Arnold Palmer (left) and Jack Nicklaus both have wire-to-wire wins at the Masters. (Getty)
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The Masters Wire-to-Wire Club just got a new member.
With a dominating performance, Jordan Spieth became just the fifth player in the history of the tournament to get a wire-to-wire victory, carding an 18-under 270, tying the course record set by Tiger Woods in 1997.
Spieth held off Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson, who each finished 4 shots back at 14-under 274.
So who are the other wire-to-wire winners at the Masters?
The first one to accomplish the feat was Craig Wood in 1941.
Then two players you may have heard of – Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus – led all four rounds to get victories in 1960 and 1972, respectively.
The last time the feat was accomplished before Spieth’s epic run was in 1976 by Raymond Floyd.
Spieth had already cemented himself in Masters history.
First he set the 36-hole record after Friday’s second round at 14-under 130, a shot better than Floyd in 1976.
Then after Saturday Spieth was at 16-under 200 and set the 54-hole record previously held by Tiger Woods (1997) and Floyd during his ’76 victory. The old mark was 15-under 201.
Watch @JordanSpieth‘s round in under three minutes.
Spieth also had 28 birdies, besting Phil Mickelson’s 2001 mark.
.@JordanSpieth sets a new Masters record for birdies in a single Tournament: 26. #themasters http://t.co/gnxzWSFmuw
One record he didn’t break is being the youngest player to win the prestigious major. That honor goes to Woods, who was 21 years, 3 months and 14 days when he won by 12 strokes (that’s a record, too) in 1997. Spieth will be 22 in 3 months.
But considering Spieth was the guest of honor at the green jacket ceremony, I doubt he cares much about that one.
Spieth probably isn’t shocked he won. When he was 14 he said his goal was to win a Masters. But he said nothing about wire-to-wire.
A 14-year old Jordan Spieth said he will win @TheMasters one day…7 years later he is just one round from the dream:
http://t.co/ybK5KvrW37
Wire-to-Wire Champions at the Masters
Craig Wood, 1941
(-8) 66-71-71-72–280 … 3 shots over Byron Nelson
Arnold Palmer, 1960
(-6) 67-73-72-70–281 … 1 shot over Ken Venturi
Jack Nicklaus, 1972
(-2) 68-71-73-74–286 … 3 shots over Bruce Crampton, Bobby Mitchell and Tom Weiskopf
Raymond Floyd, 1976
(-17) 65-66-70-70–271 … 8 shots over Ben Crenshaw
Jordan Spieth, 2015
(-18) 64-66-70-70–270 … 4 shots over Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson
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