Danny Willett became the king of Augusta as he stunned the world of golf with an incredible Masters victory, whilst reigning champion Jordan Spieth threw away his title on a disastrous 12th hole.
Mistakes from McIlroy
Golf fans have become accustomed to witnessing Rory McIlory producing a couple of excellent rounds at the Masters, alongside one horror round that costs him the tournament. The Northern Irishman had the round on day three but was not prepared to give in as he suggested he was going to have an 'attacking mindset'.
Unfortunately for the world number three, his challenge was over before it ever began, as he found the bunker with his opening tee shot which summed up his round as he slipped to one over par.
Bernhard Langer and Hideki Matsuyama had been well set going into the days play, as they chased down individual records. Yet a series of errors left them both out of contention as Augusta patrons put to bed hopes of the oldest ever champion or the first Japanese winner.
A handful of players made a much better attempt at chasing down Jordan Spieth in the improved weather conditions since the tournament began. Young Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick would have been wondering where his round four day had been, as he putted three birdies in a row at the end of his five under par round, to leave him even for the tournament. The round of 67 was the joint second best of the week, following Spieth's 66 on the opening day.
Lucky Louis
Similarly, USA Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and Shane Lowry, who had a terrific opening round before dropping off the pace, would have been wishing they could have carried their 16th hole form through the tournament
The pair hit the only hole in ones of the tournament, despite a record number being hit in the par three tournament on Wednesday. Yet the shot of the day belonged to Louis Oosthuizen. His tee shot on the 16th rolled into the ball of JB Holmes, knocked it out of the way and landed in the hole for an incredible eagle. Holmes himself had an excellent round to finish on one under par.
England's Paul Casey had an excellent round as he finished on five under par, resulting in one under par for the event after a bogey-free round. Justin Rose and Soren Kjeldsen proved to be consistent but could not produce enough fireworks to challenge the lead as they finished on one over par and even respectively for the tournament.
Jordan Spieth's playing partner, Smylie Kaufman, was hitting the ball in the right areas, but could not quite step his game up to challenge the lead as he did on day three, finishing a long way off the lead after too many minor errors.
Westwood and Johnson go close
Lee Westwood came into form at the end of the front nine, as he made three birdies in four holes with some precision putting. He went off the pace at the start of the back nine, but came right back into contention with an eagle on the 15th. Yet the experienced campaigner could not carry his momentum into the last three holes as he finished on two under par, three shots off the lead, finishing third overall.
Dustin Johnson was another man who found his form when he needed it as he produced some power hitting to consistently find fairways and the greens in range. Five birdies put him in contention, but an early bogey and late double bogey left him four shots off the pace at one under par.
Wily Willett
The day and the tournament looked to belong to Jordan Spieth, whose putting was taking him closer to the green jacket once more. The American realised he had to 'shoot a substantially under par round to win'. His tactic was to fly his swing coach in from Dallas, although it did not seem to make too much difference as his early tee shots were rather wayward. Yet Spieth is arguably the best putter in the world and that took him through the last four holes of the front nine with birdies on each.
A bogey began the back nine, before he found the water on the 12th as Spieth began to feel the pressure for the first time, scoring a quadruple bogey to remove him from the top of the leaderboard. That mistake dropped him off pole position for the solitary moment this week and paved the way for young Danny Willett as the now former champion left himself too much to do in the final holes.
World number 12 Danny Willett launched a challenge from nowhere, as the man from Sheffield consistently hit pars at the start of his round, before stepping it up with a couple of birdies to close the gap to Spieth on the front nine.
He continued his form into the back nine, eventually overtaking the American after his dip in the water and edging away from Westwood, as he showed his steel in the closing holes on just his second Masters appearance. Willett finished with five birdies on a bogey-free round, as he waited nervously to see if Spieth could catch him, but the damage had already done for the former green jacket holder.