Spieth’s ‘bizarre’ round leaves him outside top 10

A round Jordan Spieth described as “bizarre” left him outside the top 10 after entering the final day with momentum and high hopes.

Spieth failed to back up consecutive rounds in the 60s by shooting 3-over-par 75 on Sunday to finish tied for 11th at 1 under in his fourth Masters Tournament.

Bookend 75s resulted in Spieth’s lowest finish at Augusta National Golf Club, though he still posted two rounds in the 60s for the second time in his four appearances.

“I’m taking a lot of positives out of this week. I really am,” Spieth said. “I’m not going to beat myself up whatsoever over today. I was very happy with the way I struck the ball.”

PHOTOS: Spieth's Sunday Round

Spieth’s choice of “bizarre” to describe his round was the result of solid ball-striking, yet poor results. He attacked flags with the aggressiveness of a player trying to charge back, and he often was on line, but distances were consistently off.

“I wasn’t doing much wrong, and that’s what was so tough,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I was doing much wrong, and I just look up and it just wasn’t landing where I thought it would.”

He began his round on a tough note by hitting the fairway bunker on No. 1 and carding bogey. It turned into one of five bogeys for the day, and he added a double bogey on No. 12 by finding Rae’s Creek.

Spieth lost the momentum of a birdie on No. 2 by failing to get up and down for par on No. 3. He missed the green on No. 6 and did the same for another bogey, and he failed to take advantage of the par-5 8th by making par.

Another missed green on No. 10 resulted in bogey as he again struggled with his short game, and he saw his chances rest at the bottom of Rae’s Creek on No. 12 as he found water for the second consecutive Sunday at Augusta. In 2016, Spieth squandered a big lead when he hit into Rae’s Creek twice on his way to a quadruple-bogey 7 at the 12th.

The highlight of an otherwise frustrating day was Spieth’s finish. He left his shot on No. 16 to five feet and made birdie, and he rolled in a 17-footer for birdie on the tough 18th hole to get back to red figures.

“They were all good swings and I was proud of them, and I’m really happy with the way that we finished off this round to get back to red,” he said.

Reach David Lee at (706) 823-3216 or david.lee@augustachronicle.com.