Jordan Spieth admitted it would take him a long time to get over squandering a gilt-edged chance to win back-to-back Masters titles on Sunday.
Four birdies in succession from the sixth gave Spieth a five-shot lead with nine holes to play, only for the world number two to drop shots on the 10th and 11th and run up a quadruple-bogey seven on the 12th.
The 22-year-old kept his hopes alive with birdies on the 13th and 15th, but a bogey on the 17th confirmed he would have to settle for a share of second place with Lee Westwood.
Spieth, who has now finished second, first and second in his three Masters appearances, said: “It’s tough, really tough.
“Four birdies in a row and I knew that even par (on the back nine) is good by at least a shot and sometimes that makes it hard. You go away from the game plan and start playing conservative. A few weak swings and suddenly I am not leading any more.
“We still have the confidence that we are a closing team, we can close. I have no doubt about that ability. It was just a very tough 30 minutes for me that I hopefully never experience again.
Jordan Spieth's final round at the Masters ...
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 11, 2016
• 7 birdies
• 4 bogeys
• 1 quadruple bogey https://t.co/hvXHBnKjY8
“But boy, you wonder about not only just the tee shot on 12, but why can’t you just control the second shot, you know, and make five at worse, and you’re still tied for the lead. Big picture, this one will hurt. It will take a while.
“I knew the lead was five with nine holes to play. And I knew that those two bogeys weren’t going to hurt me. But I didn’t take that extra deep breath and really focus on my line on 12. Instead I went up and I just put a quick swing on it.”
Spieth enjoyed a wire-to-wire victory and also led after each of the first three rounds this week, but struggled to reproduce the form of his opening 66 and was pleased to receive help from his coach Cameron McCormick before the final round.
“I didn’t ask for him,” Spieth added. “He texted me and said, hey, would you like it if I came back? I said, sure. It can only help me if he’s here.
“He likes for me to be self-reliant. But at the same time the wheels kind of came off the last three holes on Saturday and I think he felt that just his voice would bring my confidence back into my swing, and it certainly did.
“He knew what was wrong and he knew that if he were here watching shots on the range it would make a difference. And it did, my confidence going into the first hole was fantastic.
“But, listen, I had my B-minus game tee to green and I made up for it around the greens with my putter. Ultimately you just have to have your “A” game every single part, and I just didn’t have those iron swings, as it showed on the back nine.”
