‘Best I’ve ever hit here’

Sunday at Masters 2026Jordan Spieth closed out his final round with a bang. A birdie at 18 was preceded by a hole-in-one eagle at 13, leading to an eagle under 68.

But it wasn’t enough to end it three-time major winner long winless streak in the tournament he dominated early in his career.

His closing birdie wasn’t the only statement Spieth made Sunday night Augusta Nationalhowever. He also made a bold claim about his game that may give his fans hope, but may also leave his critics scratching their heads.

Spieth said he hit it better at this year’s Masters than he did during his 2015 Masters victory, or any other time he’s competed at Augusta.

Spieth praises play from tee-to-green Masters, identifies putting as drop

It’s been 11 long years since Spieth’s first and only Masters victory. A year ago he almost won in his first appearance.

But Sunday was also the 10th anniversary of Spieth’s back-nine bogey Sunday at the 2016 Masters. Though he won the Open Championship the following year, it could be argued that Spieth hasn’t been the same since his ’16 flop at Augusta.

This year he is fighting hard to regain the elite ranks of the game. The Masters seemed like the perfect place to make his comeback. Although he didn’t win, Spieth’s Sunday heroics this year left him at five under for the tournament. giving him a T12 finish.

It was his fourth T12-or-better finish this season. However, he finished with seven shots against the winner Rory McIlroy and never threatened to fight.

That’s why it was a surprise when after his round ended Sunday night at Augusta, Spieth argued that he had played better than he had during the 2014-2016 season when he went T2-1-T2 at the Masters. And “much better” than he played during his solo third at the 2018 Masters, his T3 in 2021 and his T4 in 2023.

He also identified the culprit that derailed his elite game from tee-to-green: his putting.

“I hit it better than the year I won and I hit it a lot better than any second or fourth place I hit,” Spieth. “Probably the best I’ve ever hit here and I usually putt these greens really well.”

About his Masters placement. While putting used to be Spieth’s greatest strength, at Augusta and elsewhere, he said he “left 20 something short this week.”

While Spieth argued that his putting had been “better than bad timing”, he said his problem on the green was that the hole started to “look small” last week. He tried his best to “make it look bigger” at the Masters, but “just didn’t get there.”

“And the putt, my putt felt clean minus some of it, better than the bad times. Just last week I got a little off in the first round and the hole just looked small and I’ve been trying to make it look bigger every day since then,” Spieth explained. “I just didn’t get there. So I’m going to spend a lot of time putting next week and probably going from a shorter distance just to see a lot of nails go in and believe the hole is bigger than the ball.”

He then reflected openly on what could have been in this 2026 Masters if a few more shots had fallen on Thursday.

“I just want to say, I think if — sometimes I wonder if at the beginning of the first round, some of the ones that were — that I probably should have gone in, went in, you know, who knows what the tournament looks like.”

But another tournament arrives for Spieth this week, the RBC Heritage, and another opportunity to fix his putting woes.

“That part is a little disappointing. Again, the putting can be uncomfortable, so just go for the right lane and try to win next week.”