Masters 2013 Archives

Another Great Masters Finish

Wow! If we all had one word to sum up this Masters Championship – ‘Wow’ would be that word. This week had all the pageantry, excitement, big shots, awesome chips, huge birdie putts, disappointing bogeys, controversies, youthful surprises, a couple of senior surprises as well and finally, a suspenseful ending. And after all that, the Green Jacket goes to…Australia’s Adam Scott.

Scott overcame Angel Cabrera in a two hole playoff in a soggy Sunday finish to win his first major championship of a 13-year career. He is the first native of Australia to win a Masters Championship in which there have been great predecessors to attempt the feat including Australia’s legendary golfer, Greg Norman.

Adam Scott began Sunday’s round just one shot behind Angel Cabrera and Brandt Snedeker who were leaders on Saturday evening at 7-under par. A log jam of golfers were just six shots of overtaking them, including Tiger Woods who was just 4-strokes back at three under. And then, the fireworks began.

Jason Day, who was at -5 coming into the final round, jumped out early with a birdie on #1 and an improbable eagle chip from the front bunker of the par 5 second, giving him a lead temporarily. The move had been made but Brandt Snedeker, who is the current FedEx Cup leader, made birdie on 1 also and it was, “Game On”!

Analysts have always said, ‘the Masters don’t begin until the last 9 holes’. I’m a believer! What a great final nine we witnessed. It was a nail-biting contest with Snedeker and Day falling two shots off the lead with Cabrera sitting pretty on top of the leader board at -8 before they reached the 10th hole. At one point, the 43-year old Argentinean and 2009 Masters Champ – Cabrera – had a 3-stroke lead after getting to -9. While this battle was taking place with the focus on Cabrera, Snedeker and Day, no one checked the rearview mirror to see Adam Scott making a run for the lead.

Even Tiger began a charge for the lead but fell short and finished tied for 4th with a two under round and a -5 for the tournament.

Scott, plodding around a dreary and soggy course, tied Cabrera and overtook him on #18 with a birdie putt to go -9. The pressure was on Cabrera to hit a good drive – he did – and then he stuck his approach shot about 5 feet from the hole. Cabrera then birdied the final hole to send the Masters into extra holes and Scott had to halt his celebration…temporarily that is.

After both players parred the opening playoff hole on #18, the next hole they went to the par 4, 17th where they both hit stellar approach shots with Cabrera putting first. As his putt just missed, slipping by the hole on the high side, Scott made a 15-footer to win it all. He did it. He deserves it. He is this years Masters Champion and had the coveted Green Jacket placed on him in Butler’s Cabin from last years champion, Bubba Watson, who won his first Masters in the same fashion – a putt to win it on the same playoff hole.

This years Masters had it all but in the end, it gave us exactly what we wanted…excitement, drama and another nail-biter. Although my favorite didn’t win, I enjoyed it yet again.

Thank You PGA players and Masters Championship 2013 for continuing to give us your very best. I can’t wait to see what Masters 2014 has in store. Heck, I can’t wait to see what the remaining 3-majors has to offer for this is what we ‘weekend hackers’ live for, right?

The Masters 2013 Recap of Round 1

The Masters Championship at Augusta National in Augusta, Ga. has completed the first round and what a round it was!

Surprises took shape in the opening round with an Aussie and a Spaniard leading at the end of the day with 6-under scores. Marc Leishman from Australia and Sergio Garcia from Spain, lit up the scoreboard at the 77th Masters which had many golf fans scratching their heads collectively and asking two questions: First) Who is Marc Leishman and Second) Sergio Garcia?

“The first time I was here,” Leishman says, “I was like a bit of a deer in headlights, I guess. I found myself looking around a little bit too much and not concentrating on getting the ball in the hole.” Well the concentration level was with him on Day 1 as he carded 7-birdies against 1-early bogey on the very first hole. We’ll call that nerves. He then lit it up with birdies on holes 3, 8, 10 and then four consecutive holes on 13-16 to finish with a 6-under 66.

Sergio also had a day of days for he had a bogey-free round, his first and best ever at the Masters in all his 14th appearances. Garcia, still seeking his first major title at age 33, has often struggled with Augusta’s tricky greens. He has only two top 10 finishes in 14 previous Masters.

“It’s obviously not my favorite, my most favorite place, but you know, we try to enjoy it as much as we can each time we come here,” Garcia said. “Sometimes it comes out better than others, but today it was one of those good days. And you know, let’s enjoy it while it lasts. A very quick start for Sergio but a tournament is not won on Day 1. It takes four days of consistent play and I don’t think Sergio has that consistency in his bag.”

The feel good story of the day: Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old from China. He played a nervously steady 1st round after he rammed home a birdie putt on 18 to complete a surprising 73. Yes, he made bogeys here and there but he also made some unbelievable recoveries with long par putts and birdies that brought him back into the mix of conversation. A 1-over par from a 14-year old is amazing on such a stage as the Masters. Let’s see how he fairs on Friday.

Our ‘Favorites’ didn’t knock themselves out of the tournament by any means.
Rory McIlroy struggled with his short game and missed some makeable putts but finished at -1, 71.

Phil Mickelson was Phil Mickelson. Birdie, bogey, errant drives, spectacular shots from impossible locations, finished -1, 71.

Defending champ, Bubba Watson struggled all day and finished at +3, 75.
And my favorite to win the 77th Masters Championship, Tiger Woods shot a -2, 70. And the 70 bodes well for Woods, who has not won a green jacket since 2005. The four-time winner — tied for second most in tournament history with Arnold Palmer — has shot 70 in five opening rounds in his career in the Masters. He won three of those years so we won’t press the ‘panic button’ yet.

Dustin Johnson also had a great start along with Jim Furyk so again, stay tuned for a great Friday.