2015 Masters: Why Jordan Spieth's Scoring Records Are Not Quite What They Seem

Jordan Spieth has officially reached superstar status in the game of golf. There is absolutely no question about that.

At the age of 21, Spieth managed to hold off some of the biggest names in golf to become just the fifth player in history to go wire-to-wire at the Masters.

Spieth’s commanding victory last week at Augusta National deserves a great deal of praise, and it will almost certainly be the first of many major championship triumphs for the young Texan, whom Ben Crenshaw once compared to golf’s version of Wyatt Earp due to his steely, unrelenting stare while out on the course.

That being said, we also need to take some of Spieth’s numerical scoring records with a grain of salt.

Augusta National has rarely, if ever, played easier than what was experienced last week during the 79th playing of the Masters.

In recent years, Augusta National has managed to fight off technological advancements in the game with extremely firm and challenging green complexes.

This has been particularly true for the par fives, which are fairly short by PGA Tour standards.

But that was simply not the case last week.

The greens started off softer than usual on Thursday and never firmed up as the week progressed.

As such, Augusta National’s treacherous green complexes were turned into nothing more than large dart boards for the world’s best players.

While many golf courses may be helpless against local weather conditions, Augusta National is certainly not one of them.

Augusta National has a SubAir system under each of its greens that allows it to suck as much moisture out of the greens as it would like.

Essentially, Augusta National could get its greens running at 14 on the Stimpmeter in a driving rain storm if it so desired.

So baring any mechanical issues with the course’s SubAir system, one would have to conclude that Augusta National simply chose to present a much softer and scorable golf course last week when compared to previous years.

Twenty-time Masters participant Tiger Woods gave his opinion on the course conditions while speaking to the media after Round 2 (via ASAP Sports):

"

So the conditions‑‑ the scoring conditions were there, because the greens were soft.  I mean we could be aggressive.  And the balls were staying back.  I was talking to Thomas Bjorn and O'Meara and even Tom Watson earlier today and we couldn't believe how slow they were yesterday.  Again, they were slow again today.
The balls were spinning back.  5‑irons were making ball marks, things like that, things that you just don't normally find here.  But it's up to the committee.  If they want to make this golf course a little drier, I was telling the guys earlier, it's quiet out there, there's no sub airs going.  If they turn the sub airs on, they can suck the moisture out of this thing and get them firm, or they can live with it like it is, and we can go out there and make a bunch of birdies.

"

While Spieth’s four-stroke victory over the field was certainly impressive, his 18-under-par score of 270 for 72 holes cannot really be compared to Woods’ 270 from 1997, or even Jack Nicklaus’ 271 from 1965, or Raymond Floyd’s 271 from 1976 due to the conditions of the golf course.

When Woods posted an 18-under-par score of 270 for 72 holes, the next closest competitor was Tom Kite at six under par, and only 16 players in the field managed to break par that week.

When Nicklaus posted a 271 (17-under par) back in 1965, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player tied for second at eight under par, and only six players in the entire field managed to break par for the week.

When Floyd posted his 72-hole score of 271 (17-under par) back in 1976, Crenshaw finished in second place at nine under par, and only four players broke par for the week.

While Spieth technically matched Woods’ 72-hole score of 270, he only won by four strokes. Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose tied for second at 14 under par, which tied for the seventh-best Masters scores of all time. Mickelson and Rose would have also won all but three of the past 20 Masters with a score of 14 under par.

Rory McIlroy finished in fourth place with a 72-hole score of 276. McIlroy’s 276 would have been one of the top-20 72-hole scores ever posted at Augusta National and would have won nearly 75 percent of the Masters played over the past 20 years.

McIlroy actually played his final 45 holes at 15 under par. Although 45-hole Masters scoring records were not readily available, one would have to assume that a stretch of playing at 15 under par for just 45 holes would have to be some kind of a record around Augusta National.

In total, 32 players finished under par for 72 holes last week, while five players reached double digits under par.

It is never prudent to simply view scoring records without also examining course conditions and how the rest of the field performed under those same conditions.

The 2011 U.S. Open is another perfect example of where scoring records were heavily aided by course conditions.

McIlroy shattered virtually every scoring record imaginable at the 2011 U.S. Open, which was held at Congressional Country Club just outside of Washington D.C.

McIlroy’s 16-under-par performance for 72 holes was four strokes better than Woods’ 12-under-par score during the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

However, Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 strokes and was the only player in the entire field to break par at a very difficult Pebble Beach golf course.

McIlroy won by eight strokes in 2011, and a total of 20 players finished under par that week, including eight players who finished at five under par of better.

Yes, McIlroy’s 2011 U.S. Open win was incredibly impressive, but it's not really comparable to Woods’ performance in 2000 when considering the extremely soft course conditions and almost non-existent rough at Congressional that led to much of the field posting scores far lower than what is typically seen at U.S. Open Championships.

Now, this article should by no means be construed as an attempt to diminish Spieth’s accomplishments at last week’s Masters.

Spieth achieved an incredibly dominant wire-to-wire victory against the best players on the planet at the young age of 21.

However, we would be remiss if we simply took scoring numbers at face value and never truly evaluated contributing factors such as course conditions and the performance of the rest of the field.

And while Spieth’s performance at the 2015 Masters was certainly one for the ages, it still falls well short of Nicklaus’ 271 in 1965, Floyd’s 271 in 1976 and Woods’ 270 in 1997 when truly assessing all factors involved in each of these scoring records.

But enough of the history lessons.

Let’s all just sit back and enjoy Spieth’s amazing performance and look forward to the continued evolution of an exciting rivalry between Spieth, McIlroy and several other very young and talented golfers who are now beginning to make a lot of noise at the major championships.

Golf is in a good place, and we should all be thankful for that.