On Sunday at the 2026 Masters, Jordan Spieth closed out his final round with a bang. A birdie at 18 was preceded by a hole-out eagle at 13, leading to a four-under 68.
But it wasn’t enough to end the three-time major winner’s lengthy winless streak at the tournament he dominated early in his career.
His closing birdie wasn’t the only statement Spieth made Sunday night at Augusta National, though. He also made a bold claim about his play that may give his fans hope, but also might leave his critics scratching their heads.
Spieth said he hit it better at this year’s Masters than he did during his Masters victory in 2015, or any other time he’s competed at Augusta.
Spieth praises Masters tee-to-green game, identifies putting as downfall
It’s been 11 long years since Spieth’s first and only Masters victory. The year before he nearly won in his first appearance.
But Sunday was also the 10th-year anniversary of Spieth’s back-nine collapse on Sunday of the 2016 Masters. Though he won the Open Championship the next year, one could argue Spieth hasn’t been the same since his ‘16 swoon at Augusta.
This year he’s fighting hard to return the elite ranks of the game. The Masters seemed like the perfect place to make his comeback. Though he didn’t win, Spieth’s Sunday heroics this year left him at five under for the tournament, giving him a T12-finish.
It was his fourth T12-or-better finish this season. Still, he ended up seven shots back of winner Rory McIlroy and never threatened to contend.
That’s why it was a surprise when after his round was over Sunday night at Augusta, Spieth argued he’d played better than he did during the 2014-2016 stretch when he went T2-1-T2 at the Masters. And “way better” than he played during his solo third at the 2018 Masters, his T3 in 2021 and his T4 in 2023.
He also identified the culprit that spoiled his elite tee-to-green play: his putting.
“I hit it better than the year I won and I hit it way better than any of the second places or fourths that I hit it,” Spieth. “Probably the best I ever hit it here and I typically putt these greens very well.”
About his putting at the Masters. While putting used to be Spieth’s greatest strength, at Augusta and elsewhere, he said he “left 20 something putts short this week.”
While Spieth argued his putting had been “better than bad putting times,” he said his issue on the green was that the hole started to “look small” last week. He tried his best to “make it look bigger” at the Masters but “just didn’t get there.”
“And the stroke, my stroke felt clean minus a couple of them, better than bad putting times. It just last week I got a little off in the first round and the hole just looked small, and I’ve tried to make it look bigger every day since,” Spieth explained. “Just didn’t get there. So I’m going to spend a lot of time putting next week and probably putting from shorter range just to see a lot of putts go in and believe the hole is bigger than the ball.”
He then openly pondered what may have been at this 2026 Masters if a few more putts had dropped on Thursday.
“Just I mean, I think if — sometimes I wonder if early in the first round a couple of the ones that were — that I probably should have made went in, you know, who knows what the tournament looks like.”
But another tournament arrives for Spieth this week, the RBC Heritage, and another opportunity to sort out his putting problems.
“That part is a bit frustrating. Again, putting can be streaky so just get on the right streak and go try to win next week.”
