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Green Jacket is Spieth's to lose on Sunday

- By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
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Jordan Spieth is looking to win his second straight Masters. (Harry How/Getty Images)

AUGUSTA, Georgia -- What stands between Jordan Spieth and a second-straight Green Jacket ceremony at Augusta National, something only Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo have experienced?
His 22-year-old Ownself.

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“He's sitting on top of the leaderboard, where he has been for basically the last three years here, so he's going out there (Sunday) and it's his to lose,” said Rory McIlroy. “There's a few guys that have a chance and I feel like if I can get off to a good start, you never know.
Here’s what we do know:
The Masters champion has come out of the final pairing 21 of the last 25 years, which is good news for Spieth and Smylie Kaufman and bad news for everybody else, including McIlroy.
Kaufman was one of just four players to break par on Saturday and had the lowest round of another windblown and crusty afternoon at Augusta National, shooting a 69 to get within one of Spieth.
McIlroy, meanwhile, melted down mentally, making three bogeys and a double bogey alongside Spieth to shoot 77 and drop five strokes back.
Here’s what else we know:
Since 1991, the winner has ranked no lower than second going into the final round and only once in the history of the tournament has someone from outside the top 10 after 54 holes slipped his arms into a Green Jacket (Art Wall in 1954 for those wondering).
Again, good news for Spieth and Kaufman, bad news for everyone else, including Bernhard Langer, who is tied for third with Hideki Matsuyama and just two strokes back. Langer at age 58 would be the oldest major winner by a decade and is a dozen years older than when Jack Nicklaus won here in 1986.
The only other player in the top 10 who has won a major is Jason Day, who is tied for fifth with Dustin Johnson at even par, has victories in each of his last two starts and is No. 1 in the world.
Now the bad news for Kaufman:
Only two players, other than the tournament’s inaugural winner, won the Masters in their first appearance -- Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
Kaufman also played a lot of golf against Spieth when the two were amateurs and admittedly doesn’t have a great record.
“He's probably 1000‑0,” Kaufman cracked when asked about his history against the Texan, two years his junior. “He was always beating me. Granted, he was so much better than I was as a junior and amateur. I was kind of a late bloomer in that regard.”
Spieth of course has been the opposite, winning nine times, including two majors in his brief career.
But to capture a second-straight Masters he’ll need to get over his disastrous finish on Saturday. On each of the last two holes he drove it into the trees, closing bogey-double to shoot 73 for his second straight over par round.
“I mean honestly, I think it will be tough to put it behind,” Spieth said. “I think I will, but that wasn't a fun last couple holes to play from the position I was in.”
It was a far cry from a year ago, when he got up-and-down to save par on 18 and preserve a four-stroke lead going into Sunday. He went on to win by the same margin.
This Saturday night will be different. Asked what his plans were, Spieth said, half-seriously, “Probably go break something really quick.”
He then added that he’d have dinner, watch a movie and that it will be fine.
After all, he’s been in this position before, having now slept on the lead in each of his last seven rounds here.
“I've certainly felt better last year on Saturday night than I do right now,” he said. “But at the same time, I feel that if I can get to the range, I straighten the ball out (Sunday), I get back to the same routine I was just in, I certainly think that down the stretch, I'm better prepared now than I was at this point last year.
“It's hard for me to say that because we just answered every statement made on the golf course last year on Sunday. So I can't rely on the putter the way I did today. I've got to strike the ball better. "That's what leaves me a little uneasy compared to last year. ... I relied on my putter on Sunday last year and it came through. I can't do that every single round, so I've got to put myself in better positions tomorrow.”
What he can rely on: No matter how unhappy he was leaving the golf course on Saturday, he has been in this position before.
Said McIlroy, “He's been in control of this golf tournament from the first day.”
And if he can stay in control of his Ownself for one more day, he’ll slip his arms into the Green Jacket again.