Spieth already has a reputation for uncanny exploits, including his epic rally in last year’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale that enabled him to avoid another meltdown, European style. And there he was again, in the final round of the 82nd Masters, doing “Jordan things,” as they have come to be known. In this case, his latest “thing” was erasing all of a nine-stroke deficit to Patrick Reed that, if Reed had faltered, would have completed the largest comeback in Masters history.

Instead, Spieth had to settle for third place, his final-round eight-under 64 serving simultaneously as a useful message to his peers that he can never be counted out and as a gift to himself to assuage the pain of his collapse two years ago, when he coughed up a five-stroke lead at Augusta with nine to play.

The latter we can infer from his response to a question about the confidence he could derive from his 13-under 275 performance, two strokes behind Reed. Spieth’s active mind took him right to the 12th hole, where he sank a 30-foot putt from off the back of the green for his sixth birdie of the day. Now, why would that be?

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Because on the way to gift-wrapping Danny Willett a green jacket in 2016, Spieth butchered that pernicious and haunting little par 3 with a quadruple-bogey 7 that featured dumping two balls into Rae’s Creek.

“What we did on 12 today was really cool,” began the 24-year-old Dallas native, who smiled when he saw his 9-iron reach dry land. “I mean that hole, even when I didn’t hit it in the water in previous years, I three‑putted in 2015 for bogey. So, to play a disciplined shot, probably the most pressure‑packed shot I’ve ever hit. Again, I had no idea where I stood, but still the Sunday pin at Augusta, and I know what I’ve done, and my history there. To stand in that kind of pressure and hit the shot to the safe zone, [and] to knock that putt in was massive for me going forward.”

“And in general,” he added, pulling out of his myopia, “this round was fantastic. I mean nobody’s going to have a great Sunday every year at Augusta National. To be able to have a chance to win this tournament five years in a row is really, really cool. And that’s how I’m going to take today.”

Spieth, who held the first-round lead with a 66, has finished T-2, 1, 2, T-11, 3 at Augusta. Though outside the top 10 last year, he began the final round in fourth place. So, yes, he’s a fixture on the leader board, one he has topped nine times already in 20 career rounds.

He almost made it 10.

Five birdies in the first 11 holes moved him into a share of second place, but when he got to the 12th hole, Spieth still lagged four strokes behind Reed, his Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup running mate in team matches. That changed with consecutive birdies at 12 and 13, the latter with a two-putt from 20 feet. Spieth also birdied the par-5 15th with two putts.

Christian Iooss

He finally caught his fellow Texan at 14 under par when he jarred his ninth birdie of the round from 35 feet below the cup at the par-3 16th hole. When the ball disappeared, he turned to caddie Michael Greller and with a stunned look on his face said, “Can you believe that?”

Rickie Fowler, his good friend, absolutely could believe it.

“Well, you come to learn that you have to expect just about anything out of him,” said Fowler, whose birdie on the 72nd hole allowed him to supplant Spieth for second place. “You never know, and don’t be surprised if he pulls something off. That’s just Jordan. He’s fun to play with. He’s fun to watch.”

Justin Thomas, another good friend who was Spieth’s playing partner Sunday, could believe it, too.

“Yeah, there’s a reason he’s Jordan Spieth, and he’s done all the great things he’s done,” said Thomas, the reigning PGA champion, who was four over on his final three holes and closed with a 73. “It’s not like it was the 100th ranked player in the world doing it, it was a three‑time major champion, someone who’s won here before, someone who is a hell of a player and done some great things and will continue to. So it definitely didn’t surprise me.”

Spieth’s 64 tied the final-round scoring record held by six men. Oddly, only Gary Player in 1978 parlayed it into a green jacket. He adds that mark to a pair of record he holds—low first 36 holes (130) and low 72 holes (270, which he shares with Tiger Woods), both registered while winning wire-to-wire in 2015.

Spieth’s only blemish came at the last when he bogeyed after pulling his tee shot near the tree line. His ball clipped a branch and fell straight down. He still gave himself a look at an eight-footer for par, but he burned the edge. It was only then that he looked at a scoreboard for the first time all day, staying true to his plan at the outset, which was, he said, “Don’t worry about the golf tournament itself, worry about playing Augusta National.

“I knew that putt was important,” he said of the par try on the 72nd hole. “Every putt was important coming down the stretch. I was pretty gutted when I finished and finally looked at the board. I want to hit that tee shot again right now.

“But it was still a phenomenal day.”

Having largely struggled this season, Spieth, who moved from fourth to third in the World Ranking with his performance, was buoyed by his closing kick. He should be. He has conjured magic many times in his young career. To do so in the final round of another major is the ultimate validation of his dual gifts, talent and tenacity.

“From where I was two or three weeks ago to now has been probably the most successful couple of weeks I’ve ever had in my career,” he said with more than a touch of hyperbole. He’s enjoyed several successful stretches, including the first two majors in 2015 when he added the U.S. Open trophy to his green jacket.

Nevertheless, it was an important breakthrough, one he legitimately needed.

“I’ve proven to myself and others that you never give up,” he said. “Came out with idea of playing the golf course and having some fun. See what happens if something crazy happens. All in all, it was an extremely successful day. I would have taken it at the start of the day.

“With eight people ahead of me starting the day, to get that much help and shoot a fantastic round was nearly impossible. But I almost pulled off the impossible.”

Well, yeah. Because, you know, Jordan things.

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Indeed, that early dropped shot was merely the harbinger of greater things ahead. And lots of “fun.” Such was her peace of mind, the 27-year-old Hawaiian even had time to take in the stunning vistas across the “ocean” that is actually the indeterminate border between the Firth of Tay and the North Sea known as the Tay Estuary.

“It’s so gorgeous here,” Wie said. “When the weather is nice, it almost felt like I was playing back home in Hawaii with the views and everything. I feel like I got extremely lucky with the conditions out there.”

Maybe, but no one else was going quite so low or making quite as many birdies. The first of the nine appeared at the 399-yard fourth and two more were on the card before the turn. At which point the floodgates sprang apart. Six more red numbers translated into a back-nine 30 and an early three-stroke lead over England’s Mel Reid that was soon enough usurped by I.K. Kim’s 65.

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Ever the iconoclast, Wie compiled her unprecedented round in a manner best described as “eccentric.” While conventional wisdom has it that lon irons are generally more useful on a links than lofted woods, the former U.S. Women’s Open champion made good use of both a 9-wood and an 11-wood that have been in the bag since the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June. Three of her nine birdies resulted from approach shots struck with those two clubs.

“Callaway has done a great job of accommodating me,” said Wie, looking only slightly embarrassed. “They had to look back into their archives to find me an 11-wood. I’ve never played such high-lofted woods before. The 11-wood goes 180 yards, the same distance as my 5-iron, and is a lot easier to hit than a blade. The 9-wood replaces my 4-hybrid and goes 190-195 yards, although maybe not that far in these conditions.”

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Perhaps just as important for Wie as she goes about trying to win for the first time since that Women’s Open at Pinehurst in 2014 is the fact that she is fully fit. A troublesome neck strain caused her to withdraw from this year’s Women’s Open in the second round last month, but all is well after a 19th-place showing last week at the Aberdeen Asset Ladies Scottish Open.

“I hurt my neck the Sunday of KPMG,” she said. “I hit one shot and started getting neck spasms. I didn’t hit a single golf ball until the U.S. Open. I was doing everything I could—three physio treatments a day—but it just wasn’t enough time. The spasms were pretty bad. But I got to see my doctors in New York City after that, got a couple injections, and I feel pretty good.”

Apparently so.

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The 57-year-old South African took full advantage of an early tee time in rattling off two eagles and five birdies in his pace-setting seven-under round, a stunning two-lap loop of the Peter Harradine-designed nine-holer which edged the previous record by a stroke.

Two bogeys meant Williams’ round wasn’t flawless and will see American Clark Dennis, Swede Magnus Atlevi and Dane Steen Tinning start Friday just a shot back after the trio carded matching 66s. A group of five were hot their heels at five-under-par, setting up the prospect of a thrilling contest over the weekend in Sharjah.

Welshman Stephen Dodd, a UAE regular, fired a four under 68 to lead the list of other notable first round scores. Barry Lane carded a 69 while defending order of merit and Senior Open champion Paul Broadhurst was also well in the hunt after a 70. Des Smyth has work to do after opening with a two-over 74 while Italian Costantino Rocca signed for a 75.

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Williams, who has one previous win on the European Senior Tour at the 2011 Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters, got off to the perfect start with a first hole birdie and never let up on the smooth putting surfaces.

“There wasn’t much wind out there this morning and that’s when you’ve got to post your scores because it looks like the wind blows a lot here in the afternoon,” said the former Sunshine Tour player who negotiated the four par 5s in five-under-par, including eagles on the 4th and 15th.

“I birdied the first hole and that kind of set the trend for the round. I felt more relaxed after that and the two eagles were nice bonuses.

“I sunk a long putt on the 4^th and holed out from the bunker on the 15th so you’ve got to be pleased with that! Two eagles will always get your score down no matter what else you do.”

Tinning, meanwhile, got his putter going, a solitary bogey the only blemish in a round that included seven birdies.

“I’ve got a few new things going on with my putting and they all worked very well today. I’ve been practicing hard to try to be prepared for the first tournament so this is a great way to start.

“The course is great fun to play. At times you’ve got to really be careful but at other times there are birdie chances. The greens are rolling very nicely so you’re going to get low scores when the greens are like this.”

“The course is set up for good scoring and I think spectators can expect to see some really good scores over the weekend,” he said.

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