Masters: Spieth's collapse more jolting than the gradual breakdown of Norman '“ Faldo
Spieth took a one-shot lead into the final round as he looked to join Faldo, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus in winning back-to-back Masters titles.
But on the 20th anniversary of Faldo winning his third green jacket as Greg Norman squandered a six-shot lead after 54 holes, Spieth blew a five-stroke advantage with just nine holes remaining after dropping shots on the 10th and 11th and running up a quadruple-bogey seven on the 12th.
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Hide Ad“This will scar him. This will damage him for a while,” said Faldo, who saw Danny Willett follow in his footsteps as the second English winner of the Masters.
“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 [Norman shot 78 and Faldo 67].
“What happened to Jordan it was so sudden, just bam. It was 10 minutes of golf. That’s the harshness of it.”
Spieth agreed that it would take him a long time to get over Sunday’s dramatic events.
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Hide AdSpieth, who has now finished second, first and second in his three Masters appearances, said: “It’s tough, really tough.
“I had my B-minus game tee to green and I made up for it around the greens with my putter. Ultimately you just have to have your “A” game every single part, and I just didn’t have those iron swings, as it showed on the back nine.”