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 Renowned for his mental toughness under pressure and already the
winner of two major titles at the tender age of 22, Spieth was
seemingly poised for a second successive Green Jacket after storming
five strokes clear with nine holes to play.
That Spieth then went bogey, bogey, quadruple-bogey through 10, 11
and 12 to drop three shots off the pace was one of the most
astonishing scenes ever played out at a major championship, and begs
the question of how he will handle such a meltdown.
"If you would have told anybody in the golfing world that Jordan
Spieth, with the lead, would make seven birdies on Sunday at Augusta
and loses, they would have said you're crazy," said former world
number one David Duval.
"This is going to add some scar tissue for Jordan Spieth. He got to
the 10th tee and the wheels just came off. This is either one of the
things that is going to make him tougher or it is going to be a hard
thing to get over.
"This one got away from him and he is going to go back to the
drawing board," Duval said in his role as an analyst on Golf
Channel. "He will sit down this week and say, 'What happened and how
do we not let that ever happen again?'"
Three-times Masters champion Nick Faldo, who clinched his third
Green Jacket in 1996 after a dramatic last-day collapse by Greg
Norman, agreed.
"This will scar him," said the English former world number one, who
was also renowned for his steely on-course focus while racking up
six major titles during his Hall of Fame career.
"This will damage him for a while. We're all in shock with what
happened to Jordan. In '96 you got the sense that Greg was
struggling, but it was bit by bit.
SLOW BURN
While Norman's 1996 debacle was a slow burn after he started the
final round with a six-shot lead and agonizingly watched it
evaporate as he carded a 78 to Faldo's superb 67, Spieth's shocking
collapse was brutal in its speed.
"What happened to Jordan, it was so sudden, just bam," said Faldo.
"It was 10 minutes of golf. That's the harshness of it."
Jack Nicklaus, who won a record six Masters titles, expressed the
views of many with a sympathetic but encouraging statement on his
website, saying: "I think the whole golfing world feels for Jordan
Spieth.
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“He had a chance to do something truly special and something very
few have done before - and be the youngest to accomplish that - and
he just didn't pull through.
"My heart goes out to him for what happened, but I know that Jordan
is a young man who will certainly learn from this experience and
there will be some good that comes out of this for him."
Many insiders firmly believe that Spieth, who is wise beyond his
years as a golfer, will be able to overcome the mental and emotional
scarring of Sunday's meltdown.
The young American knew all week that his game from tee to green was
not at its best, and it was his brilliant putting above all that
helped him lead after each of the first three rounds before failing
to close the deal.
"I'm very confident in the way that we play the game of golf, said
Spieth, who consistently brackets himself with his caddie, Michael
Greller, to emphasize the team approach. "When we're on, I believe
that we're the best in the world.
"I believe we were the best in the world getting by, for the most
part this week, with what felt uncomfortable over the ball with my
iron play.
"I hit some really good irons, but for the most part it was my
ability to map out the course, my putting and my short game that
pretty much had us in the lead. Big picture, this one will hurt. It
will take a while."
Spieth had been bidding to become just the fourth player to clinch
back-to-back Green Jackets and the second youngest player in the
modern era to win three major titles with only Gene Sarazen ahead of
him. He should be just fine, in time.
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
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