The Masters didn’t just slip away from Jordan Spieth. It escaped his death grip and speared him to the ground, making for an epic collapse that was painful to watch.
Jack Nicklaus, a six-time Masters champion, was among those who truly felt for Spieth as the 22-year-old quadruple-bogeyed the par-3 12th hole at August National en route to one of the biggest meltdowns in golf history. As such, The Golden Bear tweeted an inspirational message about Spieth and 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett shortly after the tournament wrapped.
“I think the whole golfing world feels for Jordan Spieth,” Nicklaus wrote. “He had a chance to do something truly special and something very few have done before — and be the youngest to accomplish that — and he just didn’t pull through. My heart goes out to him for what happened, but I know that Jordan is a young man who will certainly learn from this experience and there will be some good that comes out of this for him. He’s a wonderful talent and a wonderful young man.
“I’ve watched Danny Willett play on television a few times and when I’ve seen him swing the golf club, I have thought, ‘Well, this young man looks like he’s a pretty darn good player.’ He had moved himself up to 12th in the world, so he’s obviously done something right and was playing very good golf coming into Augusta. What impressed me so much is that when he realized he was in a position to win, he finished it — and that’s the mark of a champion: To finish a good round; give yourself an opportunity to win; and when the other fellow doesn’t finish, you’ve got to be there. Danny Willett was and kudos to him. What an amazing couple of weeks for him — from becoming a new father to becoming the latest Masters winner. My congratulations go to Danny for what he did.”
It looked for most of this year’s Masters like Spieth would walk away a back-to-back champion. All he needed to do was seal the deal by protecting a big lead on the back nine Sunday. Disaster struck in a big way, though.
Fortunately for Spieth, he appears to have plenty of support around him. And perhaps that love will help Spieth overcome the first major obstacle of his young career.
Thumbnail photo via Michael Madrid/USA TODAY Sports Images
