Jordan Spieth already has one Green Jacket in his locker, he should really have two and he could even have three tucked away had the cards fallen differently during what was an incredible start to his Masters career.
Spieth could have conceivably won on his first three trips to Augusta National as he sandwiched his one victory in 2015 between a sparkling 2014 debut and his epic collapse of 2016 that handed the Green Jacket to Danny Willett.
The 29-year-old held a two-shot lead at one point on Sunday in 2014 before Bubba Watson came through to win and deny him from becoming just the fourth debut Masters champion.
In 2015 Spieth bounced back to become the second-youngest Masters winner before 12 months later suffering that huge meltdown when a quadruple bogey on the 12th saw him throw away a seven-shot lead he held entering the back nine.
Overall it was four top-three finishes in his first five Masters before the lean times hit and he struggled badly with his game, but after building himself back up brick by brick, the three-time Major winner feels he’s now in a place to seriously challenge again on his 10th appearance.
“Yeah, 10th appearance now feels crazy and I hopefully can match some of those greats that played in how many over the years,” Spieth said in his pre-Masters press conference.
“It would be pretty special, but at the same time when you get opportunities at a young age and you feel good about your chances, I want to win it again. That’s the goal.
“Ten years here, a lot of experience, I can look back and say I learned a lot from winning, and I learned a lot from losing.
“I feel better perspective now than ever, and hopefully that continues to grow. But ultimately, our sport doesn’t get heightened more than it does this week. This is the highest-viewed golf tournament in the world, and I like to always call it our Super Bowl, but at the same time, that’s still a game, too.”
As well as his debut and his 2016 collapse, Spieth feels he could have won the 2018 Masters, when a poor second and third round saw him start Sunday nine shots behind Patrick Reed before a sparkling 64 left him in third, coming up just two shots short.
“When I look back on the times where I’ve had real legitimate chances, I look at the middle two rounds of 2018, I really could have, should have won it that year,” he added. “I wasn’t playing great. I just had two really good rounds.
“I had chances in 2014 and 2016 down the stretch, and other than that, it’s just…
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