Masters 2016: Biggest Winners and Losers from Augusta National
There were twists and turns, heartbreak and joy, multiple holes-in-one and the crowning of another first-time major champion.
The 2016 Masters did not disappoint…unless of course your name happens to be Jordan Spieth.
If this were any other major championship, what we witnessed Sunday afternoon would probably be considered the most exciting final round in that tournament’s history.
But as fans of the game we are fortunate enough to experience this drama on a yearly basis at Augusta National.
Every Masters Tournament is filled with a series of highs and lows throughout the week, and here are some of the biggest winners and losers from the 2016 Masters.
Loser: Jordan Spieth
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While the 2016 Masters may be remembered most for Jordan Spieth shedding six strokes on the first three holes of the back nine Sunday, the 22-year-old Texan actually suffered two disastrous stretches during the final two rounds.
Spieth had opened up a four-stroke lead late Saturday before playing the final two holes in three-over par and watching his lead shrink to just one heading into the final round.
On Sunday, Spieth held a five-stroke lead with just nine holes to play before suffering one of the worst meltdowns in Masters history around Amen Corner.
Spieth bogeyed 10 and 11 and then managed to card a quadruple-bogey seven at the par-three 12th after hitting two balls into the water.
"Just compounded mistakes, just a lack of discipline to hit it over that bunker coming off of two bogeys, instead of recognizing that I'm still leading the Masters by a couple shots,” is how Spieth described his tee shot on 12, per Steve DiMeglio of USA Today, via 12news.com.
In the blink of an eye, Spieth’s five-stroke lead over Danny Willett had turned into a three-stroke deficit, and Spieth was never able to recover. That remarkable turn of events over a 30-minute stretch Sunday, unfortunately for Spieth, will not soon be forgotten.
Winner: Danny Willett
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Jordan Spieth’s epic meltdown around Amen Corner may have stolen the show Sunday, but Willett’s ability to put himself in position to take advantage of the situation should not be overlooked.
The 28-year-old Englishman played his last 11 holes in four-under par, and his final-round score of 67 tied for the lowest round of the day.
The objective of the tournament is to play 72 holes in fewer strokes than anyone else in the field.
Had the objective been to play 63 holes in the fewest number of strokes, Spieth would have run away with his second straight Masters title.
But this was a 72-hole tournament, and while Spieth was shedding strokes around Amen Corner, Willett was picking up strokes with birdies on 13, 14 and 16 to finish off the tournament at five-under par which was good enough for a three-stroke lead.
Yes, Spieth held a significant lead with just nine holes left to play. But as we have seen time and time again, nothing is certain in the game of golf.
Willett finished off the tournament in fewer strokes than Spieth, so he is every bit as deserving of a green jacket as any other Masters champion before him.
Loser: Ernie Els' Putter
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Ernie Els has been seeking a green jacket for 22 years now.
It is perhaps the one major championship title he desires more than any other because of how close he has come many times.
But while Els may not have a green jacket hanging in his closet, he did manage to make his way into the Masters record books by carding a nine on the opening hole, which was the highest score in the 80-year history of the tournament.
The 46-year-old South African missed the green with his approach shot, chipped to within three feet for par and then proceeded to embark on one of the most shocking moments in Masters history when he took an astounding six putts to find the bottom of the cup.
"It's hard to putt when you've got snakes in your head," Els, who has been struggling with the flat-stick for some time, said after his round, per Bob Harig of ESPN.com.
Els has always wanted to carve out his own piece of Masters history, but his now infamous six-putt nine at the opening hole was clearly not what he had in mind.
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Winner: Mother Nature
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Just when we thought Augusta National may be losing its teeth following the record-setting scores posted last year, the wind began swirling around the majestic Georgia pines and this 83-year-old iconic venue took a big bite out of the field.
A mere four participants entered the final round with under-par scores through 54 holes, and Danny Willett’s winning score of 283 was the second-highest since 1989.
Part of Bobby Jones’ design strategy for Augusta National was to take many aspects of his favorite Open Championship tracks and incorporate them into something of a links-parkland hybrid. That's why he brought in Alister MacKenzie to take part in the course design and construction.
As such, in perfect weather conditions Augusta National and many of the Open Championship links courses are getable. This was the case in 2015 at the Masters when soft greens and hardly a breath of wind led to 32 players breaking par for the tournament, including five players reaching double digits under par.
But Augusta National’s brilliant design was on full display this week.
When the wind rolled in from the west, the course provided the type of difficult test Jones and MacKenzie had in mind during design but never approached the point of being unplayable.
So don’t worry, folks. Augusta still has its teeth. All it needed was a little bit of wind to come out and bite the top players in the world.
Loser: The Rory McIlroy vs. Jordan Spieth Rivalry
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Some players simply get Augusta National, and some don’t.
Rory McIlroy’s power game and high draw should fit the course perfectly, and he has found himself in contention several times.
But the 26-year-old native of Northern Ireland just cannot seem to get over the hump.
He began the third round Saturday in second place and just one stroke behind the leader, Jordan Spieth. This was the type of weekend matchup most golf fans had only dreamed of when the top players in the world descended upon Augusta, Georgia, earlier in the week.
But the much-anticipated Spieth vs. McIlroy matchup was not to be.
McIlroy played his first 11 holes in five-over par Saturday and wound up posting a 77, which was four strokes higher than Spieth.
While Spieth may have gotten the best of McIlroy on Saturday, Amen Corner got the best of Spieth during the final round, and neither player wound up at the top of the leaderboard Sunday evening.
We may eventually experience a riveting McIlroy vs. Spieth duel at Augusta, but so far it hasn't happened, unless of course we are comparing which player suffered a more epic meltdown around Amen Corner—McIlroy in 2011 or Spieth in 2016?
Winner: The Back Nine Par Fives
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The 13th and 15th holes, two par-fives ranked the easiest on the course, are typically where players make hay on their scorecards.
But that all changed in 2016.
As the winds picked up on Friday and Saturday, these holes wreaked havoc on the field.
The 15th hole played over par during rounds one and three and yielded only nine birdies all day Saturday. Throughout the week, 15 played to a stroke average of 4.91 which is significantly higher than the 4.59 stroke average seen during 2015.
Hole No. 13 played to a stroke average of 4.90 on Saturday and yielded a stroke average of 4.73 for the week, which is also far higher than the 2015 scoring average of 4.54.
These two rather short par-fives became three-shot holes for most of the field, and par wound up being a respectable score.
It is difficult to contain the top golfers in the world within this modern power game.
Length typically won’t do it unless a course happens to have enough room to extend par-fives to 600-plus yards.
Trees won’t do it as forgiving drivers have made many long hitters quite accurate.
Hard greens usually won’t slow down the field as most have the ability to hit the ball high these days.
But toss in some water and a little bit of wind, and that is more than enough to bring even the longest hitters to their knees.
Loser: Rickie Fowler
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At the start of the week Rickie Fowler was on many experts’ short list of potential Masters contenders.
The current World No. 5 had four top-10 finishes in his last five events, and with two wins last year, including the Players Championship, which many regard as golf’s fifth major, Fowler appeared to be inching his way towards his first major championship title.
But that all came to a halt Thursday afternoon.
After opening with a respectable even-par 36 on the front nine, Fowler proceed to card a 44 on the back-nine which included an inexplicable triple-bogey eight on the par-five 13th and a double bogey at 16.
Although Fowler was able to bounce back with a strong score of 73 in difficult conditions Friday, his opening-round 80 had all but ensured his trip to Augusta would be cut short.
Fowler may break through for a major championship title one day, but this was not his week.
Winner: The 16th Hole
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Augusta National may have seen a record number of holes-in-one carded during the par-three tournament Wednesday afternoon, but no one expected this trend to continue into the actual tournament.
But that is exactly what happened on the 16th hole Sunday.
Shane Lowry holed his tee shot on 16 early in the afternoon. About 30 minutes later, Davis Love III came through and carded a hole-in-one of his own. It was another shocking moment but one we have seen before at 16 when Ryan Moore and Nathan Green made holes-in-one in 2010.
But the action at 16 did not stop there.
A short while later J.B. Holmes hit a wonderful tee shot to within a few feet of the hole. Louis Oosthuizen stepped onto the tee next, hit his tee shot about 15 feet right of the flag stick and watched his ball trickle down towards the cup, ricochet off of Holmes’ ball and drop into the hole for the third ace of the day.
It was a series of events that led long-time Masters announcer Verne Lundquist to say, “I’ve been here 17 years and I have never seen an afternoon like this.”
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