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The 2016 US Masters will long be remembered for Jordan Spieth’s famous meltdown, Ernie Els’ six-putt, and Danny Willett’s phenomenal last-round surge. The tournament was one for the amateurs, the weekend warriors and the hackers.
This Masters highlighted how easily a golf course can rear its ugly head as soon as the wind blows. The struggles and confusion in the field was reminiscent of a regular Saturday morning competition on any course in Australia.
Every year the Masters shows us everything that makes this game great. As the great Bill Lawry might have said, “The Masters has endless tension, drama, buzz and atmosphere.”
The 2016 Masters lived up to the hype and delivered arguably the greatest last-round capitulation we have ever seen.
Yes, I know every Aussie will say that Greg Norman takes this prize due to his meltdown in the final round in 1996, but Spieth had a five-shot lead with only nine holes left, yet in the space of three holes he dropped six shots! Norman’s six-shot lead going into the final round had already been eroded to two after nine holes. At the 12th Norman and Faldo had drawn level, and by 13 Norman was down by two.
Spieth’s implosion is even more astonishing considering he had reeled off four consecutive birdies to finish his front nine. He looked unstoppable and his putter was again on fire. Yet 50 minutes later, his five-shot lead was gone and he now trailed by four shots. A nine-shot turnaround in under an hour – what enthralling television it was.
Every golfer has had one of those rounds, holes or a stretch of holes where nothing goes their way: a wrong bounce, losing touch with the putter, a cruel lip-out, having an outer body experience like Ernie Els did or losing one’s temper.
It is such a mentally draining game; every shot requires concentration, planning and commitment. No other game, other than tee ball and croquet, requires the player to hit a stationary ball every shot. The stationary ball makes the mental side of golf even more demanding as the destiny of each shot is 100 per cent in the hands of the player.
The elite professional golfers of the world continue to amaze us. They seem to shake off adversity, keep calm and commit to shots that us mere mortals wouldn’t even dream about.
The last round of the Masters once again lived up to the hype and highlighted the beauty, brutality and drama of the game they must play in heaven.