AUGUSTA, Ga. – It wasn’t the start Jordan Spieth needed.
After beginning the final round at the Masters six strokes off the lead Spieth knew he needed to make an early run to have any chance, but instead of putting pressure on Hideki Matsuyama he bogeyed the first, fifth and sixth holes to drop to 3 under. Although he closed the gap on the second nine with birdies at Nos. 10, 13 and 14, his bid to win a second green jacket fell short.
“I'm tired,” Spieth said. “I felt some mental fatigue for sure and made a couple bonehead mistakes over the weekend, just from maybe the long stretch. But all in all, certainly another good finish here.”
It’s been a busy stretch for Spieth who won the previous week's Valero Texas Open and finished ninth the week before at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Following months of poor play Spieth had made steady progress this year and his confidence in his swing had also improved, although even after his tie for third at Augusta National he said there’s still plenty of work to be done.
“I've made a lot of good progress, but I feel like that road ahead is still significant for me,” he said. “It's still a little ways to go.”