It was all looking different just a few hours ago. Jordan Spieth was leading, at one point by five shots, and had finished off his front nine with four consecutive birdies. Things turned for the worst on the back nine however, and fast. He entered Amen Corner (11th hole to the 13th hole at Augusta) after a bogey on the 10th, then another on the 11th, but was still holding on.
Then came the par 3 12th hole, over water to a green protected by bunkers. His lead was a single shot at this point. Spieth hit his tee shot to the front of the green, but watched it fall back into the water. He then fatted his shot at the drop zone again into the water. His third tee shot found the back greenside bunker and when it was all said and done, Spieth concluded the 12th with a quadruple-bogey. In total, he dropped six shots in three holes, very similar to Rory McIlroy's meltdown at the 2011 Masters. Spieth also found himself three shots behind a new leader for the first time since the 2014 Masters. That leader was none other than Danny Willett...
Willett played solid golf today and was only one of two players to shoot a bogey free round. Despite all that was going on around him with Spieth and the surge of other players trying to make a move now, like Lee Westwood, Soren Kjeldsen (who was looking very good at one point), and Dustin Johnson, he stuck to his game plan and it ultimately paid off in the end. To say he didn't deserve the win, would be a mistake. Then again, no player wants to win as a result of another player's meltdown, but someone had to win and it was lucky enough to be Willett, as he said in his post round interview. Spieth finished well in the end though at T2, but this was a shock to us all after his huge lead. Perhaps the toughest moment for Spieth though was putting the green jacket on Willett (as Spieth was last year's Masters Champion) during the closing ceremony.
On another note, today's final round definitely played easier than the first few rounds, due to the lack of wind on certain holes. This made more holes vulnerable to low scores and many players took advantage of this. Hole locations were also a mix between tough and rewarding, but some challenged even the best of golfers. This is all to be expected during a final round of the Masters however.
As if all of the above wasn't exciting enough, more history was made during today's final round. A total of three holes-in-one were made on the par 3 16th hole, by Shane Lowry, Davis Love III, and Louis Oosthuizen, who by far had the most spectacular hole-in-one I've seen to date. Oosthuizen's partner, JB Holmes teed off on the par 3 first and hit his ball to within 10 feet. Louis then teed off and landed his ball on the green as well, at which point it rolled and ricocheted off Holmes's ball, nearly knocking Holmes's ball in, then sending Louis' ball in for a hole-in-one, in amazing fashion. Louis's really had some luck at Augusta; let's not forget his double eagle back in 2012. Spectacular to say the least.
Finally, here's how our picks finished off. Jason Day was paired today with Dustin Johnson and the two played equal. The World Number One couldn't capitalize on a few chances and really struggled to make a move. As a result, he finished T10 at 1-over, a very respectable result nonetheless. That's now 8 of past 13 majors in which Day has finished T10 or better. Truly remarkable. Stensen played relatively well today with a 69, but did shoot a 78 yesterday. He finished T24 at 6-over.
And there you have it, the end of the 2016 Masters. And wow, what a Masters it has been. We've seen it all this week, from low scores to holes-in-one to meltdowns to great golf. Congratulations again to Danny Willett for a spectacular win! Let's hope next year's edition will be just as exciting!
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
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