Jordan Spieth headed into the final day of The Masters atop the leaderboard at three under par, one shot ahead of Smylie Kaufman. At the end of the day, Spieth was putting the green jacket on Danny Willett, who was tied for fifth after three rounds.
Spieth shot a 73 on the final day to finish third after looking like a lock to win for the second consecutive year. A disastrous 12th hole virtually ensured Spieth would not be victorious once again and led some to compare the 22-year-old’s meltdown to Greg Norman’s during the 1996 Masters.
Among those who felt for Spieth following the final round was legendary Jack Nicklaus, who offered some encouraging words via his Twitter account.
I think the whole golfing world feels for Jordan Spieth. He had a chance to do something truly special and… https://t.co/v4XtUhqwbI
— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) April 11, 2016
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.
Nicklaus also congratulated Willett, praising his ability to seize the moment when presented with an opportunity to win.
Spieth’s performance on Sunday was certainly not up to the level he expects of himself and will surely sting. However, as Nicklaus noted, Spieth was aiming to become the youngest to accomplish an incredible feat and will likely have numerous opportunities to again win at Augusta National. Spieth is one of the best talents on the PGA Tour. Jack Nicklaus knows it, as does everyone else.
