2021 Masters: Top 10 power rankings for Augusta National
Well, look what we’ve got here. It’s Jordan Spieth peaking at just the right time for the Masters.
He finished inside the top three in the event leading up to his three career major championship wins, and pulled off a two-shot victory last week at the Texas Open.
It was a triumphant moment for a man once on top of the world who won for the first time in nearly four years. Spieth was near the top of the leaderboard all week. He entered Sunday tied with Matt Wallace and went on to win by two over Charley Hoffman, four over Wallace in third place and six-plus over the rest of the pack who didn’t dare spoil a good story.
For a cherry on top, Spieth’s 18-under 270 (67-70-67-66) was the second lowest winning tally since the tournament moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010.
“You know, it kind of bounces off and on right now when it hits me that I’m back in the winner’s circle,” Spieth was transcribed by Tee Scripts. “It’s been a road that’s had a lot of tough days. I’ve had people in my corner that have always believed in me even when I’ve kind of believed less in myself.”
It was an emotional moment for Spieth, who also won in his home state. But it’s not like he or the rest of us were too surprised to see it happen given the last few months.
It’s clear that 2018 to 2020 reaped little reward, especially by his lofty standards. His 2021 has been a whole different story.
The 27-year-old has made seven straight cuts with several close calls paving the way to Sunday’s breakthrough. Spieth finished T-4th at the Phoenix Open, T-3rd at Pebble Beach and T-4th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Not to mention he advanced to the knockout stage of the WGC-Match Play.
Spieth’s driving is still a spot of worry in his game. Fortunately for him, Augusta National is a place where you can get away with it, to an extent. Bubba, Phil and Tiger are a few who can attest.
Is there another player you’d trust to execute out of pine straw right now than Spieth? Regardless of the lie, his irons are getting it done in a big way. He was third in the Texas Open field in strokes gained approach (4.525 total). He’s 23rd for the season (.557 per round).
His resume at the Masters is remarkable.
Spieth nearly became the first first-time Masters champion since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 when he was T-2nd in 2014 (69-68-74-69). Even one trip around these hallowed grounds is rarely enough to get good footing, but Spieth went out and won the thing in 2015 (64-66-70-70). Not in a playoff. Not by one. By four.
It seemed like fate when he arrived to Amen Corner with the lead in 2016. His trials and tribulations at the 12th ceded the day to Danny Willett, and Spieth settled for T-2nd (66-74-73-73).
Spieth was T-11th (75-69-68-75) in 2017, nearly pulled off an all-time Sunday comeback to win in 2018 where he was third (66-74-71-64), T-21st in 2019 (75-68-69-71) and T-46th (74-70-73-72) in 2020.
A cold, soft Masters didn’t play into his hands in November. He hadn’t gotten his mojo going, either.
Spieth is scary when he’s confident. I like him to stay dialed in and post four rounds in the 60s at a fast and firm ANGC.
It’ll be good enough to get into a two-man playoff. Spieth will push to the brink the man who I’ve got coming up next.