Written by Kyle Porter at CBS Sports.com
On April 10, 2016, at around 5:30 p.m. ET, Jordan Spieth made history at August National. He put two Pro V1x golf balls into the bottom of Rae’s Creek and effectively cloaked Englishman Danny Willett in the green jacket. But it was what happened immediately following those infamous two strokes that piqued my intrigue in Boy Wonder.
He followed that quad on No. 12 with a birdie at No. 13 and another at No. 15. Two back with three to go. How can he even play golf right now after that meltdown? A near-ace at the 16th had everyone dreaming of the greatest six-hole comeback in golf history. But after a missed birdie putt there and a bogey at No. 17, it was over.
All of this rolled through my mind as I watched Spieth get pummeled by Royal Birkdale early on Sunday as an Augusta relapse (and thousands of insufferable columns about how he’s not really a closer) appeared imminent. He started with three bogeys in his first four holes and could not have appeared less confident than if the R&A had made him play left-handed.
Then came the 13th and a genuine “history is hanging in the balance” gut check. Spieth pushed one so far right off the tee Breitbart wasn’t even able to compose a blog post about it. As he stood on top of a sand dune and posed for the enduring image of this week, Spieth decided to take an unplayable.
“After I hit that tee ball, I was thinking, ‘I’m making six,'” Spieth told Golf Channel.
He wandered his way backwards to the driving range that (sort of) runs parallel to the 13th, weaved around some temporary structures, found himself between a Titleist truck and a Wilson truck and played his third.
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