Jordan Spieth ‘understands’ as 2016 collapse returns to the spotlight

Jordan Spieth knows he should be teeing off at Augusta National tomorrow as only the fourth back-to-back winner of the Masters. Instead, he has spent the past 12 months politely answering questions about why he didn’t.

Danny Willett’s surprise victory at the 2016 Masters should not be underestimated, given he not only was the beneficiary of Spieth’s errors on the back nine of the final round, but had the mental strength to hang onto his lead and win his first major by three strokes.

Yet, to most, last year’s Masters will go down as the one Spieth, the defending champion, let slip. The Texan had looked to be cruising to a second consecutive green jacket as he took a five-shot lead into the back nine.