OPEN champion Brian Harman plummeted to the other end of the leaderboard after an horrendous triple bogey-double-double finish at the Masters.
And it turned into a double disaster, as Ryder Cup team-mate Jordan Spieth became the first player to take a NINE or worse at the same hole twice in the last twenty years.
Spieth’s latest meltdown at the par five 15th sent him crashing to a seven over par 79, the 2015 champion’s worst round at Augusta by three shots
Spieth, arrived with high hopes of claiming a second green jacket, especially after posting five more top four finishes here since his breakthrough victory.
In 2015 Spieth became only the second 21-year-old to win at Augusta - after Tiger Woods. But at 30, he has become a player who can be brilliant one minute, and toe-curlingly awful the next.
His double bogey to start the tournament kicked off another roller-coaster, with two birdies and two more dropped shots keeping him at two over par as he stood on the 15 tee.
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But the three time Major winner twice airmailed the green, and put two balls in the water as he ran up ANOTHER quadruple bogey nine. Spieth shot the same number in the opening round of the 2017 Masters.
That was just a year after he let a second green jacket slip through his fingers with a triple bogey sixth at the 12th, where he sent another couple of balls to a watery grave.
At least his misery was not long and drawn out. The same could not be said for Harman.
The little left-hander, playing in his first Major championship since he romped to a six shot victory at Royal Liverpool, looked shell-shocked as it all unravelled at Augusta.
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Harman, nicknamed the ‘Butcher of Hoylake’ after revealing his love of hunting - and cutting up and freezing his prey himself - was like a lamb to the slaughter here.
He was two under par after nine holes, and covered the front half in 34 strokes - only to take FORTY SEVEN to complete the back nine.
You expect some of the ageing former Masters champions to run up big scores, but Harman’s effort was the worst nine hole score by any player under fifty for 15 years.
It was an astonishing collapse, even with strong winds gusting up to 35mph making Augusta a much tougher proposition than on day one.
His nine over 81 meant Harman, 37, was in 88th place among the 89 starters at the end of the first round.
Only fellow American Peter Malnati did worse. And his 82 was probably a punishment from the golfing gods for playing a yellow ball, and for the ridiculous floppy bucket hat he wears!
Harman was one of 27 players who had to return to the course early to complete their opening rounds, after the start to the 88th Masters was delayed for two and a half hours on Thursday because of thunderstorms.
The Claret Jug holder probably did not sleep well after putting his tee shot into the water at the par three 12th, the final hole he played before darkness fell, although he did well to escape with a bogey four.
Unfortunately, he took up where he left off, quickly putting another ball into Rae’s Creek at the par five 13th to run up a double bogey seven.
A couple of pars at 14 and 15 should have settled his nerves. But it was splash down again at the short 16th, followed by a three putt for a triple bogey six.
The man born and brought up in Georgia - in nearby Savannah - had his big crowd of supporters looking away in dismay as he carved his ball into the trees on 17 AND 18, to slump to two more sixes.
Harman does not exactly have a stellar record at Augusta, with three missed cuts in five previous starts - surprising for a player known as one of the best potters in the game.
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But this was his worst score by four shots, and a fourth missed cut was already a certainty.
He had less than thirty minutes before returning to the course for round two, and probably spent the time packing his bags for an early exit.
