“I can’t imagine that was fun for anyone to experience”, he said, “other than maybe Danny’s team and those who are fans of him”. Everyone remembers the short putts the Shark missed, the tee shot into the water on No. 12 that cost him the lead, and the 78 on his card. “You dream about these kind of days and things like that, but for them to happen when there’s only four (majors) a year, it’s still mind-boggling that we have been able to come through everything that’s happened and play so well under the pressure”. Then, he put two in the water on the par-3 12th. Instead of making history with another wire-to-wire victory, he joined a sad list of players who threw the Masters away. “I think the whole golfing world feels for Jordan Spieth”, Nicklaus said. The 80th Masters is always going to be special and dear to my heart.
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Willett’s wife Nicole had been due to give birth to the couple’s first child on Sunday, but Zachariah James Willett arrived early to allow his proud new father to play in the year’s first major.
“At one point I told (his caddy), I said, ‘Buddy, it seems like we’re collapsing, ‘ ” Spieth said. It’s just insane. Reporter: Willett is only the second englishman to ever win the masters. Coincidentally, Willett matched Faldo’s 1996 67 score that he famously chased down Greg Norman with to win.
The most compelling images came from the guy who suffered.
What Spieth should take away is this: Despite the quadruple-bogey 7, and playing the 10th through 12th holes in 6-over par, he managed to get himself back in the game. From the drop zone, he hit a wedge so fat that he turned his head and removed his cap, not wanting to look. Unable to spin the ball, his second shot bounced about pin-high, but rolled off the back. “Fortunately enough, today was my day”, added 2007 English Amateur champion Willett, who is the son of a vicar. Spieth will likely have to wear this one for a while, although gaining a little scar tissue probably isn’t a bad thing for kid whose been on a rather remarkable run the past year.
Firing on all cylinders, Spieth stormed into the turn on the back of four consecutive birdies to build a five-shot lead. For Willett, the back nine was fairly easy.
A bogey from the bunker on No. 10. For most pros, it should be a simple tee shot with a high iron. “Hopefully this is a springboard for him to get back to being the great player that we all know he is”. But he couldn’t. Not even close. “I played good here two years ago (a tie for eighth) and played well again this year”. For the week, he led the tournament in birdies with 22 – nine more than Willett. But I still made some nice putts coming in on 17 and 18. But he finished with 1-over 73 and 2-under 286, three behind victor Danny Willett. He had two par fives left at 13 and 15 and a favorable pin location at 16 that had already yielded three hole in ones on Sunday.
England’s Paul Casey (67) and Americans J.B. Holmes (68) and Dustin Johnson (71) tied for fourth at one under while world number three Rory McIlroy, seeking to complete a career grand slam of the majors, returned a 71 to share 10th place.
He hit 48 out of 72 greens in regulation, perhaps the most relevant of Masters statistics, six behind leader Matthew Fitzpatrick.
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Willett moves to No. 9 in the world.
