Here are the last 10 Masters winners:
2022: Scottie Scheffler
2021: Hideki Matsuyama (JPN)
2020: Dustin Johnson
2019: Tiger Woods (5th Green Jacket)
2018: Patrick Reed
2017: Sergio Garcia (ESP)
2016: Danny Willett (ENG)
2015: Jordan Spieth
2014: Bubba Watson (2d Green Jacket)
2013: Adam Scott (AUS)
Here is the current Top Ten in the Official World Golf Rankings. (I have no idea how the OWGR deals with LIV Golf, and I truly don't care):
1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Rory McIlroy (NIR)
3. Jon Rahm (ESP)
4. Patrick Cantlay
5. Max Homa
6. Cameron Smith (AUS)
7. Xander Schauffele
8. Will Zalatoris
9. Viktor Hovland (NOR)
10. Justin Thomas
Collin Morikawa is number 12; Jordan Spieth is number 16.
That's the preview. Any further thoughts will go into the comments.
Current standings:
ReplyDelete1. V. Hovland (NOR); -4 (8 holes)
2. S. Lowry (IRL): -3 (10)
T3. A. Meronk (POL): -2 (14)
T3. P. Reed: -2 (10)
T3. A. Scott (AUS): -2 (7)
T3. C. Young: -2 (6)
Tiger is 3 over through 7. Bryson DeChambeau is 2 over through 4. A lot of big names still haven't teed off.
Viktor Hovland birdies the 9th hole. He's out in 31, and is 5-under through 10 holes. Jon Rahm eagles the 8th, and goes out in 3-under par 33.
ReplyDeleteHovland birdies the difficult 11th hole and moves to 6 under par with two par 5's left to play. He's three strokes clear of the field.
ReplyDeleteHovland is 25 years old. He won the U.S. Amateur in 2018. Since turning pro, he has three wins on the PGA Tour and two wins on the European Tour.
ReplyDelete1. V. Hovland (NOR): -6 (12 holes)
ReplyDeleteT2. X. Schauffele: -3 (12)
T2. J. Rahm (ESP): -3 (11)
T2. C. Young: -3 (11)
And then a seven-way tie at 2-under that includes Patrick Reed, Shawn Lowry, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, and Brooks Koepka.
Hovland birdies the par-5 13th, and moves to 7 under par. He now has a four-shot lead over Lowry, Schauffele, Rahm, and Koepka.
ReplyDeleteIn the history of the Masters, the course record is 63 (9 under par). Hovland has a great chance to match (or even break) that record today.
ReplyDeleteIn 1996, Greg Norman opened with a 63 -- the last time that score was posted. After three rounds he had a six-shot lead. And then, on the last day, he shot a 78. Nick Faldo shot a 67, and beat Norman by five shots. Norman never again came that close to winning the Masters.
ReplyDeleteI actually remember tuning in late to the final-round coverage. The first image I saw was of Faldo standing calmly at his bag with his caddy, waiting for Norman to take some fairway shot, and it was evident from Faldo's posture and the announcers' tone of voice that something had changed dramatically.
DeleteXavier Schauffele birdies 14 and moves to 4 under, three shots behind Hovland. Koepka is 4 under through 9, having gone out in only 32 shots.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Rahm birdies the 13th, and he moves to 4 under.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to remember a more dramatic opening day. It almost feels like Sunday, the way the leaderboard keeps changing:
ReplyDelete1. V. Hovland (NOR): -7 (18 holes)
2. J. Rahm (ESP): -6 (17)
T3. A. Scott (AUS): -5 (17)
T3. C. Young: -5 (17)
T3. B. Koepka: -5 (12)
Rahm birdies the last hole and matches Hovland's 65 with a 65 of his own. Young finishes with a 67. Lowry, Schauffele, and Scott all finish with 68's.
ReplyDeleteKoepka bogeyed 13, but he birdies 15 to move back to 5 under. We are now getting light rain.
ReplyDeleteScottie Scheffler goes out in 33, and is 3-under through 9.
ReplyDeleteThere's your winner, thought I.
DeleteT1. V. Hovland (NOR): -7 (18 holes)
ReplyDeleteT1. J. Rahm (ESP): -7 (18)
3. B. Koepka: -6 (17)
4. C. Young: -5 (18)
Six-way tie at 4 under, including Jordan Spieth, who just finished the 9th hole.
Tiger shot a 2-over par 74, as did Sergio.
ReplyDeleteAnd now Koepka has posted a 65, so we have a three-way tie at the top. What a day!
ReplyDeleteNope, there's your winner, thought I.
DeleteT1. V. Hovland (NOR): -7 (18 holes)
ReplyDeleteT1. J. Rahm (ESP): -7 (18)
T1. B. Koepka: -7 (18)
4. C. Young: - 5 (18)
Seven-way tie at 4-under, which no longer includes Spieth, who is at 3 under through 11.
Justin Thomas shot a 2-under 70. Matsuyama shot a 1-under 71. Adam Scott and Xander Schauffele both shot 4-under 68's.
ReplyDeleteSo far, Shawn Lowry, Xander Schauffele, Adam Scott, and Gary Woodland are all in the clubhouse at 4 under.
ReplyDeleteThe rain, such as it was, stopped a while ago.
ReplyDeleteTom Kim, who I've never seen before, eagles the 13th to move to 4 under. Jason Day, who appears to have recovered his form, rolls in a long birdie on 17 to move to 5 under.
ReplyDeleteOn 13, Jordan Spieth hits his drive into the pine straw, and then knocks his next shot into the creek in front of the green. He's going in the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteSpieth double-bogeys the 13th hole, which is probably the easiest hole on the course. After playing the first nine holes in 4-under, he is only 1-under going to 14.
ReplyDeleteDay finishes with a 67.
ReplyDeleteT1. V. Hovland (NOR): -7 (18)
T1. J. Rahm (ESP): -7 (18)
T1. B. Koepka: -7 (18)
T4. C. Young: -5 (18)
T4. J. Day (AUS): -5 (18)
Scottie Scheffler is 3-under coming to the par-5 15th. His second shot runs through the green and down the hole behind the green, but then he makes an excellent pitch to set up a short birdie putt.
ReplyDeleteScheffler birdies 15, and moves into the logjam at 4 under par.
ReplyDeleteSpieth, in the last group of the day, comes to the 18th hole at 3 under par. He drives into a bunker, and puts his second shot at the front of the green.
ReplyDeleteSpieth is playing with Tony Finau, who is also 3 under.
ReplyDeleteFinau pars 18, and finishes with a 69.
ReplyDeleteThree under is not enough to crack the top 10 today.
ReplyDeleteSpieth pars 18. He finishes with a 69, and that's all for today.
ReplyDeleteI visited Pullman National Historical Park on this Thursday, and it was fascinating. The really weird thing was that I had stopped in Terre Haute, Indiana, on my way to Chicago earlier in the week to visit my niece, and she had taken me to the Eugene V. Debs Museum. I had no idea she would be taking me there (I had no idea he was from there), and she had no idea I was planning to see the Pullman site a few days later.
ReplyDelete