Masters 2015: Leaderboard Results and Updated World Rankings After Augusta
At just 21 years of age, Jordan Spieth calmly walked up the 18th fairway at Augusta National on Sunday knowing full well he had earned a Masters victory and won the coveted green jacket. The casual nature of his stroll and subtle waves to the gallery perfectly represented his attitude throughout the tournament—calm, cool and collected.
Spieth set numerous records at Augusta in 2015, including being the youngest 18-hole leader, recording the lowest 36- and 54-hole tallies, and tying Tiger Woods for the best 72-hole score at 18 under. While those feats are all very impressive, perhaps Spieth's most alluring attribute was his ability to remain focused under heavy pressure and display a level of maturity and humility beyond his years.
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Fellow Texan and golf great Ben Crenshaw had this to say about Spieth during a telephone interview with Melanie Hauser of PGATour.com: "I don't know what it is, but he just has this maturity. He's got an awareness of where's he going. He's got a plan."
Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson had some fine moments Sunday, but neither were able to catch Spieth, as they finished tied for second at 14 under. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy tied for the low round of the day with a 66 and moved into fourth as a result. Hideki Matsuyama was the other player to shoot 66, and he rounded out the top five.
Here's a look at the final Masters leaderboard:
With his victory, Spieth not only claims the green jacket, gets his name engraved on the Masters Trophy, earns a lifetime invitation to the major and gets a five-year PGA Tour exemption, but he gets 100 points in the world golf rankings. Entering the tournament, he was fourth overall, behind just McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson. Well, that has changed.
Take a glance at where the 21-year-old phenom currently resides following his victory:
That's right. Spieth is now second in the world, and if he keeps up his current pace, he'll be nipping at McIlroy's heels in an effort to overtake the Northern Irishman at the top in short order.
The other big movers within the top 10 were Dustin Johnson, who moved up one spot from seventh to sixth overall following his tie for sixth in the Masters, and Rose, who moved up three spots from 11th to eighth after finishing tied for second with Mickelson—Lefty gained four spots, moving up from No. 22 to No. 18.
Finally, we have Woods. He entered the Masters ranked No. 111 in the world following a terrible stretch that included withdrawing or missing the cut in six of his previous nine tournaments. While he didn't finish as strong as he would have liked on Sunday, shooting a one-over 73, his tie for 17th was good enough to move him up 10 spots to No. 101 in the world.
Woods still has a very long way to go to get back to his former status as one of the world's top golfers, but he did answer questions regarding uncertainties of the state of his career. Many thought he would never be competitive again after his lengthy battle with injuries and swing changes; however, he appears to be on the right track.
It's still too early to tell if Tiger is "back" just yet—he'll need a couple more similar showings before we can give a firm opinion on that matter—although, judging by some of his shining moments at Augusta, chances are he's not done racking up wins and writing his name in the history books.
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