Opinion & Analysis
How Spieth gave away The Masters, and how Willet won
Let’s start with what happened at Augusta’s famed par-three 12th, Golden Bell. Jordan Spieth stepped onto the tee on the heels of two consecutive bogeys. And to hear him tell it, he was already in the midst of a lapse in concentration over the ball.
“And I knew par was good enough [on the back nine] and maybe that was what hurt me,” Spieth said after the round. “Just wasn’t quite aggressive at the ball with my 3 wood, 6 iron on 10. And then the drive on 11. Just a lapse of concentration on 12 and it cost me.
“I knew the lead was five with nine holes to play. And I knew that those two bogeys weren’t going to hurt me. But I didn’t take that extra deep breath and really focus on my line on 12. Instead I went up and I just put a quick swing on it.”
What was he trying to do with his tee shot to pin, which was tucked just four paces from the right edge of the shallow green? What would he liked to have done differently? Same club, similar line, different shot shape, more relaxation, conviction, it seems.
“No. 12 is a 150-yard shot and I feel I can bleed it next to the hole, and it’s a stock 9 iron for me,” Spieth said. “But that hole, for whatever reason, just has people’s number. Stay committed behind the bunker … It was really one swing. Nos. 10 and 11, you can take bogeys there. I was still 2-under for the tournament with a couple of par-5s left. My goal for the day was 4-under. So we were still right on pace. It just didn’t take that extra deep breath. And Michael said, hit it right here, hit it right here. And I remember getting over the ball thinking, ‘I’m going to go ahead and hit a little cut to the hole and that’s what I did in 2014 and it cost me the tournament then, too.’
“That was the right club, just the wrong shot. I was more comfortable hitting a draw with my iron. I knew every time I played a fade this week, that shot kind of came out. And I just… At the time, you’re going to throw all bad swings away and you’re just going to focus on how confident you can step into that shot and that’s what I did. But the swing just wasn’t quite there to produce the right ball flight. So ultimately, I should have just played a draw on that hole. At the same time, there’s so much adrenaline and it’s enough club that if it’s downwind a draw can fly over the bunkers. It was a tough number for me to commit to, but I had the right club.”
As Spieth indicates, the blunder is staggering, considering it’s a mirror image of what happened in 2014, when he found the water at No. 12, stymieing his pursuit of Bubba Watson. And regarding the fatted drop with 68 yards to the pin, Spieth offered this explanation.
“It went in so far to the right that if I could go behind the drop zone, I could have gotten to a number that I liked, similar to 2014, where I ended up saving bogey,” Spieth said. “Instead, I didn’t want to drop it at 65 yards off the downslope into that green. That’s just a number where you can’t get the full spin. I wanted to get it to a number where I could have it end up where it landed. It would take a skip and come back. So I wanted 80 yards. So I tried to get 80 yards. I’m not really sure what happened on the next shot. I just hit it fat.”
It’s worth noting that, as you can see from the flag in the video (see the full horror here on Masters.com), the wind was down and Spieth, with his customary pace of play, was likely looking to hurry along, given that his group was out of position. And of course, a 9-iron approach shot is usually a routine affair, with a slim margin of error. Instead, Spieth, as he indicated, didn’t strike the ball with conviction, quitting on it, producing a lame duck that sailed short and right.
Watch @JordanSpieth‘s final round in under three minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/DVVTzUlEmZ
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 11, 2016
Another point, the area where Spieth dropped from has to be among the soggiest on the course. The shaded, low-lying area used to flood and has been filled (if I’m correctly remembering my Augusta National history). Good luck nipping a half-to-three-quarter wedge from there after the emotional and sensory affront of rinsing your tee shot. Moving beyond the 12th hole: Nowhere was the mantra of making hay on Augusta National’s par-5s and hanging around on at the rest of the holes more than with Spieth’s performance. For the week, Spieth was 11-under on the five-shotters. It was the three double bogeys and the quad at the 12th that cost him.
For his part, winner Danny Willett made eight bogeys (two fewer than Spieth), but more notably: No doubles or worse. Interestingly, Willett was even par on the par-5s for the week: a rare feat for a Masters champion.
Watch 2016 Masters champion @Danny_Willett‘s final-round 67 in under 3 minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/xCcFuPOJyG
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 11, 2016
Starting his final round three shots behind Jordan Spieth, and with the assumption that he would at least have to get to 4- or 5-under, Willett’s ability to tally five birdies, including three in his final six holes, was impressive to say the least.
And of course, there are endless instances where you could do tournament counterfactuals — heck, Dustin Johnson would have won handily if he’d putted at an average level — but it’s worth noting this in light of Willett’s semi-serious “fate” comment. His approach at the 18th, which kicked left off the slope fronting the front-right bunker to settle 14 feet from the hole, could easy have taken a different kick, perhaps even into the bunker. Instead, Willett’s ball rested in a position where he could cozy a little right-to-lefter up short of the hole and make par. Regarding the closing stretch, 2-under in five holes with the lead, Willett offered this perspective.
“This golf course can jump up and bite you whenever,” Willett said. “Even today, it was relatively flat calm compared to the last few days, but there was just enough there to flicker around to cause a few problems.
“You never feel comfortable on this golf course until you finish and sign the card and post a number. So yeah, we knew we still had a job to do. At the time we were still only 4-under par and he had only dropped back to [1-under], so there’s still plenty of holes for him to catch up and keep chasing.
“So it was really timely birdie on 16, and then again to make contact up 17 and 18 with what goes on and to hit such a nice chip that I did on 17. Yeah, it’s just them things. You practice, that’s what you do, endless hours chipping, putting, hitting shots, imagining hitting shots at certain golf courses at certain times. And fortunately enough today, I’ve been able to relive some of them dreams and some of them practice sessions.”
Dreams, indeed.
While there is surely a bevy of data from the laser-driven Track feature, Augusta National doesn’t make any advanced statistics available derived from that data.
However, a look at Willett’s basic numbers reveals he hit 48 of 72 greens in regulation: 67 percent, against the field average of 59 percent. In his final round, Willett hit 13 of 18 (72 percent). His driving accuracy was on par with the field average of 67 percent at 68 percent for the four rounds: He hit nine of 14 for Round 4. Driving distance data was only collected on two holes, Nos. 5 and 15, and Willett averaged 305 yards. And in Round 4, Willett’s efforts on those two holes were 14 yards longer than the field average.
Willett didn’t take many trips to the beach, finding the sand only twice in four rounds. Although he didn’t save par either time he was bunkered, his lack of having to try to salvage sandy pars is notable. Looking at other top finishers, Spieth found seven bunkers, as did Westwood. Dustin Johnson found the sand nine times (saving par only three).
Willett putted beautifully, with just one three-putt for the week. He averaged 1.58 strokes per hole. Anirban Lahiri led the field at 1.53 strokes, but he also had four three-putts, as did Jordan Spieth.
As mentioned, Willett didn’t play the par-5s with any particular brilliance. As you would expect, then, he was second in par-3 birdies (5) and fourth in par-4 birdies (6). Spieth led the field in par-5 birdies (11) and was second in par-4 birdies (8).
The 12th hole, listed at 156 yards, played as the seventh most difficult hole at Augusta National this year, surrendering just 28 birdies with a field scoring average of 3.22. More notably, however, the 12th saw the second-most “double bogeys or worse” of any hole at ANGC this year, at 20, just four behind the course’s most difficult hole, the 505-yard par-four 11th.
So, you know, tough sledding through Amen Corner (the 10th averaged 4.28), with best possibility for big numbers anywhere on the course, as Jordan Spieth painfully illustrated.
Which brings us back to the 12th…
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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cmyktaylor
Apr 13, 2016 at 5:22 pm
For Jordan: http://orig02.deviantart.net/ff05/f/2011/108/1/9/grinch_smile_by_demotivational4you-d3ec49h.jpg
James G
Apr 13, 2016 at 8:57 am
To the Spieth detractors, you make exactly how much playing golf?
Michael Grilledcheese
Apr 13, 2016 at 1:05 am
The amount of times Spieth backs off and the running commentary he has after every swing is hard to watch.
I miss Tiger
Loser Smizzle
Apr 14, 2016 at 3:26 am
Only losers miss Eldrick Tont
Gautama
Apr 12, 2016 at 1:32 pm
The truth is Spieth went wire to wire with some exceptional play, particularly scrambling, while everyone else was blowing up here and there. The result was that robust lead coming down the ninth. But then the course caught up to him as it had everyone else. If he’d had dunked those balls on Friday the result might well still have been the exact same outcome, but we’d be applauding him for grinding to a 2nd place finish.
No one ever wants to consider everything that happens leading up to the final score in sports. It’s like baseball – someone has to have the last at bat with a chance to tie the game, but if they strike out they didn’t “lose the game” or choke any more than than the guy who struck out in the bottom of the first.
Sad Smizzle
Apr 12, 2016 at 2:16 pm
Yeah, without giving any credit to the pitcher. Yeah that makes sense. Not!
Golf is nothing like baseball. Terrible comparison
Gautama
Apr 12, 2016 at 5:03 pm
Lol, either stupid and completely missed the point, or a lonely troll. Sad critter aren’t ya.
Sad Smizzle
Apr 12, 2016 at 7:55 pm
Not as sad as you who doesn’t understand the difference when somebody throws a fast ball past you to BEAT you with a pitch and losing the entire match for the team, instead of making errors by one’s self in golf to lose all by one’s lonesome and not being beating by somebody or some team
Eric
Apr 13, 2016 at 12:32 pm
“Baseball match?” lol, where are you from? Anyway, I know your just a kid trolling, but you’re bordering on funny so I’ll bite.
You just made my point for me, which has nothing to do with team vs individual sports, but the totality of the game room start to finish. The last out most certainly does not “lose the game for the team.” There were 27 other outs and at least 9 innings of action that led up to that point.
In golf, there are 72 holes and 280 odd shots that get tallied Sunday afternoon. On the way everyone has ups, downs, bad decisions, and lucky breaks. The fact that Spieth’s luck with some shaky ball stroking finally caught up to him on the 12th doesn’t mean he choked any more than if it had happened on Thursday. In the end, Willett got through 72 hokes in fewer shots and won.
Norman choked. Spieth just payed his inevitable dues for some shaky ball striking late Sunday.
cmyktaylor
Apr 12, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Context: While Jack won 6 times at the Masters, he came in second 4 times. Yet Jack didn’t start that record until the sixth time he entered the Masters. Jordan began his string of 1sts and 2nds on his very first tournament. This should be fun to watch over the years.
Also, although it does seem tragic to me that Jordan has chosen an unseasoned caddie, I respect his choice of picking a man and sticking with him. I’m having a hard time with Adam Scott dropping his regular caddie for the majors. How is the guy ever going to become seasoned if he doesn’t put him on the bag in the hardest tournaments? A bit shortsighted if you ask me.
Steffen Mysager
Apr 12, 2016 at 10:53 am
Spieth should have been warned for his unbelievable slow play. Coming close to disrespect for the game. SMys.
Kna
Apr 12, 2016 at 3:33 am
You’re just a silly punk, aintcha, Smizzle? You really know nothing, huh? I feel sorry for you
Sad Smizzle
Apr 12, 2016 at 2:13 pm
You’re so clueless it’s sad.
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/look-at-the-eerie-similarities-between-jordan-spieths-stunning-loss-and-arnold-palmers-1959-defeat
Sad Smizzle
Apr 12, 2016 at 7:56 pm
Then you must surely be a loser too
Chunt
Apr 11, 2016 at 9:12 pm
He already won 2 different Majors, and the FedEx Cup.
So this one stung a little but he’ll get over it quickly. Really not a big deal.
We’ve all already moved on. Back to the hunt
Tom Duckworth
Apr 11, 2016 at 5:34 pm
He had to put that jacket on him in the cabin, outside on the practice greens and then more for a number of photo shoots, that had to be unbearable. He showed a lot of class. I hope he doesn’t get too beat up about this from the golfing community. He is a great golfer and it will be great fun to watch the big 3 or 4 or whatever for the next ten years or more.
Bert
Apr 11, 2016 at 5:23 pm
Jordan is awesome. Yes he stumbled but shake it off and get back into the hunt. We know it hurts, we just haven’t ever been there to feel the pain. The guy is amazing! My mind would have been shot after number 12, but he regrouped and tried to finish under par for the remaining holes and perhaps tie. For a moment I thought he would pull it off.
Jim Losito
Apr 11, 2016 at 4:09 pm
I agree with Richard, Jordan’s speed of play has really slowed down compared to when he first started winnig.He repositions way to much. Just hit the ball already.
Scott
Apr 11, 2016 at 5:35 pm
I agree 100%. His pace of play is not good for the game.
Kna
Apr 12, 2016 at 3:31 am
Jack was even slower throughout his entire career. But nobody ever mentions that now. Oh how many waggles he used to take! And how long he would stand over the putts! It’s all edited in highlight videos, but watching it live was quite excruciating.
Troy
Apr 11, 2016 at 3:44 pm
It didn’t surprise me what happened to Jordan. I watched him a number of times during the coverage and he dodged several bullets with a great short game after pushing a drive or iron.
I said to my wife on the Saturday, if he continues to do that come Sunday afternoon it could well catch up with him and he’ll find himself in trouble. Jordan almost went out of the bounds on the long par-3 fourth hole and got out of jail.
Eventually, unfortunately for him it caught up with him. He put up a great defense but full credit to Willett who played amazing golf on the final day.
A Masters to remember!
Matty
Apr 11, 2016 at 2:43 pm
This is somewhat unrelated, but is it just me, or is it that the broadcasting (featured groups and full coverage) at the Masters on TV was kinda bad this year compared to other years (things like wrong facts, wrong score, etc)?
Bert
Apr 11, 2016 at 5:26 pm
The coverage stunk it up! I wanted to yell, Yes Sir, Shut Up! I muted the coverage many times and am thankful for the fast forward feature. Too much embedded small talk and other distractions.
jeff monik
Apr 11, 2016 at 9:00 pm
Dottie Pepper uuuugghhhh Vern was good and Kostis good Jim Nance hasnt improved in all these years Nick Faldo avg. I was done after 14 with Spaeth the coverage sucked and was nothing to hang out for just agitation to come from today’s highlight golf coverage.
It is amazing how playing partners disappear when they fade on leaderboard this isnt golf its reality t.v.
Chris
Apr 11, 2016 at 2:03 pm
Where was the drop zone on 12?
Perry
Apr 11, 2016 at 1:27 pm
Just before he hit the first one, he asked if the chosen club/shot would go over the green. Caddy said no. My guess is he took a little off the shot, maybe even subconsciously. In the first drop zone shot he was obviously out of control, swinging over and over again at a super fast pace. Almost scary to watch. Trouble is the caddy wasn’t even looking at Spieth when he pulled the trigger. An experienced caddy would have said, “Stop! Step back and take some deep breaths.”
Kna
Apr 12, 2016 at 3:28 am
Hindsight analysis from not standing next to the caddie makes you a guessing idiot
Hartley Burt
Apr 11, 2016 at 1:14 pm
Probably a stupid question, but why couldn’t he drop on the other side of the hazard. His ball landed above the hazard line and came back in the water. Normally he would be able to drop on the other side no closer to the hole.
Gerorge
Apr 11, 2016 at 1:50 pm
No, if it’s not a lateral hazard, you cannot drop greenside. Rae’s creek is a frontal hazard, you have to drop behind the hazard.
Mark Walgren
Apr 11, 2016 at 2:08 pm
He could have. He opt’d to take it back 80 yards to where he can get some spin on it. He said he regretted that decision now and should have went to the dropzone instead.
larrybud
Apr 11, 2016 at 3:24 pm
No he couldn’t Mark. It’s a water hazard, yellow line, not a lateral hazard, which is red line. When it’s a yellow line, you have to keep that point where it crossed the line between you and the hole, which means when you go into a hazard with a yellow line, your drop will ALWAYS have the same hazard between you and the hole on your next shot.
Consider this: If Spieth had hit his bunker shot into the water, his drop would HAVE to be back on the other side of the water even though the shot originated from behind the green! (or the other option would be to rehit from the bunker).
cmyktaylor
Apr 11, 2016 at 1:00 pm
I keep thinking: What if (or rather, If only) he had a seasoned caddie on his bag(?).
td
Apr 11, 2016 at 1:15 pm
Same goes for DJ…DJ would be a major winner if he had a better caddie.
Scott
Apr 11, 2016 at 5:36 pm
DJ needs a lot more than a better caddie. He can’t putt and that is mental.
Al Czervik
Apr 11, 2016 at 1:46 pm
This is exactly what I was thinking. There’s a world of difference between a seasoned caddie and someone carrying your clubs. Look at Tiger’s caddie selections… Fluff and Steve Williams- both arguably the best out there at the time.
Steve
Apr 11, 2016 at 10:29 pm
“Both arguably the best out there at the time.”
I think it can EASILY be argued that they didn’t make much of a difference (if any) for Tiger. They were the “best” because Tiger was the one hitting the golf shots… Bottom line – Spieth choked. The blame falls 100% on him, like it should. We don’t need to look for somebody else to blame.
alexdub
Apr 11, 2016 at 3:14 pm
Couldn’t have said it better. First thought I had when Jordan was on 12. Call me crazy, but I honestly believe that Jordan would have won if his caddie had done better at re-centering him and keeping him in the moment. As a caddie, you can’t just let things happen—you gotta keep you player in the moment. As a side, the exchange between Jordan and his caddie on Friday (where Jordan snapped at him) is telling. I wonder if there is a crack that will turn into a cleavage.
Richard
Apr 11, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Seems to me Speith’s pace of play is a problem for those that have to play with him.
Watching him on TV drives me crazy and I am only seeing samples not truly in real time.
Would love to see him paired with Sabatini 🙂
Greg Norman should no longer be the poster boy for Sunday meltdowns at Augusta.
Scott
Apr 11, 2016 at 5:37 pm
He should have been penalized for his slow play.
alexdub
Apr 11, 2016 at 11:21 am
Did everyone see Jordan during the jacket presentation in Butler Cabin? He looked like he was going to cry. Felt bad for him. Tough to see such a train wreck.
Ben Alberstadt
Apr 11, 2016 at 11:26 am
Indeed. And he almost fell over when standing up to put the green jacket on Willett. Would have been an awful figurative version of what happened literally at the 12th. Tough, tough stuff.
Imanoff
Apr 11, 2016 at 1:13 pm
He is Jordan and he has some sort of mental ability and resilience above average. I am sure he will recover and learn from his mistakes. Nevertheless, within his 3 times participation in the Masters, 2 runner ups and 1 champion, that is impressive!
MarkB A
Apr 11, 2016 at 7:43 pm
Yes. My only criticism is speed of play. I love the bashers. Jordan by age 21 did more in his life than all of us will ever achieve. Yeah it is just a game and fortunately, he seems like a very well grounded young man.
steve
Apr 11, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Yeah atleast it wasn’t like Rickie crying like a school because he lost the WM in front of grandpa,