His tee shot on the 18th clipped the last branch in his way, dropping his ball 267 yards from the green. His eight-foot par putt for a record-tying 63 missed to the right as he settled for a 64.

"I think I've proven to myself and to others that you never give up," Spieth said.

"I started the round nine shots back and I came out with the idea of just playing the course and having a lot of fun and try to shoot a low round.

"I wanted to finish strong and see what happens, if something crazy happens."

McIlroy, meanwhile, will have to wait another year for a shot at the career grand slam.

Trailing by three shots to start the final round, he closed to within one after two holes. That was as close as he came. McIlroy's putter betrayed him, and he was never a factor on the back nine. He closed with a 74 and tied for fifth.

The gallery was clearly behind McIlroy, even though Reed led Augusta State to a pair of NCAA titles and briefly lived in Augusta.

He was met with polite applause on the first tee. The throaty cheer was for McIlroy, and it looked as though the 28-year-old from Northern Ireland atoned from shooting 80 in the final round and losing a four-shot lead.

Reed scrambled for a bogey on the opening hole. He failed to get up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 second as McIlroy had a four-foot eagle putt to tie for the lead.

McIlroy missed badly, a sign of what was to come. He missed four putts inside 10 feet on the front nine, and blew a three-foot par attempt on the 14th.

Different about this victory for Reed was the fuchsia shirt he wore as part of a Nike script. Reed always wears black pants and a red shirt because that's what Tiger Woods does, and Reed has long modeled his mental game after Woods. "Be stubborn," he once said about learning by watching Woods.

Reed went to the back nine with a four-shot lead over four players, and they all had their chances. That included Jon Rahm, the 23-year-old from Spain, whose chances ended when he went after the flag on the par-5 15th and came up short in the water. He shot 69 and finished fourth.

Reed's only bogey on the back nine was at No 11 from a tee shot into the trees. He answered with a 25-foot birdie on the 12th, and a shot into eight feet at No 14 for a birdie that broke the tie with Spieth. He made all pars from there.

That's all he needed.

He became the fourth straight Masters champion to capture his first major.

Reed once claimed after winning a World Golf Championship at Doral that he was a top-five player in the world, which subjected him to ridicule. This victory moves him to No 11. It also comes with a green jacket, which earns far more respect and notoriety.

Associated Press