US Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love 111 believes Jordan Spieth will ‘never get over’ losing the 2016 Masters.
Spieth left Augusta National looking very much a broken man letting slip a five shot leading cushion and then having to bear the clear agony of slipping the Masters green jacket onto England’s Danny Willett.
Spieth’s Augusta meltdown immediately drew memories, and strangely on the occasion of the 20th anniversary, of Greg Norman’s similar demise in the 1996 Masters when the Great White Shark led by six shots but then lost by five to arch rival Nick Faldo.
“It doesn’t matter if he wins five Masters and five of every other major and breaks Jack’s record, Jordan’s still going to look back and go, I could have won that one,” said Love 111.
Defending Masters champion clearly was in agony as he slipped the green jacket – a size 38R – onto new champion Danny Willett.
“So he’ll never get over it.”
And Love 111, who is contesting this week’s RBC Heritage and an event he’s won five times in the past, knows what he’s talking about in dealing with letting slip victory at the game’s high level.
“Every time I see something like what happen to Jordan on Sunday I think back to the ’95 U.S. Open,” he said.
“I had a putt to win and then I had a putt to get in the playoff and then I made the putt to not be in the playoff.
“So it’s something I’ve never forget. I bogeyed the last two holes and I could have won the U.S. Open.
“You never forget it. Just maybe you think you’re never going to have another chance.
“At 22 you’re going to have a lot more chances. I’m sure Jordan’s looking at it differently
“Jordan got a lot out of his game last week, the way I looked at it. He survived without his “A” game and he almost won the golf tournament. I was really impressed with the way he played, not really having it.
“And then the way he handled himself after. I think he learned a lot from it. It’s hard, but he learned a lot from it.”
