On Sunday at the 2026 Masters, Jordan Spieth closed out his final round with a bang. A birdie on 18 was preceded by an eagle from the hole on 13, resulting in a 4-under 68.
But it was not enough to end the long winless streak of the three-time champion in his first career.
His closing birdie wasn’t the only statement Spieth made Sunday night at Augusta National. He also spoke bravely about his game which may give his fans hope, but may also leave his critics scratching their heads.
Spieth said he hit it better at this year’s Masters than he did when he won the Masters in 2015, or any other time he competed at Augusta.
Spieth praises the Masters tee-to-green game, identifying putting as falling
It’s been 11 long years since Spieth’s first and only Masters victory. The year before that he almost won on his first appearance.
But Sunday also marked the 10-year anniversary of Spieth’s fall on the back nine Sunday at the 2016 Masters. Although he won the Open Championship the following year, one could argue that Spieth hasn’t played since his ’16 at Augusta.
This year he is fighting hard to bring back the stars of this game. The Masters seemed like the perfect place to make his comeback. Although he didn’t make the cut, Spieth’s heroics on Sunday this year left him at five under for the tournament, giving him a T12-finish.
10 years ago, Jordan Spieth came out of the Masters crushed. And for 1 lesson
By:
Nick Piastowski
It was his fourth T12-or-better finish of the season. However, he ended up seven shots behind winner Rory McIlroy and never threatened to challenge him.
That’s why it was surprising when after his round ended Sunday night at Augusta, Spieth said he played better than he did in 2014-2016 when he went T2-1-T2 at the Masters. And it’s “much better” than his solo third-place finish at the 2018 Masters, his T3 in 2021 and his T4 in 2023.
He also identified the culprit that ruined his elite-to-green game: his putting.
“I hit it better than the year I won and I hit it better than any two or four places I hit,” Spieth. “Probably the best I’ve ever hit here and putting the greens really well.”
About his Masters placement. While laying out Spieth’s dominant strengths, at Augusta and elsewhere, he said he “left 20-something shortstops this week.”
Although Spieth said his putting was “better than bad putting times,” he said his issue on the green was that the hole started “looking a little smaller” last week. He tried his best to “make it look big” at the Masters but “just didn’t get there.”
“And the stroke, my stroke felt clean and I got a few of them off, it’s better than the bad putting times. Just last week I got a little bit in the first round and the hole looked small, and I’ve tried to make it bigger every day since then,” explained Spieth. “I’m not there yet. So I’m going to spend a lot of time putting next week and maybe putting a shorter distance so I can see more putts going in and I believe the hole is bigger than the ball.”
He then clearly reflected on what could have been at the 2026 Masters if a few more putts had gone down on Thursday.
“I mean, I think if – sometimes I wonder if there were a few early in the first round – I might have gotten in, you know, who knows what the competition is like.”
But Spieth has another tournament coming up this week, the RBC Heritage, and another chance to fix his putting woes.
“That part is frustrating. Also, placing can be difficult so just get in the right lineup and try to win next week.”
