Of course we’re gonna fight back. There’s no give-up in us.”
Not even Spieth’s heart could overcome Willett’s 67. He had a chance at 16 but missed an eight-footer that would have brought him within a shot of Willett with two to play.
A bogey at 17 started the Willett celebration.
In the Butler Cabin, Spieth’s face told the final tale. His blank expression reflected the shock inside him.
Deep inside Jordan Spieth sits a wound that will take time to heal.
Sadly, the 80th Masters won’t be remembered as the one that Danny Willett won.
It will go down in golfing lo lore as the one that Jordan Spieth lost.
