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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Demons. Augusta National has more than its fair share of demons. And even though Jordan Spieth made himself a champion here at age 21, he could still use an exorcism sooner rather than later.
So when a reporter started asking a question Tuesday by saying, “Sorry to take you back to the past,” the 28-year-old Spieth felt compelled to interrupt.
“That could be a good thing or a bad thing,” he said. “But you’re apparently going into the bad route.”
Though Spieth’s line inspired a hearty interview-room laugh at the Masters, there is nothing remotely funny about that “bad route.” In fact, it was a really bad route, and one the three-time major winner will never forget.
As defending champ in 2016, Spieth held a five-stroke lead with nine holes to go and seemed to be a slam-dunk bet to join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only men to go back-to-back at Augusta. And then the evil par-3 12th opened wide and swallowed Spieth whole. He put two shots into the water, not one, and his quadruple bogey all but secured one of the more devastating collapses in the sport’s history.
Spieth did win the British Open 15 months later, but it’s hard to believe he will feel full closure at the Masters until he wins a second green jacket.
“I don’t feel any damage from it at this point,” he insisted. “I get in that situation again and it makes me play the right shot, and I win the golf tournament because of it.
“I’m back here, and for a couple of years I certainly thought about it, was questioned about it a lot, but that only lasted a couple of years. I think in 2018 is where I really just kind of got back on track. I made birdie on the [12th] hole on Sunday … and it was just kind of that moment where I was like, ‘All right, I got this hole back.’ So I don’t think a whole lot about it.”
Spieth said that if he hadn’t won the 2015 Masters, the meltdown would’ve had a more profound negative impact on him. Deep down, if he does feel pressure to make good on 2016, Spieth should be helped by two developments — one personal, and one professional.
The personal? Spieth and his wife, Annie, welcomed their first child in November, their son Sammy, whom he plans to bring to Wednesday’s Par-3 event.
“It’s amazing,” he said of fatherhood. “I’ve very much enjoyed it. The first couple months were like, ‘What just happened?’ And the last couple have just been really fun to watch him look around and use his hands and just grow.”
The professional? Woods is in the field, a truth that eases the scrutiny on every other big name on the board.
“I put enough pressure on myself to want to go out and compete,” Spieth said. “It’s my favorite tournament. So I want to play well. I think [Tiger] playing and … potentially playing well is just in general, no matter where it is, just so good for the game of golf and all of us. … He already had his comeback in 2019, but I mean, how many comebacks has he had?”
Good question. Here’s another one:
Six years after disaster struck, is Jordan Spieth ready to launch a Masters comeback of his own?
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