Jordan Spieth’s collapse paves way for Danny Willett at Masters

Trying to purge what then seemed like a debacle, an ashen Jordan Spieth spoke of trying to “sleep it off” and the potential therapeutic value of pausing to “break something really quick.”

And that was on Saturday night, when he was leading the Masters and on trajectory to becoming just the fourth man to repeat along Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.

That was before the anguish ahead after his truly pitiful Sunday at the Masters: His unfathomable cave-in paved the way for new father Danny Willett to rally from 3 behind at the start of the day and 5 back after nine holes to become just the second Englishman to win the tournament.

Spieth came to feel so helpless that at one point he turned to caddie Mike Greller and simply said, “Buddy, it seems like we’re collapsing.”

Just how this short-circuit started in the mind of a champion is hard to know.

But it was flickering on Saturday night.

There was something uncomfortable lingering after Spieth had shown an odd crack in his psyche and vented uncertainty even after he had secured a record seventh straight round in the lead.

Frustrated as he was with frittering a 4-stroke lead down to 1 on the last two holes of the third round, Spieth might have consoled or buoyed himself with the notion he still very much was the man to beat.

Instead, he seemed shaken and vulnerable.

It proved a sad foreshadowing.

That seemed like psychological mumbo-jumbo as he breezed through the first nine holes Sunday with five birdies to seize a 5-stroke lead.

But the gremlins of doubt that he flashed and seemed to flush still were lurking and churning.

Because for whatever technical answers he tried to provide, the mental game is the only way can you really explain Spieth’s freefall in the back nine — which featured a quadruple-bogey on the 12th hole.

How else can you reconcile that he ultimately was relegated went from the verge of making history to having to place the green jacket on the new champion?

That clearly was a piercing thing for Spieth, 22, in Butler Cabin a few minutes after leaving the course.

He looked somewhere between disoriented and nauseated.

And it was telling when he stepped back abruptly as if to not insinuate in any way that he deserved to be there.

Some on social media criticized him for his demeanor, but this was a man dazed and confused … not one stewing.

For another ceremony perhaps 30 minutes later, Spieth gathered himself enough to muster a wry smile as it was time to repeat the gesture.

It’s a wonderful tradition, really.

And, heck, for a similarly awkward version of it you’d likely have to go back to 1961, when defending champion Arnold Palmer was left in the same position after needing only par to repeat but making double bogey to be left helping Gary Player on with his jacket.

But its rarity didn’t make it any less cruel in the moment for Spieth, who “stood up there and smiled like I should.”

“As you can imagine, I can’t think of anybody else who may have had a tougher ceremony to experience,” Spieth said.

If that sounds self-absorbed, it was in candid response to a question about it the strange scene.

And he quickly added that he was happy for Willett — surely mindful of the fact that Willett only was here because his son due to be born Sunday had arrived nearly two weeks early.

“More important than golf, he’s had a lot of really cool things happen in his life,” Spieth said. “Like he said, maybe fate had it this time for him.”

So Spieth handled this about as well as anyone could, even as he couldn’t help adding, “I certainly wanted to control fate myself.”

Fate, as it happens, has a mind of its own.

So it remains to be seen what it has in store for Spieth, who last year became the second-youngest to win the Masters (behind only Woods) and also won the U.S. Open.

“Big picture, this one will hurt,” he said. “It will take a while.”

Shattering and baffling as it was, believe that Spieth will sort this out and have a bright future.

Even if Sunday was a potent reminder that nothing is assured.

Especially on the back nine on Sunday at Augusta.

“It’s a fine line between disaster and success at this place,” said Lee Westwood, who tied with Spieth for second two behind the 5-under-par Willett.

That’s as tangible an explanation as any for how Spieth could birdie 6, 7, 8 and 9 to lead by five and seem indestructible – only to follow his 32 on the front with a 41 on the back.

Somehow, he birdied 13 and 15 to get back to 2 down with 3 to play as Willett awaited the outcome.

But he missed a 15-foot putt on 16 that seemed to puncture his last chance on a day he technically started with a lead that his mind seemed to reject.

“It was,” Willett said, “just a very surreal day.”

And for no one more than Spieth.

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Jordan Spieth’s collapse paves way for Danny Willett at Masters."