The Punter's Masters De-Brief: Spieth was stunning but soft Augusta served up a damp squib

Steven Rawlings
13 April 2015

How many green jackets will Spieth win in his career?

Join

Twitter

Facebook

View the Betslip

A phenomenal performance saw Jordan Spieth lead from wire-to-wire to win the Green Jacket but a rain-softened Augusta was not the beast we have seen in recent years, says Steve Rawlings, in his look back at the 2015 Masters

"I will treat this result as a bit of a one-off but there were still a number of trends reinforced. Jordan played the par 5s in 12-under-par and once again, up with the pace is where you had to be. Phil's opening 70 saw him outside the top-ten and fully six off the lead but Jordan and Justin sat first and second after day one and that's where they finished the week."

After a year of largely unexciting majors in 2014, I was really hoping we'd kick-off 2015 with a cracking US Masters but it never materialised. After opening up the tournament with a record-breaking halfway total of 130 - not only the lowest in Masters history but the lowest ever 36-hole score in a major - Jordan Spieth was able to comfortably hold the field at bay to claim his first major championship by a very cosy four strokes.

He hit 1.392/5 before those looking forward to an exhilarating three days viewing had even knocked-off work on Friday and although it was a quite brilliant performance, it wasn't the dramatic crescendo everyone bar Spieth backers was hoping for. Maybe June's US Open will serve up a little more drama? Spieth is currrently 10.09/1 in the antepost market, behind only Rory McIlroy in the betting.

My Bets

Having backed Phil Mickelson each-way back in January at 33/1, the fact that he finished second was a big plus and I'm also happy with the fact that I didn't go too deep with my in-running bets this week.

For many reasons, I couldn't have ever backed the winner before the off at around 10/1, so I definitely don't have any regrets about leaving him out before the off, and backing long odds-on shots in-play is certainly not my thing, so it was a very quiet weekend for a change.

With the benefit of hindsight, the 3.55/2 Spieth was trading at on Thursday night was too big but that's easy to say now. Only three men before him had won the US Masters wire-to-wire.

What Have We Learned This Week?

Spieth has broken a number of Masters scoring records this week. The lowest 36-hole score, the lowest 54-hole score, and the most birdies made (28). He also equalled the lowest winning score at Augusta (set by Tiger Woods in 1997) and he became the second youngest winner of all time - Woods was 155 days younger than Spieth when he won in 1997.

But other than confirming that Spieth, now world ranked number two, is every bit as good as many thought he was, what have we actually learned this week that we can use going forward?

I think we have to be very cautious of reading too much into the stats this week. Spieth didn't just break all those records because he's one heck of a player, he broke them because the course played so much easier than it has in the past.

Rain had softened the course before the off and the damp weather conditions over the first few days meant the greens weren't anywhere near as fast and treacherous as they usually are. So damp were the conditions that the sub-air system, in place to suck out the moisture from the greens, wasn't able to get them to the speed the organisers would have wanted and as a result, eight players bettered last year's winning score and Spieth bettered it by ten strokes!

I think the conditions differing so much from previous renewals was a big help to the winner. Many Augusta regulars were a bit confused by the pace of the greens and the advantage afforded to the Augusta stalwarts was definitely negated somewhat.

I will treat this result as a bit of a one-off but there were still a number of trends reinforced. Jordan played the par 5s in 12-under-par and once again, up with the pace is where you had to be. Phil's opening 70 saw him outside the top-ten and fully six off the lead but Jordan and Justin sat first and second after day one and that's where they finished the week.

Even though the breeze picked up slightly as the day wore on, the afternoon starters on Thursday shot 0.65 strokes fewer than those that teed off in the morning and a late start on Thursday has proven very beneficial in recent years - the last five winners all started the tournament late on Thursday.

Although conditions differed this year, we still saw the same old faces struggle at Augusta and they simply have to be swerved. Henrik Stenson's 68 yesterday was just his second round here in the 60s and he's definitely one to keep opposing at Augusta. And I'd be wary of getting with Dustin Johnson next time, too.

The softer conditions favoured him greatly this year but he still made far too many errors to contend. He made three bogeys in round one and six more over the next three days, which was damaging enough, but he also double-bogeyed a hole on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and that wiped out completely the shots gained by his record-breaking three eagles on Friday. He won't eradicate mistakes because the greens have gotten faster and in the fullness of time, this year's tied 6th may well be his highest Augusta finish.

I'll be back later today with my RBC Heritage preview.

* You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter