Wednesday 3 April 2019 19:09, UK
England's Danny Willett fired a stunning 67 to capture the 80th Masters title by three shots after Jordan Spieth suffered an astonishing meltdown on another memorable Sunday at Augusta National.
Spieth appeared certain to become the fourth player in history to successfully defend his crown when he reeled off four consecutive birdies to cap an outward 32, but he dumped two balls into Rae's Creek at the 12th and ran up a quadruple-bogey seven.
His horror show at the iconic 'Golden Bell', threw the tournament wide open, and it was Willett who took advantage as he completed a composed bogey-free round to earn the clubhouse lead on five under, and although Spieth hit back with birdies at 13 and 15 to get within two of the leader, he had left himself too much to do.
Willett held on to end England's 20-year wait for a Masters champion, becoming the first to conquer Augusta since Nick Faldo's sensational come-from-behind win over Greg Norman - when Faldo also fired a final-round 67.
Lee Westwood enjoyed another superb week in a major, firing a 69 playing alongside Willett to finish joint second with Spieth, while Paul Casey made it three Englishmen in the top six as he, JB Holmes and Dustin Johnson were the only other players to finish under par for the week.
Willett started the day three behind Spieth, and he opened with five good pars before converting an excellent tee-shot to the sixth and adding another birdie at eight to turn in 34, but Spieth's birdie blitz three groups behind meant the Englishman was now five behind.
But Willett ploughed on and kept the mistakes off his card, getting through Amen Corner unscathed with two composed pars and a well-crafted birdie at the long 13th, and although he missed out at 15, he flushed his tee-shot to eight feet at 16 and rolled in the putt just after Spieth had come to grief at the 12th.
The world No 2 was agitated after back-to-back bogeys at 10 and 11, and his blocked short-iron to the 12th came up short of the green and rolled back into the water. He compounded the error by putting his third into the drink from the drop zone, and his fifth flew the green and ended in the rear bunker.
Spieth did well to get up and down to salvage a seven which saw him plummet to one under, leaving Willett, Westwood and Dustin Johnson in control.
Westwood trailed by only one shot when he rolled in a superb eagle putt at the 15th, but he was three behind when he three-putted the 16th green after Willett had birdied, and Johnson's chances ended with a double-bogey at the 17th.
Willett, who had considered pulling out of the Masters until his wife gave birth ahead of schedule, played a delightful pitch to save par at 17, and he displayed nerves of Sheffield steel at the last as he struck a sublime approach to 15 feet and safely two-putted for par.
Only Spieth could catch the Yorkshireman after the late blemishes from Westwood and Johnson, but the defending champion missed from six feet for birdie at 16 and Willett was being measured for a Green Jacket when a deflated Spieth bogeyed the penultimate hole to slip three behind.
Willett's five-under score matched the earlier effort of Casey, who also kept a bogey off his card and followed an outward 34 with birdies at 13, 15 and 18 to secure his best finish at Augusta, having finished tied for sixth last year.
Casey shared fourth with Johnson (71) and Holmes, who also birdied the last to complete a 68, while Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose further bolstered the English presence at the top end of the leaderboard.
Fitzpatrick started the day well down the field on five over, but the British Masters champion propelled himself through the field with a six-birdie round, including four on the back nine with his only bogey coming at the 11th.
The youngster's flying finish guaranteed an invite back to Augusta next year, finishing in a tie for seventh on level par with veteran Dane Soren Kjeldsen (71) and Hideki Matsuyama (73), while Rose closed with a solid 70 to seal a top 10 place on one over.
Rory McIlroy, who failed to make a birdie in his Saturday 77, made seven in his final round but offset those with six bogeys in an erratic 71 which got him into a tie for 10th with Rose and world No 1 Jason Day, who struggled to a closing 73.
There were also a tournament-record three holes in one at the 16th on the final day, with Shane Lowry and Davis Love III holing out for ace before Louis Oosthuizen's tee-shot took a deflection off Holmes' ball on its way to the cup.
