Spieth's meltdown is a perfect blend of what we love and hate aboutsports

One of my faveroite stories that I've heard about Golf took place before I was born. It was the 1996 Masters (I was born in 1998). Greg Norman, an Australian who was already well known for having the worst of luck in the biggest of tournaments, entered the final day of the Masters with a commanding 6 stroke lead at -13 under par. It looked like the Shark would finally be able to put on the green jacket. Now, here is where my dad's story comes in.

On the final Sunday at Augusta, Norman learned once again that in Golf, ones biggest obstacle is the person who stares back at him in the mirror. Norman blew up, and wound up losing the tournament to Nick Faldo by 5 strokes. My dad has said for years that Norman choked to the point where he ''couldn't stand any longer'' and had to go into another room. I don't know why I've liked this story so much, I've just always have. On Sunday, I learned exactly what my dad meant when he said he couldn't take it anymore.

If there was ever a golfer who was the opposite of Greg Norman, it's Jordan Spieth. Unlike Norman, Spieth is calm, cool and collected when the big moment comes, and all of those things made him the best golfer on the planet in 2015. However, on Sunday afternoon, Spieth practically morphed into Norman. As most sports fans are well aware, the 22-year-old Texan had a 5-stroke lead over halfway through his final round, and then the rains came (aka the 12th hole). On hole #12, Spieth did his best Tin Cup impression, hitting two shots into the water and finishing the hole with a quadrople bogye. Spieth never recovered, finishing at -2 under par and in 3rd place, while at the same time, being forced to put the green jacket on the new winner, Danny Willett, as is tradition for the Masters champion from the year before to do. 

Spieth's meltdown was hard to watch for odvious reasons. It is never fun to watch somebody go from on top of the world to  at the bottom of the world in the span of less than an hour. Spieth seems to be a sharp and well spoken young man, the kind of guy you want to see be the face of the sport. For so long,  it looked like Spieth would further establish himself as the face of the sport. Instead, he wound up on the wrong side of history, and all fans should be sympathetic towards Spieth. 

 

As hard as it was to see Spieth crumble, it was also one of the things that make sports great. Until that 12th hole, the Masters was only moderately exciting. Spieth was running away, and it didin't look like anybody could stop him. It's not much fun when one guy is a man among boys, and that's how it was for the first half of Sunday afternoon. Because of Spieth's choke, The 2016 Masters will always be remembered. Because Spieth lost it, the final hour of the masters was phenomenal television, and phenomenal television is what every sport desires. Because Spieth took his foot off the gas , a relatively unknown golfer became an eternal part of the game's history.

Coming into the Masters, Danny Willett was an afterthought. Not a lot of people believed he could wear that jacket, and they had good reason to be skeptical. Sure, Willett was ranked as one of the better players in the world, but he had never won a torunament on the PGA and was not thought of to be a major threat to the likes of Spieth, Jason Day or Rory Mcilroy. Coming into Sunday, Willett was 3 strokes back of Speith for the lead at even par. But one thing led to another, and Willett became the first British man to win the masters since Sir Nick Faldo did it in 1996, the same year Norman forgot how to play put-put. 

While Willett's win is a great come-from-behind story, I'm not so sure it's good for the sport. In my mind, Golf is lacking a true superstar. Golf needs a person who can dominate the way Tiger Woods did back in the day while at the same time being a likeable person off the course (Woods is not). Jordan Spieth is really close to becoming that type of player, and winning the Masters for the second year in a row would have shot him even further up the ladder. Spieth still has plenty of time to become a transcending superstar that Golf needs, but his Agusta brain cramp stunted his growth. 

I will admit that I was rooting for Spieth to win at the Masters, and I will again be rooting for him at the U.S. Open in June. Hopefully, the 12th hole does not scar him for life and ruin a potentionally historic carrer. I don't think it will. If I had to bet, I'd say that Spieth will win the U.S. and British Open. I hope my prophecy comes true. Jordan Spieth is a good man who would be great choice to be the top guy of the PGA. 

So, Jordan Speith's meltdown on 12 will live on in Golf history forever, for good reasons and for bad. Hopefully, future majors won't need a epic collapse to be historic.