10 of The Biggest Meltdowns at The Masters

The Masters has a reputation for bringing players to their knees when they least expect it.

There have been many final-round meltdowns over the years.

Here are some of the most memorable…

Ed Sneed, 1979

Sneed started the final round five shots ahead of the field. With three holes to play, he was still up three, but he made bogeys at the 16th, 17th and 18th to set up Fuzzy Zoeller’s victory in a sudden-death playoff.

Seve Ballesteros, 1986

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Rattled by 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus’ unlikely charge on the back nine, Ballesteros put his approach into the water at the 15th, made bogey and his challenge was over. The Golden Bear would shoot a sensational 65 for his sixth Green Jacket and 18th major.

Arnold Palmer, 1961

Needing only par on the final hole to win back-to-back Masters, Palmer hit it in the right bunker, thinned it and made double bogey to allow Gary Player to become the first international champion. Palmer later admitted that he had been preparing his victory speech.

Ralph Guldahl, 1937

Guldahl struggled to a 76 on the final day, paving the way for Byron Nelson to win his first Masters. It all changed at the 12th and 13th holes. Guldahl took a five at the par three 12th and followed it with a bogey at the next, while Nelson birdied the 12th and eagle the 13th for a six-shot swing.

Curtis Strange, 1985

Strange was poised to make history after opening with 80. But with a three-shot lead and six holes to play, he found the water and made bogeys at the 13th and 15th to finish two shots behind Bernhard Langer.

Scott Hoch, 1989

Hoch missed a short par putt at the 17th in regulation play. That was bad enough but on the first hole of the sudden-death playoff he missed a tiddler that would have given him his first major victory. Nick Faldo rolled in a long birdie putt on the next playoff hole to win the first of his three green jackets.

Ken Venturi, 1956

Venturi fired 66 in the opening round to take a one-shot lead over defending champion Cary Mid­dlecoff, and a 69 in the second round increased his lead to four shots. Saturday’s third round was played under challenging conditions. No player broke the par of 72, and Venturi’s 75 was a decent score. It also maintained the amateur’s four-shot advantage over Middle­coff. Doug Ford was a distant third, seven shots behind Venturi, and Lloyd Mangrum and Jack Burke Jr. were eight shots back. The weather for the final round was even worse and Venturi shot an 80 that enabled Burke to mount the largest comeback in Masters history. His 71 was one of only two sub-par rounds that day. His winning total of 289 is the highest in tournament history.

Jordan Spieth, 2016

Spieth had a five-shot lead with nine holes to play but lost six shots to par over the first three holes on the back nine, including a quadruple-bogey 7 on the 12th hole where he hit two balls in Rae’s Creek. Danny Willett shot a final-round 67 to Spieth’s 73 to win by three shots. "It was a lack of discipline to hit it over the bunker coming off two bogeys, instead of recognizing I was still leading the Masters," Spieth said. "It was a really tough 30 minutes for me that hopefully I never experience again."

Rory McIlroy, 2011

McIlroy led by four shots through 54 holes and still had a one-shot advantage on the 10th tee, where a wayward drive led to a seven and the start of his demise. He shot a final-round 80 and ended up 10 strokes back of winner Charl Schwartzel in a tie for 15th place. "I was leading this golf tournament with nine holes to go, and I just unraveled … It’s a Sunday at a major, what it can do," said McIlroy, who was 21 at the time. "This is my first experience at it, and hopefully the next time I’m in this position I’ll be able to handle it a little better. I didn’t handle it particularly well today obviously, but it was a character-building day … I’ll come out stronger for it." McIlroy won the U.S. Open two months later.

Greg Norman, 1996

Greg Norman was finally going to win the Masters after years of trying. He shot a first-round 63. He led by six shots going into the final round. Even for two-time champion Nick Faldo that was too much to overcome. Until it wasn’t. Norman’s lead was gone after the 12th hole, where he hit his tee shot in the water. He would shoot a final-round 78 to Faldo’s near-flawless 67, a six-shot lead turning into a five-shot deficit. "I screwed up," Norman said. "It's all on me. I know that. But losing this Masters is not the end of the world. I let this one get away, but I still have a pretty good life. I'll wake up tomorrow, still breathing, I hope. All these hiccups I have, they must be for a reason. All this is just a test. I just don't know what the test is yet."

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