Jordan Spieth's Rout of Rory McIlroy in Showdown Has Impact Beyond 2016 Masters

Golfers like to talk about how lonely their game is, how you spend so much time by yourself practicing, how you're not really going against other golfers in tournaments so much as against the course.

All of that, of course, is dead wrong. Sure, Rory McIlroy lost to Augusta National on Saturday, but more so he was beaten down by Jordan Spieth. It was a knockout, a no-hitter and a Hail Mary all in one, even though there were no punches, pitches or passes.

Spieth and McIlroy are now golf's great rivalry, having officially bypassed and shut down the Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson thing. But it takes a head-to-head matchup to really know about the shape of a rivalry. And what we saw Saturday was exactly how one-sided this thing really is.

Spieth was not great, but for most of the day, the ball kept going in anyway. McIlroy wasn't great either, and the ball went all over the place. Spieth is still in the lead, one stroke ahead of unknown Smylie Kaufman, who sounds less like a champion golfer than an emoji.

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Meanwhile, McIlroy disappeared, shooting a five-over 77 without one birdie. He is five strokes behind Spieth. It was the first time in the rivalry that McIlroy played with Spieth on the weekend of a major. It also was the first time McIlroy went a round at a major without a birdie since the 2010 British Open.

Those things are not a coincidence. He folded mentally under the pressure of Spieth. McIlroy dominated 2014 and Spieth 2015. But somehow, these guys are headed in opposite directions.

Spieth was frustrated throughout the day but relentless mentally on his putts. He was finding a way to score well. Meanwhile, McIlroy kept seeing that while Spieth kept watching McIlroy's positive body language slip away. 

When one star sees another one moping, it's over.

“I turned around after 15; I said, ‘How the hell is he two-under par today?’” McIlroy said, via Scott Michaux of the Augusta Chronicle. “But it’s his most impressive asset. And as much as it could be annoying to his competitors, it’s very, very impressive. As much as it does dishearten you seeing those putts lip in, you got to take your hat off to him, because he is such a grinder and such a battler and he always sticks in there.”

No, it wasn't just Spieth who threw McIlroy. It was the Masters, too. It's the one major he hasn't won yet. And the pressure was off him because the focus and expectations were all on Spieth.

But there is a certain mental break to having already won a Masters.

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And it explains how Bernhard Langer, at 58, found a way to get back into contention. He shot 70 and is now just two strokes behind Spieth. Langer won two Masters, including his first in 1985. That was 31 years ago, or about one-and-a-half times Spieth's life.

That experience makes Langer more dangerous than anyone else chasing Spieth.

McIlroy is trying to overcome the pressure of being labeled as the guy who can't win a Masters. Spieth never had that pressure. But come on: McIlroy has won majors. The biggest reason for his choke was the pressure of Spieth.

It used to happen all the time with people who played in the same group with Woods. Not only was Woods intimidating, but also the crowds always hustled on to the next hole as soon as Woods made his putt, while his opponents were trying to concentrate on their own putts. 

There was nothing like that for McIlroy on Saturday. He just sat there and watched Spieth fumble around, get frustrated and find a way to get the ball in the hole anyway. That should not have been enough to psych out McIlroy.

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But as much as it said about him, it might have said even more about Spieth. He shot a 73, including a bogey and a double bogey on the final two holes. That's 66-74-73 for him with the last two days coming in heavy wind.

"I've just got to absolutely throw this away," he said on ESPN after his round, explaining how he would deal with his bad finish. "Understand, this is the position I wanted to be after 54 holes." 

Yes, frustrated, wanting to throw away the round. And, oh yeah, first place at the Masters heading into the final round. He now has finished each of the past seven rounds at the Masters all alone in first place. You have to go back to 2014 to find a day at the Masters that ended without Spieth on top.

That Sunday, he was in second place.

With Spieth and McIlroy in their 20s, it's too soon to draw any conclusions from Saturday. But you do have to wonder whether McIlroy is headed for a career as the guy Spieth beats up on, like Mickelson was to Woods.

More likely, McIlroy will have his moment over Spieth at some point, and the momentum will go back and forth between them for a decade. Not to mention, Jason Day should be in that mix, too.

But for now, Spieth might be battling some of his own confidence issues but grinding out majors anyway. McIlroy's personal, private inner demons, meanwhile, are nothing compared to the one on the outside.

Greg Couch covers golf for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise indicated.