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Shades of the Shark in Masters collapse

A big deficit. A collapse that was painful to watch. An Englishman in a green jacket who might not get his due.

Apr 12, 2016, updated Apr 12, 2016
Danny Willett is helped into his green jacket by Jordan Spieth. Photo: ERIK S. LESSER, EPA

Danny Willett is helped into his green jacket by Jordan Spieth. Photo: ERIK S. LESSER, EPA

Nick Faldo has seen this all before.

On Sunday, it was Danny Willett who hit all the right shots to win the Masters.

“We all go out there and try and play good golf, and at the end of the day, someone has got to win the golf tournament,” Willett said in Butler Cabin as Jordan Spieth, his face still awash in shock, looked on.

“And, fortunately enough, today was my day.”

Just like 20 years ago, when Faldo won at Greg Norman’s expense, this Masters might be remembered more for the way it was lost than how it was won.

FILE - In this April 14, 1996, file photo, England's Nick Faldo, right, and Australia's Greg Norman walk off the 18th hole after Faldo won his third Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Faldo is the only multiple Masters champion to have never led going into the final round. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

MEMORIES: Nick Faldo and Greg Norman walk off the 18th hole after Norman’s spectacular collapse in 1996. Photo: Dave Martin, AP.

Even as Willett stood on the 18th green in his green jacket, he couldn’t help but say to Jordan Spieth, “I feel very fortunate to be standing here, and you not putting the jacket on yourself again.”

This was Spieth’s to lose, and he did just that in matter of three holes – a brutal stretch which included a quadruple bogey on the 12th.

Those are the shots for which this Masters will be remembered, at least in the immediate future.

The images are not Willett clenching his fist when he made three birdies on the last six holes, but Spieth hanging his head as a five-shot lead turned into a three-shot deficit.

“It was a really tough 30 minutes for me,” Spieth said, “that hopefully I never experience again.”

Two weeks ago, Faldo was reminiscing about his six-shot comeback to beat Norman in 1996.

Everyone remembers the short putts the Shark missed, the tee shot into the water on No.12 that cost him the lead, and the 78 on his card.

Faldo thinks more about the fact he shot 67 – the same score as Willett on Sunday – that was the lowest on the weekend.

Willett had a bogey-free 67 that matched the lowest score on the weekend this year.

He started the final round only three shots behind, tied with world No.1 Jason Day and Dustin Johnson.

The other three players ahead of him, and even those behind him, couldn’t sustain the round of golf that Willett put together.

Yes, Spieth lost it. But someone had to win it.

“I just feel fortunate that I was in the position that I was able to pounce on the opportunity,” Willett said.

“If I had been 5-over par, then it wouldn’t have mattered what Jordan had done. Fortunately, I was in a position where we were in second place, playing quite nicely, and as a result of him doing what he did, we were able to stay at the lead.”

The victory was a surprise only in the way it unfolded, not the name on the trophy.

Willett goes to No.9 in the world.

Where does he go from here? For starters, home to England to see his wife and their son, born March 30.

Willett wasn’t expecting to play the Masters this year because the due date was Sunday of the Masters.

He had that date circled to become a father. That’s now the day he became a major champion. And as much as Spieth lost it, Willett earned it.

-AP 

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