Jordan Spieth goes wire-to-unwired in Masters collapse

Augusta, Ga. – Golf often is a good walk spoiled. For Jordan Spieth, the end of the walk wasn't the end of the pain.

He had stood on the 10th tee on Sunday at the Masters with a five-shot lead, having made four straight birdies. The back nine would be a parade, a coronation, a third major title in his last five tries and a second straight green jacket for an apparently nerveless 22-year-old.

Then he made a bogey. Then he made another.

At the 12th, Spieth hit a tee shot into the water, then a wedge into the water, and another wedge into a bunker. He had never before made a quadruple bogey on a par-3 as a professional, until he revealed Sunday that for some there is an iceberg lurking in Rae's Creek.

In three holes, Spieth went from a five-shot lead to a three-shot deficit. He would lose by three strokes to Danny Willett, three strokes that could have been saved by one good shot at the alluring par-3 in Amen Corner.

In golf, there are no timeouts, no substitutions, there is no clock to run out, but there is decorum and ceremony, so Spieth slouched on.

He squatted by the 18th hole, perhaps contemplating one of the great collapses in Masters history, perhaps fuming without the aid of discernible thoughts. He made par, shook hands all around, and walked toward the scorer's cabin.

He signed a scorecard that must have looked odd to him, like an inflated bill from a phone company, then faced the CBS camera. The reporter asked Spieth whether he would remember the collapse or his momentary comeback more. Spieth smiled sickly and told him he'd remember the loss.

His spoiled walk was not over. Next was the ceremony in Butler's Cabin, where he sat next to Willett and low amateur Bryson DeChambeau as Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne speechified, as DeChambeau beamed, as Willett tried to enjoy the moment without taunting the champion next to him.

Spieth wore his green jacket, and held Willett's across his left knee. As he stood to drape it on Willett for the first time, Spieth stumbled against a chair leg and had to right himself, as if losing causes vertigo. As Willett and Payne shook hands, Spieth stood behind them, in the middle of the camera shot. His stare may have been ruled a felony in some states.

The spoiled walk continued, outside the clubhouse. Payne speechified in front of the fans and members and representatives of golf organizations as Spieth sat in the dying sunlight before again holding the newest green jacket open for Willett's arms, and again shaking hands, and again looking like he was staring willfully into an eclipse.

The spoiled walk carried him to the "flash quotes'' area outside of the clubhouse. Had Spieth won, he would have become the last player to visit the soon-to-be-replaced media center interview room. Instead, Spieth stood where those who missed the cut recapped their rounds.

The Internet tells us his friend Steph Curry fell down on a basketball court when he learned of the quadruple bogey. Jason Day said, "I was on 15, and I was absolutely shocked when I saw Jordan go from 5 to 1. It's tough. But we all do it to ourselves.''

Spieth was on his way to winning a second Masters before he turned 23. His good walk was spoiled, and then he had to keep walking, and talking, and staring into some distant space where there was no Rae's Creek, and there were no regrets.

Jim Souhan's podcast can be heard at MalePatternPodcasts.com. On Twitter: @SouhanStrib. • jsouhan@startribune.com