Jordan Spieth has suggested the organisers of the Masters are applying censorship to competitors in relation to a golfing annoyance: mud balls.
Spieth, the champion at Augusta National in 2015, is playing only for a place in 2025 after a third round of 69 moved him to one under par. This marked Spieth’s best round of this Masters by four but the Texan cut a frustrated figure. When mud attaches itself to a ball, a regular Masters feature and primarily from drives, approach shots can be impacted.
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“My iron play killed me the last two days and to be brutally honest with you, it was primarily mud balls,” Spieth explained. “It’s just so frustrating because you can’t talk about them here. You’re not supposed to talk about them. Mud balls can affect this tournament significantly, especially when you get them a lot on 11 and 13. They’re just daggers on those two holes.
“There’s like less than normal but I still had them today on those holes. I had them yesterday on those holes. It’s something to pay attention to for sure for leader groups, because you just have to play so far away from trouble or lay up when you’d normally go for it, just random stuff, because it will affect it significantly. And if you’re on the wrong side of the hole you’re either in the water or you almost can’t make par depending on what hole it is.
“Look, it’s mowed into the grain. The ball is digging in on every shot. A lot of times you have it on 75% of your drives.”
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Spieth duly repeated his belief that this topic is taboo as far as the Green Jackets are concerned. The members of Augusta National are fiercely protected of their hallowed turf. “Obviously the lower you hit it, the less chance,” Spieth added. “But, every person is having to deal with it. The fact that you’re not supposed to talk about it is a bit frustrating because it is a difference maker. It can be a difference maker in scores on some holes.”
Spieth is not the first high-profile golfer to raise the mud ball issue. Sergio García issued an apology to the Masters in 2009 after his own criticism. “Even when it’s dry you still get mud balls in the middle of the fairway,” said the Spaniard. “It’s too much of a guessing game.”
