Michaux: Spieth, McIlroy showdown doesn't live up to billing

Augusta National was crackling Saturday in anticipation of two No. 1 heavyweights going head to head – one with a spot already in the champions locker room and the other desperately desiring to get in.

“We need Michael Buffer to say, ‘Let’s get ready to rumble,’ ” three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo said. “It could be one of the classic prize fights.”

Who knew that the true classic showdown of world No. 1’s would be 58-year-old Bernhard Langer against 28-year-old Jason Day, both of whom shot under par to surge into the mix?

The eagerly awaited showdown between defending champion Jordan Spieth and aspiring career slammer Rory McIlroy never materialized into the prize fight of the century. Maybe the only one who could have expected a letdown was Kevin Kisner, who finished up his 76 early and went home to Aiken to “have a beer and sit on the couch and laugh at everybody else.”

There wasn’t much to laugh at unless you like slapstick. McIlroy – “playing upstream” – slapped it around in 77 strokes without a single birdie for the first time in a major round since 2010. All Spieth did was let everybody back in the tournament with a bogey-double bogey finish that left him wanting to “break something” on the way to dinner.

It was the last thing anyone expected to see from the two biggest stars on the leaderboard.

“So it was kind of just a blah round at that,” Spieth said. “But again, it’s always nice walking 18 holes with him.”

Saturday marked the 15th time in their careers that Spieth and McIlroy were paired together in a tournament, but it was the first time they’d teed off together on a weekend.

After a couple of significant showdowns between Spieth and Day last year in majors, McIlroy had to be salivating at the chance to prove his technical superiority against his presumed rival. In their 14 previous head-to-head match-ups, the Northern Irishman owned an 8-4-2 record while shooting a cumulative 35-under par to Spieth’s 7-under.

Augusta National isn’t Abu Dhabi or Doral or the Valero Texas Open, though. When they played the first two rounds together at the 2014 Masters, Spieth bruised McIlroy, 70-77, in the second round after they matched 71s in the opener.

This was shaping up the same way as McIlroy kept bleeding strokes until he was eight shots behind through 16 holes.

“Standing on 17 tee I didn’t feel I was” in the tournament, McIlroy said.

Having seen Spieth curl putts in on Nos. 15 and 16 as he scrambled without his A-game, McIlroy was frustrated.

“I turned around after 15, I said, ‘How the hell is he 2-under par today?’” McIlroy said. “But it’s his most impressive asset. And as much as it could be annoying to his competitors, it’s very, very impressive. As much as it does dishearten you seeing those putts lip in, you got to take your hat off to him, because he is such a grinder and such a battler and he always sticks in there.”

Standing on the 17th tee, Spieth was in total control of the tournament – four shots clear needing a pair of pars to set himself up for a Sunday stroll similar to last year. Then he opened the door for his chasers and left the course disgusted despite his third consecutive 54-hole lead in the only three Masters he’s ever played.

“I mean honestly, I think it will be tough to put it behind,” Spieth said. “If I’m at 5-, 6-under … that certainly brings anyone who is over par almost out of the tournament.”

Despite everything McIlroy did wrong all day, he is encouraged that his rival left the door open a little and applied pressure on himself.

“He’s sitting on top of the leaderboard, where he has been for basically the last three years here, so he’s going out there tomorrow and it’s his to lose,” said McIlroy, using a little gamesmanship when his own game wasn’t getting it done. “There’s a few guys that have a chance and I feel like if I can get off to a good start, you never know. …

“Yeah, he’s been in control of this golf tournament from the first day. But, I mean, I haven’t got a green jacket. He has. So there’s added pressure that comes with that, too.”

It’s safe to say that few saw Spieth lining up with 23-year-old Smylie Kaufman in the final paring on Mas­ters Sunday. Their junior golf rivalry wasn’t exactly the stuff of legend.

“He’s probably 1,000-0,” Kaufman said of Spieth’s record against him. “He’s always beating me. Granted, he was so much better than I was as a junior and amateur.”

Spieth and McIlroy failed to separate themselves and set up the Sunday showdown of rivals golf has been waiting for. We’ll have to settle for a Sunday free-for-all that might prove just as entertaining.