The five biggest meltdowns in Masters history

As a man who once blew a five-shot lead against his wife on a crazy golf course in Amsterdam, I know a few things about bottling it on the greens. While I can blame that choke on a brownie I’d eaten at lunchtime, the same can’t be said for these pros who have suffered the ultimate Masters meltdowns at Augusta.

The green jacket awarded to the winner of the Masters is steeped in history, and a win in the tournament guarantees your name will be etched into legend. With so much pressure on their shoulders, it is no surprise the course has claimed victim to many a final-round disaster.

Here are the five biggest meltdowns in Masters history.

5. Jeff Maggert (2003)

Maggert’s final round at the 2003 Masters is one of the most extraordinary tales in golf. He had a two-shot lead going into Sunday, and his scorecard that day included five birdies and 11 pars. He didn’t even card a bogey!

Maggert lost the green jacket on two holes — a triple-bogey on the third and a quintuple-bogey on the infamous 12th.

Maggert’s day started to fall apart on the par-4 third, when his second shot ended up in a fairway bunker. His approach hit the lip of the bunker, pinged back at him, and hit his chest, which according to the golfing gods, results in a two-stroke penalty. He ended up holing an 18-foot putt, but the card read triple-bogey after the bunker incident.

A few birdies followed, which kept Maggert within one shot of the leader, but disaster struck on the 12th. He hit his 7-iron into the back bunker, and in his attempt to escape, overshot the green and went into Rae’s Creek. His next shot went into the water again. He finished with a two-putt for a quintuple-bogey 8.

The American managed to birdie three straight holes on the way to the clubhouse, but it was only good enough for fifth place.

Maggert managed six top-five finishes in majors but never won. This was the one that got away.

4. Kenny Perry (2009)

Perry was two shots clear at the top of the leaderboard as he approached the 17th tee Sunday. You’d have forgiven him for thinking about admiring himself in the mirror as he donned the green jacket. The 48-year-old was in inspired form and was a whisker from hitting a hole in one on the 16th. It was all looking good.

But that soon took a turn. A poor approach on 17 saw him card a bogey, before an errant tee shot on the 18th put him in a bunker. He wound up with a bogey on the 18, as well, and ending up in a playoff with Angel Cabrera and Chad Campbell.

Perry bogeyed the second playoff hole and Cabrera took the win with a par.

Perry had only four bogeys on the first 70 holes of the 2009 Masters. He then bogeyed three of the last four, including the two playoff holes, in a remarkable Masters meltdown. It was the closest Perry would come to winning a major.

3. Greg Norman (1996)

Norman had already suffered Masters heartbreak in 1986 and 1987. He bogeyed the 18th in 1986, when a par would’ve put him in a playoff, and then got even closer 12 months later,m when he lost in a playoff to Larry Mize.

So when Norman woke up Sunday with a six-shot lead in 1996, it was fair to say the fairy tale was set to finally come through.

Through the first eight holes, Norman still had a three-shot lead over Nick Faldo. Norman bogeyed the ninth, 10th, and 11th, then found the water on the 12th and carded a double-bogey. He dropped five shots in four holes and suddenly Faldo had a two-shot advantage.

Norman tried to rally but found the water again on the 16th. He finished with a final-round 78 and Faldo won by five shots.

2. Rory McIlroy (2011)

An 80. That’s what McIlroy carded on the Sunday of the 2011 Masters.

It’s hard to be too critical, as the 21-year-old was four shots clear going into the final round, and at 21, I was still waking up next to a kebab from the night before and calling in sick to work.

Through the first nine holes, McIlroy still had the lead, but it all went downhill when his tee shot ended up in somebody’s garden — quite literally.

From that 10th hole through to the 15th, McIlroy went triple-bogey, bogey, double-bogey, par, par, double-bogey and dropped eight shots in six holes.

McIlroy finish 15th in 2011, and the Masters remains the only major to evade him.

1. Jordan Spieth (2016)

Like McIlroy it is tough to slate Spieth too much. He’d just tied the 72-hole record at Augusta, when he won the Masters in 2015, and looked like a certain back-to-back winner, after he held the lead through the third round.

The Texan birdied four holes in a row at the end of the front nine on Saturday to hold a five-shot lead as he turned for home. A bogey on 10 and another on 11 wasn’t ideal, but it was hardly a Masters meltdown. Spieth was still in control. That was until the par-3 12th, yet again.

His tee shot ended up in Rae’s Creek, and Spieth incredibly hit his next shot into the water, as well. His third attempt to clear the wet stuff ended up in the bunker beyond the hole, and after he eventually found the green and rolled in his putt, Spieth carded a quadruple-bogey to hand the tournament to Danny Willett.