Monday 11 April 2016 13:18, UK
After Jordan Spieth suffered a remarkable collapse at the 80th Masters, we look back at a selection of infamous meltdowns at Augusta National.
Ken Venturi - 1956
Ken Venturi was on track to become the first amateur to claim the Green Jacket in 1956 when he opened up a four-shot lead after 54 holes.
But in breezy conditions on the final day, Venturi was forced to scramble hard until his game fell apart after the turn. He three-putted four times on the inward nine and eventually stumbled to an eight-over 80 when even a 78 would have been good enough to book a trip to victory lane.
The title went to Jack Burke Jr, whose commendable closing 71 was one of only two sub-par rounds on the day. Burke Jr had started the final round eight shots behind the hapless Venturi, making it the biggest come-from-behind win in Masters history.
His score of one over also remains the highest winning total at the Masters along with Sam Snead (1954) and Zach Johnson (2007).
As for Venturi, he managed a further three top-10 finishes at the Masters and won his only major at the 1964 US Open before becoming one of the most respected golf broadcasters in the US during a 35-year career with CBS.
Arnold Palmer - 1961
It is almost inconceivable that a legend like Arnold Palmer could make this section, but the manner of his final-hole blow-up in 1961 merits inclusion.
The King was bidding for his third Masters title in four years, and looked likely to achieve it when he arrived at the 72nd tee with a one-shot lead over Gary Player. Both bunkered their approaches to the final green, and Palmer thinned his escape attempt back over the putting surface, through the crowd and down a slope, his ball coming to rest by a TV camera tower.
Player, who would become arguably the greatest bunker player in history, splashed out to three feet for an almost certain par, while Palmer chipped to 15 feet. Palmer, needing to sink the putt to force a play-off, missed his attempt for bogey and Player was crowned as the first non-American to win the Masters in 25 tournaments.
But Palmer exacted revenge the following year, claiming a three-shot victory over Player in an 18-hole play-off.
Roberto De Vicenzo - 1968
A low-scoring final round of the 1968 Masters had just concluded, and the stage was set for an 18-hole play-off the next day between Bob Goalby and Roberto De Vicenzo.
Goalby birdied 13 and 14 and added an eagle at the next before carding a 66 to close on 11 under, with De Vicenzo joining him at the top after a superb 65. But the Argentinian's playing partner, Tommy Aaron, had inadvertently signed for a par at the 17th instead of the birdie-three that De Vicenzo actually made.
He failed to notice the error before signing and handing in his card, and under the rules of golf at the time, the higher score had to stand. De Vicenzo, who had held off Jack Nicklaus to win the Open championship at Hoylake the previous summer, avoided disqualification but had to settle for outright second.
When told of his misfortune, he remarked: "What a stupid I am," - a quote that became legendary in Masters folklore.
Ed Sneed - 1979
Ed Sneed was determined to lose his "journeyman" tag, and it looked like he would as he took a five-shot lead into the final round of the 1979 Masters.
The likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson did their best to apply some Sunday pressure along with debutant Fuzzy Zoeller, but Sneed held it together for much of the day. The American was one over after a steady, but sure first 15 holes and remained three clear with three to play before the tension finally got to him.
He left par putts hanging on the lip at both 16 and 17, and he then bogeyed the last as well to close with a disappointing 76 and drop into a tie for the lead with Watson and Zoeller. The resulting play-off, the first year the sudden-death format had been introduced, saw all three players card pars at the 10th.
But Sneed found sand at the next, and Watson's birdie putt slid by before Zoeller backed up a delightful approach to six feet with a putt to match as he became the first debutant to win at Augusta since Gene Sarazen back in 1935.
Scott Hoch - 1989
All that stood between Scott Hoch and a maiden Masters title in 1989 was a putt of barely two feet. A few moments later, he holed a five-foot putt just to extend his play-off with Nick Faldo.
The American had earlier missed a short par putt at the 17th in regulation to drop into a tie for the lead with Faldo, who had closed with a superb 65. Hoch composed himself to par the last and force a sudden-death play-off, starting at the tough 10th hole.
Faldo hit a poor drive, could not find the green in two and failed to get up and down for par. He handed his putter and card to Andy Prodger and prepared to congratulate his rival, who had coaxed his mid-range birdie putt to "gimme" range.
But Hoch spent an eternity studying every angle of the putt and finally stood over the ball before backing off, apparently in two minds over whether he should rattle the ball into the back of the hole or hit it softer and play a small amount of break.
What he did was a combination of both, and he watched in horror as his ball rolled a significant distance past the cup after barely touching the lip.
Hoch gallantly made the return putt but Faldo took advantage of his reprieve on the next green, rolling in a 25-footer for birdie in fading light to clinch his first Masters title.
Ray Floyd - 1990
Nick Faldo's abilty to reduce opponents to gibbering wrecks was evident again in 1990, when Ray Floyd's bid to become the oldest Masters champion faltered down the stretch.
The veteran gunslinger took a three-shot lead into the final round and still led by one with two to play, but Faldo had piled on the pressure with birdies at 13, 15 and 16. Floyd stood over a makeable birdie putt at the 17th, but misjudged the pace and then missed his par attempt to gift the defending champion a share of the lead.
Both parred the last to finish locked on 10 under, and Floyd had the first genuine chance to strike in the resulting play-off, but the 48-year-old left his 10-foot birdie putt short.
The combatants split the 11th fairway with their drives before Floyd erred again for the final time, pulling his approach into the greenside lake. Faldo found the heart of the green and lagged his approach putt to six inches before tapping in to clinch victory on the same green that he had defeated Scott Hoch on 12 months earlier.
Floyd admitted afterwards: "The pressure basically got to me. Isn't that choking? Yes. Yes it is."
Greg Norman - 1996
Even with Nick Faldo as his closest challenger, Greg Norman was not expected to let slip a six-shot lead on Sunday after dominating for three days.
The Shark's record-equalling 63 was consolidated with solid rounds of 69 and 71, pretty good considering that only six players broke 70 over the second and third rounds combined. Faldo had laboured to a 73 on Saturday, but his merciless nature knew that if he applied the pressure early in the final round, would Norman be able to cope?
The answer was an emphatic "no", although it should not be overlooked that although Norman crashed to a 78, Faldo crafted a sublime 67 to post the best score of the day. Norman bogeyed two of the first four holes and leaked another shot at the ninth, while Faldo played the front nine in 34 to reduced the arrears to two.
The Englishman played Amen Corner in level par, and suddenly had a two-shot lead after Norman followed up bogeys at 10 and 11 with a five at the short 12th, donating another ball to Rae's Creek.
From hunter to hunted, Faldo matched Norman's birdies at 13 and 15 before going four clear with two to play when the crestfallen Aussie dunked another tee-shot in the drink at 16.
Faldo's birdie at 18 capped an 11-shot turnaround, and his words of consolation to Norman as they embraced on the final green earned him the utmost respect from his greatest rival.
Justin Rose - 2004
The 2004 Masters may have ended in a memorable first victory for Phil Mickelson, but the first two days were dominated by Justin Rose until he disintegrated in the third round.
The young Englishman opened with a sublime 67 to open up a two-shot lead which he retained at the halfway stage after posting a steady 71 in wet and tricky conditions. But he made the worst possible start to the weather-delayed third round, dropping shots at each of the first three holes.
His iron play and his putting let him down again at the fifth, by which time five players had overtaken him on the leaderboard. Rose continued to struggle after the turn, and he looked humiliated as he wandered dazed and confused up the final fairway before holing out for an horrific 81.
To his credit, Rose took 10 fewer shots on the final day to earn a share of 22nd with Tiger Woods on two over, but his third-round nightmare appeared to set the tone for his season as he tumbled down the world rankings.
He would not feature at Augusta again until 2007, when he finished in a creditable tie for fifth.
Kenny Perry - 2009
Kenny Perry joined a lengthy list of veterans proving that even the most experienced professionals are susceptible to the pressures of leading the Masters late on Sunday.
The 49-year-old looked set to become the oldest champion in Augusta history in 2009 as he put together a remarkable run of error-free golf. He capped 22 consecutive holes without a bogey with a magnificent tee shot to the 16th, which almost dropped for an ace but left him with a tap-in for birdie and a two-shot lead.
But the amiable Kentuckian went long with his approach to the 17th green, the worst place to miss, and bladed his chip back across the putting surface to the front edge. Two putts later his lead was halved, and he put further pressure on himself when he tugged his drive into the giant fairway bunker on 18 and hoicked his approach left.
Again, he failed to get up and down, leaving a 15-foot par putt hanging on the lip before contemplating a three-way play-off with Chad Campbell and Angel Cabrera. Campbell bowed out with a bogey, but Cabrera bravely matched Perry's scrambling par when he drained a downhill slider from eight feet to take them to the 10th.
Perry then ruined a perfect drive with another pulled mid-iron into the pines, and he could not get his chip inside 30 feet as Cabrera safely two-putted from half that distance to win his second major.
"I had the tournament to win. I lost the tournament," said a distraught Perry afterwards.
Rory McIlroy - 2011
"It all went a bit pear-shaped," was Rory McIlroy's brief summary of his spectacular final-round meltdown at the 2011 Masters.
The 21-year-old had player beautifully for three days, sharing the lead after an opening 65 before sleeping soundly on Saturday night armed with a four-shot lead. But the warning signs appeared early on Sunday, a short putt for par slid by on the first before McIlroy found a fairway bunker at the next, from where he thinned his escape and almost left it in the trap.
To his credit, he scrambled well for the remainder of the front nine and still led by one on the 10th tee before choosing an inopportune time to hit one of the worst drives of his life. A pull-hook fizzed into a tall Georgia pine and diverted left towards a collection of picturesque white cabins that few outside of Augusta knew existed.
A hack back to the fairway preceded a lash with a three wood that flew the green, and an ambitious lob wedge dented another pine before he eventually holed out for the ugliest of sevens. McIlroy bounced back with a sublime approach to the 11th green, only to three putt from eight feet, and even worse was to follow as four putts on the 12th left him walking off with a five.
His belief that he could repair the damage disappeared when he yanked his drive at 13 into Rae's Creek, and McIlroy cut a forlorn figure as he wandered up the 18th fairway to sympathetic applause while Charl Schwartzel was being measured for a jacket.
