AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth didn’t win, but he has never been more satisfied falling short in a major championship.
Nine shots back at day’s start, Spieth nearly pulled off the greatest comeback in Masters history.
“I almost pulled off the impossible,” Spieth said.
With a 30-foot birdie at the 16th, Spieth moved into a tie with Patrick Reed, who would go on to win.
Playing ahead of Reed, Spieth applied all kinds of pressure before making bogey at the last. He ended up finishing third, two shots back.
“This round was fantastic,” Spieth said. “Nobody’s going to have a great Sunday every year at Augusta National. To be able to have a chance to win this tournament five years in a row is really, really cool. And that’s how I’m going to take today.”
Spieth posted 8-under-par 64, the lowest final round in Masters history. He stepped to the 18th tee looking to make one more birdie to shoot 62 and equal the lowest final round in any major. It would have gotten him to 15 under, which was the winning score.
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Spieth’s last drive, however, clipped the top of the towering tree, on the left side of the chute that guards the opening to the 18th fairway. His ball fell straight down, leaving him 267 yards to the hole. He ended up just missing an 8-footer for par.
In five Masters starts, Spieth has a victory, two T-2s, a third-place finish and a T-11.
The Masters record for best comeback in a final round was eight shots, set by Jackie Burke Jr. in 1956. Spieth said he didn’t know how close he was to winning. He said he didn’t look at a scoreboard until he finished.
“I had no idea,” Spieth said. “When I finished and I looked at the board, I could have been in the lead by two, and I could have been down four.”