Masters 2016: The Biggest Takeaways from Augusta

A final round that looked very much like an inevitable Jordan Spieth romp for much of the day turned into something much different. And the surreal scene of Spieth slipping the green jacket on Danny Willett still hasn't set in.

In this piece last year, I wrote: 

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The biggest takeaway from this year's Masters? Twenty-one-year-old Jordan Spieth is the best player in golf right now. He just completed a historic and record-tying wire-to-wire conquest of Augusta National Golf Club, and he is the humble spokesperson for a new era in professional golf. 

"

Surely, most golf fans assumed the same would be true again this year, with Spieth reaching seven under par after birdies at six, seven, eight and nine to move five strokes clear of the field. 

Instead of a Spieth repeat, we were presented with something much different thanks to the events at the 12th hole, which leads us to the first takeaway.

Jordan Spieth Is Human

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Amid all the laurel-heaping, let it be said: Jordan Spieth didn't have his A-game at Augusta National. 

Nothing made that more clear than the wide right miss that ended up in Rae's Creek at the par-three 12th, followed by a second shot into the creek after a drop and a resultant quintuple-bogey seven. 

The surreal episode took Spieth from five under par, and leading the tournament, to one under, and trailing Danny Willett. Spieth, after opening with rounds of 66, 74, 73 to enter the final round of the Masters with the lead for the second year in a row, unbelievably sank his hopes of winning a second consecutive green jacket in the tributary to Rae's Creek. 

Perhaps we shouldn't be too terribly surprised, as Spieth closed his third round with a bogey at the 17th and a double bogey at the 18th hole to narrow his lead to just a stroke entering the final round. 

Still, even with that sloppy stretch and the historical precedent of hitting his tee shot in the water at the 12th in the final round two years ago, the scene at the 12th was jaw-dropping in the extreme. 

Jordan Spieth described the episode post-round as "a very tough 30 minutes." The unbelievable, un-Spiethian total breakdown of course management and execution proves the young master can make poor decisions, fail to execute and suffer the consequences in the heat of competition.

Another takeaway, surely: He will be back and as a more disciplined course manager than ever.

Danny Willett Has Arrived

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Danny Willett arrived at the Masters with more fanfare about the fact his wife had a baby ahead of the April 10 due date, which allowed Willett to accept his Masters invite and tee it up Thursday as a new father. 

The No. 12 golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking entering the tournament, Willett has a pair of top-10 finishes in WGC events this year, but as he pegs it more often on the European Tour, most American fans knew little about the 28-year-old Englishman. 

And while he entered the final round at even par, just three strokes behind Jordan Spieth, there was little suggestion he'd be the man to shoot a five-under par 67 to beat Jordan Spieth (and the rest of the Masters field) by three strokes. 

Yet that's just what Willett, already a four-time winner on the European Tour, did. 

Top class. Ladies and gentlemen: Danny Willett.

Rory McIlroy Continues to Fail to Rise to the Occasion

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Entering the Masters, Rory McIlroy's lack of a win this year ahead of the season's first major gave pause. The Ulsterman tied for 27th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his most recent stroke-play start ahead of the season's first major. 

At seventh in strokes gained: tee to green and 11th in strokes gained: total, however, any suggestion the three-time major winner was slumping seemed misplaced.

However, when a third-round pairing with Jordan Spieth saw McIlroy card a 77 to Spieth's 73, the questions about McIlroy's ability to get the job done at Augusta National began to surface, both in the 140 characters-or-less world of the Twitterverse and from the pens of major scribes. 

ESPN's Bob Harig wrote:

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Body language often tells the story for Rory McIlroy, so seeing a scoreboard or watching wayward shots into the woods was not necessary to figure out his mood on Saturday afternoon at Augusta National.

The purposeful stride and bounce in his step had gone missing, replaced by slumped shoulders and an indifferent disposition. Putts failed to drop. McIlroy's contorted face showed a look of disbelief.

His seemingly excellent chance at winning the Masters was slipping away with the afternoon breeze; the place many expected to be his ultimate stomping ground was turning into a house of horrors, again.

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On a day where Danny Willett rose to the occasion with a five-under 67 and Paul Casey did the same, McIlroy again couldn't get it done. He made seven birdies but was unable to minimize mistakes, bogeying six holes en route to a closing one-under 71 and a tied-for-11th finish.

At Augusta, When the Wind Blows, Scores Are Not Low

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

While this is an elementary point, it's worth making in light of Spieth's 18-under winning total last year: Augusta National, with a little help from mother nature, is an extremely difficult golf course. 

Adam Scott donned the green jacket in 2013 with a winning score of nine-under par, Bubba Watson, after his heroic effort from the 10th hole's pines, won in 2014 at eight under. In 2015, a nine-under tally was only good enough for ninth place with Spieth, as mentioned, tying the tournament scoring record at 18 under. 

Any thoughts that this would usher in a new era in course scorching scoring at ANGC were misplaced, however, as the Masters Tournament committee chose not to take pity on the invitees with hole locations through three rounds of blustery conditions. Winds blew steadily for most of the three days between 15 mph and 20 mph, with gusts in the 25 mph to 30 mph range. 

As Jason Day said in his pre-tournament press conference: “I’m pretty sure they don’t want 18-under to win. I think they’ll set the course up a lot tougher. I think 13-under averages the win here. I think if they keep it around that it would be perfect.”

With winds down and several accessible pins, birdies flew on Sunday. But the point had been proved: With preferred conditions (firm, a bit windy) and precisely calibrated hole locations, the Jordan Spieth/Tiger Woods 18-under scoring record is in no danger of falling.

There's Nothing Amateur About Bryson DeChambeau's Play

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Eccentric media darling, Bryson DeChambeau is the real deal. The single-length-club swinging, Kangol cap-wearing, SMU physics major received a heap of attention in the lead-up to the Masters. 

The reigning U.S. Amateur champion has been the subject of much writing like this—Dave Kindred of Golf Digest:

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Bryson DeChambeau is a piece of work, at once quirky and brilliant, a tall, lean, blond, Hollywood-good looking physics student who quit college at age 22 to become a millionaire golfer. To see the handsome kid striding down a fairway purposefully and quickly, arms loose, eyes fixed on a distant spot, his head so level and still that he might carry a glass of champagne atop it – to see Bryson DeChambeau in full flight is to think (don’t ask me why) of a Victoria’s Secret model in a hurry.

"

Paired with Spieth and Paul Casey for his first two days, DeChambeau opened with a pair of even-par 72s. At one point during his second round, DeChambeau had gotten himself to three under par, before a badly pulled drive at the 18th hole led to a triple bogey. 

Amid tough scoring conditions, difficult-to-figure, gusty winds, DeChambeau carded a third-round five-over 77, followed by a tidy final-round three birdie-three bogey 72 to finish at five over par, inside the top 25 and as the tournament's low amateur. 

Turning pro after the Masters, no one will say DeChambeau doesn't belong in golf's top flight.

Bubba Watson Is the Ultimate Masters Boom-or-Bust

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Look at Bubba Watson's Masters finishes. 

• 2011: T38
• 2012: 1
• 2013: T50
• 2014: 1
• 2015: T38
• 2016: T37

In other words, it's feast-or-famine stuff from the long-hitting left-hander. 

One of the handful of pre-tournament favorites, Bubba Watson just slithered inside the cut line Friday.

Watson opened with a pair of 75s, failing to take advantage of the par fives, which is astonishing given his length off the tee and the height he hits the golf ball. 

Watson seemed perturbed by the wind...displaying the sort of feeling of personal affliction by the elements that has defined his other failed major bids, such as the 2014 PGA Championship.

Bubba closed with a one-under 71 amid more benign conditions to finish tied for 37th. 

A disappointing effort from Watson this week. And on the heels of a 60 Minutes interview in which he detailed his mental fragility, inside the ropes was evidence of just that.

Even Top-Tier Talent Can Quickly Be Sent Packing at Augusta

Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press

Rickie Fowler is beginning to assemble chapters for a sad major golf story. 

Coming up just short, as he did in all four majors in 2015. And now, he's failing to contend since that point, without a top-10 finish since he tied for third at the 2014 PGA Championship. 

A miserable opening-round 80, which got off to an auspicious start with a double bogey after a tee shot that clattered into the trees, doomed Fowler. He cleaned up with a second-round 73. 

And Phil Mickelson, who, at 45, came into Augusta National confident, with offseason swing changes coalescing and looking for a fourth Masters win. Instead, a late second-round implosion that featured double bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes saw Mickelson packing his bags Friday as well. 

Difficult stuff. Difficult game (as Spieth would surely agree). Things can go south quickly and irreparably at Augusta National, no matter who you are.

Hideki Matsuyama Is a Contender in General, Masters Contender in Particular

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If there were any lingering doubts after his Memorial Tournament triumph last year about his playoff takedown of Rickie Fowler at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, they ought to be gone now: Hideki Matsuyama is a serious contender. 

An adept course manager, Matsuyama maneuvered his way around Augusta National with rounds of 71, 72, 72 in conditions that yielded substantially higher average scores. 

The low amateur in his first Masters, Matsuyama carded a final-round 66 at the 2015 Masters to finish fifth. And with another strong showing this year, the 22-year-old Japanese has proved a point.  

Steady, and as smooth as the tempo of his rhythmic swing, Matsuyama didn't make enough birdies to have a real shot Sunday, routinely missing his approach shots to the right and having to salvage par. 

Still, with a sixth-place finish (his second top-10 at Augusta in a row), the 24-year-old golfer looks to be a horse for the course and a legitimate top-tier talent.

Arnold Palmer Is Still the King

Last year, it was two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw bidding farewell to competition at Augusta National. This year, Tom Watson bid adieu, carding admirable rounds of 74 and 78. 

But Watson's farewell was not nearly as emotional an affair as seeing 86-year-old Arnold Palmer, frail, but vibrant still, sitting in a chair on the first tee to watch Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the ceremonial opening tee shots of the 2016 Masters.  

Chairman Billy Payne's touching speech, which you can see in the video above, reminds us of the special place Mr. Palmer holds, not only at Augusta National, but in the world of golf. 

The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, native ushered in the modern era of professional golf. Fans and professionals alike are forever in his debt. Arnold Palmer is still the King.

Stats are courtesy of PGATour.com.