2016 Masters: The Meltdown of Jordan Spieth
Danny Willett (Left) receives green jacket presented to him by Jordan Spieth (Right) at the 2016 Masters ceremony.
From April 7-10, 2016, the greatest tournament in all of golf took place at the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia. Called the Masters, this event pits the best golfers in the world for the green jacket–the “award” given to the winner of the event. This year, the Masters had some intense drama as Jordan Spieth attempted to win his second jacket.
Spieth started off his professional golf career magnificently, winning his first two majors, including the Masters. Ranked at #2 in the world (according to the PGA Tour) and coming off a 2015 Masters victory, he was expected to win it all. Throughout the weekend, he lead the first three rounds with scores of 66, 74, 73.
The front nine for Spieth was stellar, shooting five birdies: the most in the tournament, according to the Masters’ website. Holding now a five shot lead, Spieth entered the 12th hole only seven holes away from his second jacket.
He then hit the ball in the water twice as he shot a quadruple bogey, his worst hole in a major, according to cleveland.com. Two holes later, he was out of the lead and four shots down.
“It was a really tough 30 minutes for me that hopefully I never experience again,” Spieth said to CBS, about hole 12.
Danny Willett, who was only a couple shots behind, took advantage and birdied three of the last six holes, and waited to see if Spieth would catch up with his overall score of -5. Spieth never did, only birding once in the back nine and finished -2 and tied for second.
Arrowhead junior and avid golfer, Nathan Kobb, says he was stunned when Spieth lost his substantial lead.
“I couldn’t believe Spieth did that bad on the 12th hole,” said Kobb, “he could have had his second jacket in a row.”
The comeback goes down as one of the greatest in Masters history, according to ESPN writer Adam Silver. The ratings spiked as Spieth collapse, as 13.5 million Americans watched.
The Masters has a ceremony where the winner from the previous year puts the green jacket on the winner, so Jordan Spieth had to put on the jacket he was seven holes from winning on Danny Willett.
As for Willet, he enjoyed the ceremony, winning his first major.
“I feel very fortunate to be standing here, and (Spieth) not putting the jacket on (himself) again,” Willett said at the trophy presentation.
The events don’t change the odds of Speith winning the US Open this summer, as he is still favored to win and is still number one overall in GolfPro rankings. The US Open will be on July 7-10, 2016, at the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.
