SPIETH’S RACE TO GLORY
Record birdie blitz has Jordan closing in on a masterful triumph
JORDAN SPIETH rapped knuckles with his caddie as one more birdie found the bottom of the hole at an enthralled Augusta National last night. It was his 26th birdie of a fabulous 79th Masters and it was one more record during a week when he wrote so many.
It came at the 10th hole, the start of the most scary, exciting nine holes in all of golf. But there did not appear too much left to frighten the clear- eyed Texan, who had taken everything that the best players in the game could throw at him and repelled them all with a nerveless mastery of this event that left everyone agog.
That birdie stretched his lead over a game Justin Rose and Masters specialist Phil Mickelson to six strokes. It was Mickelson’s birdie record, set in 2001, that Spieth had just broken and it was the birdie that appeared to have broken his challenge on this occasion as well.
The last man to shake Spieth’s hand before he set out on his fabulous quest yesterday was the 1976 winner Ray Floyd, who just happened to be the last man to claim the green jacket while leading outright after every round.
Both men, of course, were hoping this would prove an act of symbolism for the 21-year-old Texan, who had broken a couple of Floyd’s records to claim a four-shot advantage going into the final round.
That blueprint showing proved the highpoint of Floyd’s career, as he outclassed Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus to win by eight shots. But for every nerveless performances like that one, there have been plenty of instances of heartbreak where leaders have come out on the wrong side of the fine margins decreed by Masters Sunday and did not get what they deserve.
For the man standing next to Spieth in the final pairing, he did not have to think hard to find the perfect case study in that regard. Rose grew up a huge Sir Nick Faldo fan and, as a 16-year-old had established himself already as one of England’s best prospects for many years when his hero made up six strokes on Greg Norman in the final round in 1996.
Now here he was, trying to inflict such pain and pressure on Spieth. To that end, Rose made the perfect start with birdies on the first two holes. But how do you rattle someone who seemingly cannot be rattled?
Spieth’s responsee was two birdies in the first three holes as well. After all the excitement the tournament had provided over the first three days, it seemed we were off again.
Accompanying Spieth on his march to the green jacket were ere landmarks at every turn. His birdie at the thirdird took him to 18 under. Only two players have reached 18 under in the history of the Masters. There was Woods in 1997 and Spieth on Saturday. Now Spieth had reached that mark again.
Just as on Saturday however, when he toppled off the mark with a double at the 17th, it did not last long this time either, as he bogeyed the fifth. The lead was three again, but became four once more when Rose slipped up at the par-three sixth.
Rose would fail to birdie the eighth and then missed a second short putt in a row at the ninth. Spieth would doubled his advantage over the space of three holes with that birdie at the 10th. He three putted 12 to drop a shot but bounced back with a birdie at 13.
What of the people’s favourite Mickelson, the other runner in this three-horse race? At five off the pace, he was in the same position he found himself when he won the 2011 Open at Muirfield.
He made up the ground then with perhaps his finest round, which underlined the scale of the task. Early bogeys meant he was playing catch-up and, at one under par for the first 11 holes, this round was in need of the miraculous.
Naturally, there was much anticipation regarding the pairing of Woods and Rory McIlroy. They might have started out tied fifth, but 10 shots behind such a tough act as Spieth looked a near-impossible act of recovery, and it showed as both started slowly. Just like that, they were playing for pride.
Spieth’s first seven rounds at Augusta spread over this year and last have entered Augusta lore already with records smashed and the compilation of statistics so mind-boggling they would satisfy most players if they achieved as much over the course of a career.
There was not a single off- day among them. Here was his finishing position in relation to the field after each of those seven rounds: 5th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, and first again following Saturday’s third round. In two Masters appearances he has never been anywhere but the final group on the final day. And now it was continuing into the last day. It was shaping
into a performance to rank alongside Tiger’s debut in 1997 as the finest Masters performance of all time.
Adding to Spieth’s appeal is the fact his easy manner make him such a refreshing presence in the locker room. Here is what Mickelson had to say, on the eve of the final round.
‘He’s just a classy guy who represents the game very well,’ said the leftie. ‘If he were to come out on top it would be wonderful for the tournament and wonderful for the game. I’m going to try to stop him, but we’ll see how it goes.’
How it was going with a handful of holes remaining was the same way it had been going since Spieth opened with his wonderful 64 on Thursday. Quite simply, the man was proving a Masters marvel.