Jack Nicklaus Comments on Danny Willett, Jordan Spieth's Masters 2016 Finish

Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club was filled with different types of emotion as a collapse by Jordan Spieth on the back nine allowed Danny Willett to earn his first green jacket at the Masters.

Spieth was attempting to become just the fourth golfer to win back-to-back Masters championships while also trying to repeat his previous wire-to-wire win, per ESPN Stats & Info. Yet a five-over back nine—highlighted by a quadruple bogey on No. 12—left him putting the green jacket on the 28-year-old Willett.

Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus gave his thoughts on the tough day for the 22-year-old American on Twitter:

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I think the whole golfing world feels for Jordan Spieth. He had a chance to do something truly special and something very few have done before—and be the youngest to accomplish that—and he just didn’t pull through. My heart goes out to him for what happened, but I know that Jordan is a young man who will certainly learn from this experience and there will be some good that comes out of this for him. He’s a wonderful talent and a wonderful young man.

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Spieth was distraught after blowing a five-shot lead and noted it will be hard to put this one in the rearview mirror.

"A really tough 30 minutes for me that hopefully I never have to experience again," he said, per the PGA Tour.

It was the opposite end of the spectrum for the Englishman, who earned his first PGA Tour victory with a four-day score of five under par.

The Golden Bear praised his effort on Twitter as well:

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I’ve watched Danny Willett play on television a few times and when I’ve seen him swing the golf club, I have thought, "Well, this young man looks like he’s a pretty darn good player." He had moved himself up to 12th in the world, so he’s obviously done something right and was playing very good golf coming into Augusta. What impressed me so much is that when he realized he was in a position to win, he finished it—and that’s the mark of a champion: To finish a good round; give yourself an opportunity to win; and when the other fellow doesn’t finish, you’ve got to be there. Danny Willett was and kudos to him. What an amazing couple of weeks for him—from becoming a new father to becoming the latest Masters winner. My congratulations go to Danny for what he did.

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The victory was the first on the PGA Tour for Willett, who typically plays the European Tour. However, he did finish tied for sixth at the British Open last year and has two top-three finishes on the PGA Tour this season.

He was ranked No. 12 heading into the Masters but played more like No. 1. He finished Sunday with zero bogeys, and his 67 was tied for the lowest score of the round. Consistency was the key for Willett, who never shot higher than 74 during the tournament and had 13 birdies compared to just eight bogeys and zero double bogeys. 

Nicklaus, one of three golfers who have pulled off the back-to-back feat, knows a thing or two about the effort it takes to win at Augusta. It's a classy gesture for the 76-year-old to take the time to comment on both. It's an added bonus for Willett and something that Spieth will hopefully be able to look back on and appreciate one day.