The terrible score matches the nine that the 2015 Masters champion shot in 2017, on the exact same hole.
Augusta National gives, but sometimes takes away. Just ask Jordan Spieth, the 2015 champion, whose reputation as a Masters specialist suffered a few major blows on Friday when he shot a nine at the 15th on his way to an 80 in the first round.
Spieth, who has four top-five finishes at the season’s first major since becoming its second youngest winner nine years ago, has fallen short on the par-five, which is normally considered a birdie hole, before.
In 2017, he too made a quadruple-bogey on the 550-yarder, and this time around, he’s made Masters history.
Justin Ray, the arch statistician for the Twenty First Group, stated that he is the only golfer in the last 20 years to have multiple scores of nine or worse on a hole at Augusta. The graphic representation of his nonagonal suffering is a voyage.
His drive was slightly tugged, but nothing too serious, and he hit his second to lay up distance. Spieth sailed the green, but his short game caused little drama. The golfer’s chipped fourth missed the hole and ended up in the water in front of the green. After taking a penalty drop, he sailed the green with his sixth shot, but, understandably, he left his chip short this time before two-putting.
It could’ve been worse. Sergio Garcia, another past winner, shot a 13 on the 15th after five visits to the water seven years earlier. The Spaniard actually nailed a 12-footer to avoid the ignominy of having the joint-worst score on any hole in the Masters, rather than the worst.
Spieth, on the other hand, did not appear to be in the mood for consolation, bogeying the 17th before making a remarkable par on the 18th thanks to an ambitious chip to finish at 79.
Still, only five of the 89 men in the field shot higher in the opening round, including defending Open champion Brian Harman (81). And Spieth was facing his second missed Augusta cut in three years.
Just ask Jordan Spieth, the 2015 champion, whose reputation as a Masters specialist suffered a few major blows on Friday when he shot a nine at the 15th on his way to an 80 in the first round.
Spieth, who has four top-five finishes at the season’s first major since becoming its second youngest winner nine years ago, has fallen short on the par-five, which is normally considered a birdie hole, before.
In 2017, he too made a quadruple-bogey on the 550-yarder, and this time around, he’s made Masters history.
Justin Ray, the arch statistician for the Twenty First Group, stated that he is the only golfer in the last 20 years to have multiple scores of nine or worse on a hole at Augusta. The graphic representation of his nonagonal suffering is a voyage.
His drive was slightly tugged, but nothing too serious, and he hit his second to lay up distance. Spieth sailed the green, but his short game caused little drama. The golfer’s chipped fourth missed the hole and ended up in the water in front of the green. After taking a penalty drop, he sailed the green with his sixth shot, but, understandably, he left his chip short this time before two-putting.
It could’ve been worse. Sergio Garcia, another past winner, shot a 13 on the 15th after five visits to the water seven years earlier. The Spaniard actually nailed a 12-footer to avoid the ignominy of having the joint-worst score on any hole in the Masters, rather than the worst.
Spieth, on the other hand, did not appear to be in the mood for consolation, bogeying the 17th before making a remarkable par on the 18th thanks to an ambitious chip to finish at 79.
Still, only five of the 89 men in the field shot higher in the opening round, including defending Open champion Brian Harman (81). And Spieth was facing his second missed Augusta cut in three years.
