Spieth and Johnson left in wake of leaders
American rivals paired at a major for the first time Contrasting characters both below their best
Of all the golfing A-listers lurking on the leaderboard at the end of the second day at Augusta National, it was perhaps Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth who incited the most terror in those at the top.
Paired together for the first time on a weekend at a major, Johnson and Spieth had plenty of reason to believe that they could be among moving day’s most consequential movers.
And yet you need more than belief to conquer this course, and the American duo remained disappointingly stagnant within the chasing pack on a day that was defined by missed opportunities and worsening weather.
They are not out of the reckoning, after both shooting one-under 71s, but they are not quite among today’s prime candidates for the Green Jacket, either.
Johnson’s momentum was curtailed by two trips into the trees at Amen Corner, while Spieth could not quite sprinkle his fairy dust over the course he tends to tame.
A pairing of Johnson and Spieth, the world No1 and world No4 respectively, is guaranteed to provide intrigue, though. Their rivalry on the course has festered in the last few years, while their contradicting styles made for an entertaining combination in front of the Augusta patrons.
An added level of interest was provided by the contrasts in their personalities. Spieth and Johnson could hardly be more different if they were from opposite corners of the Earth.
Spieth is the all-American hero who is so clean-cut that it can at times feel like he has been constructed by a marketing company to flog putters. He is the erudite, unflinchingly polite gentleman who attends Bible study groups on the pro tour.
Johnson, meanwhile, is the golfing bad boy who was once arrested for driving under the influence. He greets press conferences with such mindnumbing blandness that his reaction to missing last year’s Masters, when he pulled out through injury, was to say “it sucks real bad”.
When Spieth was 14, he was filmed saying it would be his dream to win the Masters. When Johnson was 16, he pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary. Spieth takes inspiration from his teenaged sister, who was born with a neurological disorder. Johnson has taken a leave of absence from the tour amid allegations of failed drugs tests and affairs with wives of other players on the tour.
There can be no doubt, then, who the more earnest members of Augusta National would prefer to welcome into the clubhouse as Sunday’s winner. But Spieth, the 2015 champion, will be wondering whether has left himself with too much to do in his final round.
Teeing off after the heavy morning rain had cleared, and before it returned with vigour later in the afternoon, he made par at the first four holes before an ugly set of putts left him with a bogey on the par-four fifth. It was a front nine pockmarked by the slightest of mis-hits, the smallest of misjudgements.
A birdie at the seventh, after his second shot had taken him to within six feet of the pin, looked to be a turning point but was wiped out by a bogey five at the ninth. “Dang it,” he exclaimed, his voice thick in Texan twang.
At this point, it seemed that Johnson was the more likely to push on.
Amid all the hype over the returning Tiger Woods, the world No1 had come into this tournament almost unnoticed until an ominous round of 68 on Friday.
Johnson, whose sashaying walk brings to mind a swaggering, strawchewing cowboy, conjured up early birdies on the second and eighth to continue his impressive run. Then he was scuppered by Amen Corner, as he found the trees on both the 11th and 13th holes. He still made an impressive par on the 13th, yet a double bogey on the 11th was clearly a major setback.
None of these hitches proved fatal for either of their title hopes, yet it will take more than a monumental upswing to return them to the top of the tree. Others have surged clear, and Johnson and Spieth have been left behind. They are not out of it, but the Masters is out of their hands.