1. The Masters collapse

The word itself has such negative connotations. Collapse. And yet it is used so routinely to describe what has happened in the final round of the Masters at Augusta National.

Dealing with it was never going to be easy, and trying to ignore it would be impossible. The questions would continue, and sometimes, quite obviously, it became irritating.

When asked how he would prepare for such questioning as the Masters loomed, this golfer was honest: "Same way as I've been prepared for every other question anyone has ever asked me,'' he said. "I've never run away from anything, guys. I've always stood facing the music. And I accepted the fact that there's going to be a minority of guys who want to talk about it and make an issue of it, something that happened [almost a year prior]. I accept that.

Greg Norman's collapse at the 1996 Masters saw the Aussie give up a 6-shot lead heading into the final round. Although he won other majors, he would never win a green jacket in his illustrious career. Stephen Munday/Allsport/Getty Images

"But you've got to accept the fact that I put my pants on the same way you guys put your pants on every day, and I made a mistake at the Masters. And I accept the fact that I made a mistake. It was all my fault. It wasn't anybody else's fault. If you want to keep talking about it, writing about it, so be it. It's not going to affect me. I look forward to going back to the Masters with just as much passion as I had before things happened last year. And I look forward to going back there and anticipate giving myself the same opportunity.''

Jordan Spieth? That's Greg Norman from the spring of 1997.

2. Jordan, meet Shark

Spieth said last week he is looking forward to getting past this year's Masters, a bit of an eye-opening response given that he has finished second, first and second in his first three appearances. Like Norman 20 years ago when faced with going back to the Masters after an epic loss, Spieth has been honest and forthright, although he appears to be tiring of the attention related to his back-nine problems a year ago. (Norman's comments referenced earlier were from March 1997; he had let a 6-shot lead slip away a year prior and lost to Nick Faldo, shooting a final-round 78.)

"No matter what happens at this year's Masters, whether I can grab the jacket or I miss the cut or I finish 30th, it will be nice having the Masters go by,'' Spieth said at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship last week. "The Masters lives on for a year. It brings a non-golf audience into golf. And it will be nice once this year's finished, from my point of view, to be brutally honest with you.''

When Jordan Spieth took a drop at the 12th hole on Sunday of the 2016 Masters, his second green jacket was slipping away. But the young Texan did rally to make it interesting, never abandoning his chance to catch eventual champion Danny Willett. Erik S. Lesser/AP Photo

Spieth had a 5-shot lead at the turn a year ago at Augusta National, then dropped 6 shots over his next three holes and ended up finishing 3 strokes back of winner Danny Willett.

Imagine if Spieth had not won a month later at Colonial? Or again later in the year in Australia? Or earlier this year at Pebble Beach? Such are the perils of life after a difficult loss like the one he suffered at the Masters.

3. Similarities, differences

Spieth and Norman share some common traits in letting a Masters get away. Both had big leads. And both were overtaken by players who played near-flawless golf to come from behind to win. Both Faldo and Danny Willett shot 5-under-par 67s with no bogeys.

Spieth, of course, let it slip on three holes -- the 10th, 11th and 12th -- where he went bogey, bogey, quadruple-bogey. His 5-shot lead was suddenly a deficit.

Norman's demise was spread out over the entire day. He had a 6-shot lead over Faldo to begin the final round, and playing with the Englishman, saw it slowly evaporate. He, too, found the water at the 12th -- after bogeying the ninth, 10th and 11th -- to trail for the first time.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Spieth already had a green jacket. It makes his defeat, while difficult, a bit easier to handle. Norman never did win the Masters, making that 1996 loss all the more haunting.

4. Masters field

With four players qualifying based on the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, the Masters field is now up to 94 players. That includes Tiger Woods, who has yet to say if he will compete. The four who gained entry were Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood and Ross Fisher, along with South Korea's Jeunghun Wang and Japan's Hideto Tanihara.

Fleetwood and Wang were among the top 50 heading into the WGC-Dell Match Play; Fisher and Tanihara played their way in with strong performances. One spot remains: the winner of the Shell Houston Open, if he is not already invited. Although a 95-player field pushes the limits of what Augusta National prefers, the Masters had 97 players in both 2014 and 2015.

5. The Career (WGC) Slam

Only five players have completed a career Grand Slam -- winning the Masters, U.S. Open, The Open and the PGA Championship: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Dustin Johnson became the first to complete a World Golf Championship slam -- winning the WGC-Mexico (formerly Cadillac, American Express), WGC-Dell Match Play, WGC-Bridgestone and WGC-HSBC Champions.

Johnson now has five WGC titles -- trailing just Woods, who has 18. It should be noted that Woods won three of the four WGCs, but he played the HSBC Champions in China just twice, the lone WGC he did not win.

6. Understated, as usual

After Johnson's fifth WGC title -- his second this year and his third victory in a row on the PGA Tour -- he kept it simple.

Played hard all week and really fed off the crowd. Proud to be @DellMatchPlay champ! 🏆 — Dustin Johnson (@DJohnsonPGA) March 27, 2017

7. Tiger's status

While we await word on whether Woods will play in the Masters -- Could he possibly take his decision into next week in the days leading up to the tournament? -- it is interesting to see where he sits in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Woods is now 757th, just one spot ahead of South Korea's Sangmoon Bae, who skipped the Masters despite being eligible last year due to his country's military commitment. Bae has not played since the 2015 Tour Championship and is scheduled to complete his duty in the coming months.

8. Don't forget the Ryder Cup

Remember when Phil Mickelson boldly predicted he would be part of a 12th U.S. Ryder Cup team, even though he will be 48 when the matches are played next year in France? Well, Lefty is off to a good start in qualifying -- even though the race is in its very early stages.

The World Golf Championships, as well as the majors and the Players Championship, award points in 2017, and although just two of those events have been played, Mickelson had strong weeks at both. He finds himself in third place, behind Johnson, who won both events.

9. Gary trolls Jack

You have to love it when Gary Player, 81, pokes a little fun at his longtime friend and rival Jack Nicklaus, 77.