81st Masters
Augusta, Georgia
Purse: $10,000,000
Overnight co-leader and World No. 11 Sergio Garcia won his first major championship in his 74th overall major appearance, carding a final-round 3-under-par 34-35=69 to match playing competitor Justin Rose with 72-hole aggregates of 9-under 279, and then won the 81st Masters with birdie on the first playoff hole, the par-4 18th.
This was the Spaniard’s 313th career start (310 pro) and 19th Masters. He’d been a runner-up four times previously in majors, most recently at the 2014 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake, England), and his previous best at Augusta National was T4 in 2004.
The 37-year-old, a pre-tourney 33/1 outright, claims his 10th PGA TOUR title, first since his come-from-behind (playoff) win at the 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson 12 starts ago, and is now batting .500 in sudden death with six wins and six losses.
He adds a 13th European Tour title in 255 career events, second this year in four tries, joining a 3-shot win at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic five starts ago. Coincidentally, or not; last year’s winner of the green jacket Danny Willett, had also won the Dubai Desert Classic, exactly five starts prior.
Garcia’s 1st-place prize: $1,980,000; up $180,000 from last year.
The victory comes in Garcia’s seventh TOUR event of the season and is a second top 10 (T9, WGC-HSBC Champions). He entered off a T30 (and Group Stage exit) at the WGC-Match Play two weeks ago (1-1-1 record), and is the eighth straight winner on TOUR that had at least one week off prior to their respective wins. That’s a trend.
He’s the third golfer from Spain to don the green jacket, first since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999 – who also won in 1994. Seve Ballesteros was a two-time champion as well (1983, 1980), and Garcia’s win came on what would have been Seve’s 60th birthday.
Garcia opened with 71, six in arrears to first-round pace-setter Charley Hoffman, and circled just one birdie-4 at the eighth, but his was the only blemish-free lap on Thursday and by day’s end, there were only two players between him and Hoffman.
He chased with 69, becoming one of four co-leaders at the midpoint, and after a third-round 70, maintained a share of the lead with Rose on 6-under.
Garcia’s Position by Round:
R1: T4
R2: T1
R3: T1
Garcia landed 10 (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, posting 1.61 average putts per hole with zero 3-putts.
He circled the first and third to go out in 2-under, still tied with Rose, gave back two with bogeys at 10 and 11 to fall two behind, but in one of the key moments, halved the par-5 13th in pars, despite an errant tee shot and subsequent penalty drop.
After the drop (in the pine straw) and still left of the tributary to Rae’s Creek, Garcia punched his third to within 87 yards of the pin, hit his fourth to seven feet, and knocked in the par.
Rose played his second from the right fairway 186 yards away, but hit it 210 yards and over the green. Now 26 yards from the target, he used the flat stick to get on the green, leaving six feet for birdie, and missed, his third missed scoring try from six feet or less on the day.
Rose used the putter three times at 13 and though statistically not a 3-putt, it was big a momentum swing, particularly after Garcia had squared back-to-backs at 10 and 11 and was seemingly headed for another (at least).
Garcia birdied the 14th (from six feet) to get within one and both players found the fairway on the par-5 15th, though Garcia was 21 yards closer with a drive of 330 yards. Rose missed the green pin-high left, and Garcia hit 8-iron from 192 yards down the hill to 14 feet.
Rose chipped to four feet and marked, and Garcia proceeded to can the eagle, followed by an emphatic fist pump. To his credit, Rose was able to drop the birdie on top of him, but the duo was now deadlocked.
Rose regained the momentum at the par-3 16th, curling in an 8-footer for birdie, while Garcia missed his from six feet. Rose 1 UP with two to play.
At 17, Rose drove into the trees right, advanced 160 yards with his second into the front, greenside bunker, and missed a par-saver from seven feet. Garcia found fairway, green, and 2-putted from 31 feet for par. Back to all square.
On 18, both players found the short grass, with Garcia 20 yards closer, and both wound up with makeable birdie tries. Rose went first and missed from seven feet. Garcia, just five feet away for the win, whiffed. On to sudden death.
Back at 18, Rose again drove into the trees right, leaving 185 yards for his second. He dribbled one ahead (46 yards) back into the fairway, but was still 146 yards shy of the pin, and just one yard closer than Garcia’s tee ball. Advantage Garcia.
Garcia found the surface in regulation for another birdie try, this one from 12 feet, while Rose gallantly hit his third to 14 feet but missed the par-saver. The 2013 U.S. Open champ and Olympic gold medalist stepped to the side and removed his cap.
With two putts for the win, the Spaniard, who finiished T8 to the Englishman in Rio, needed just one, and the major championship drought was over.
Key Stats:
Garcia finished T1 in bogeys with seven; 1st in par-4 scoring (3.93); T1 in 3-putts (one); T2 in driving accuracy and T2 in greens in regulation (GIR).
Note: Rose tied Garcia in GIR, hitting 54 (of 72), but Garcia actually hit one more, on the 73rd hole. That won’t show on the stat line, but it was probably the most important single-hole stat of the tournament.
Field Scoring Average:
This was the 81st playing of the Masters Tournament at the 7,435-yard par-72 (36-36) Augusta National Golf Club.
R1: 74.978*; R2: 74.742*; R3: 72.491; R4: 71.868
Total: 73.887*
Rounds 1 and 2 were the highest scoring averages of the season for their respective rounds as was the cumulative total.
TWO players managed par or better in all four rounds: Garcia and Rose.
Garcia improves to 4-for-14 as 54-hole leader/co-leader, 1-for-2 in majors, and 2-for-11 overall as 36-hole leader/co-leader.
Rose drops to 3-for-12 as 54-hole leader/co-leader (0-for-1 in majors). At his 2013 U.S. Open victory, he came from two back with even-par 70 to win by two. Rose’s win at the 2016 Rio Games did come as the 54-hole leader.
Garcia’s Weekly Stats (ranking of 53 players):
Note: No strokes gained stats are recorded at the Masters
Eagles: 1 (T2)
Birdies: 14 (T20)
Bogeys: 7 (T1)
Par-3 Scoring: 3.06 (T12)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.93 (1st)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.56 (T17)
Driving Distance (all drives): 291.5 yards (6th)
Driving Accuracy: 45/56 (2nd) at 80.36 percent
GIR: 54/72 (T2) at 75.00 percent
Average Putts per Hole: 1.65 (T20)
Total Putts: 119 (T20)
Putts by Round: 30-28-32-29
3-putts (total)*: one (T1)
Scrambling: 12/18 (T6) at 66.67 percent
Note: Two players were tied-worst with seven 3-putts each: Hideki Matsuyama (finished T11), and Byeong Hun An (T33).
With the win, Garcia earns a 5-year exemption on TOUR and invites to the 2017 PGA Championship and 2018 SBS Tournament of Champions. He had previously qualified for the 2017 U.S. Open, Open Championship, THE PLAYERS, and the WGC-Bridgestone.
In the 80 prior editions of the Masters, five players have won the tournament prior to the Masters and gone on to win the Masters. Phil Mickelson remains the most recent in 2006.
Russell Henley, winner of last week’s Shell Houston Open and the “win and you’re in” moniker, finished T11 on 1-under 287 (71-76-71-69). That’s his best at the Masters in four appearances (21st/2015) and his career best in 17 major appearances (T12, 2015 PGA).
Garcia banks 600 FedExCup (FEC) points for the victory and leaps 58 spots to 12th in the standings.
Top 10 in FEC standings (points):
1. Dustin Johnson (1,903)
2. Hideki Matsuyama (1,822)
3. Justin Thomas (1,793)
4. Jon Rahm (1,361)
5. Adam Hadwin (1,160)
6. Jordan Spieth (1,104); UP one
7. Pat Perez (1,093); DOWN one
8. Rickie Fowler (1,069)
9. Justin Rose (980); UP seven
10. Brendan Steele (960); DOWN one
Note: Marc Leishman (T43) dropped from 10th to 13th, behind Henley and Garcia.
With a Strength of Field (SOF) rating of 782 (down from 798 last year), Garcia earns 100.00 world-ranking points and bumps four places to 7th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). His career-high OWGR is 2nd after the 2009 Honda Classic.
Note: World No. 1 Dustin Johnson’s pre-tourney WD (back) dropped the SOF by 53 points (originally 835).
Top 10 in OWGR (this week’s finishes):
1. Dustin Johnson (idle)
2. Rory McIlroy (T7)
3. Jason Day (T22)
4. Hideki Matsuyama (T11)
5. Jordan Spieth (T11); UP one
6. Henrik Stenson (CUT); DOWN one
7. Sergio Garcia (P1); UP four
8. Justin Rose (P2); UP six
9. Rickie Fowler (T11); DOWN one
10. Justin Thomas (T22); DOWN three
Notes: Adam Scott (T9) dropped from 9th to 11th; Alex Noren (CUT) dropped from 10th to 12th. Henrik Stenson has missed three straight cuts on TOUR for the first time since 2011.
24 of the Top 25 in OWGR were in the field; SIX finished in the top 10:
No. 2 Rory McIlroy (T7)
No. 9 Adam Scott (T9)
No. 11 Sergio Garcia (P1)
No. 14 Justin Rose (P2)
No. 16 Paul Casey (6th)
No. 21 Matt Kuchar (T4)
Avg. world ranking of the top-10 finishers: 22nd
Other Notables:
No. 12 Jon Rahm (T27); Masters debut
No. 13 Patrick Reed (CUT)
No. 15 Tyrrell Hatton (CUT); Masters debut
No. 17 Danny Willett (CUT); first defender to MC since Mike Weir (2004)
No. 18 Phil Mickelson (T22)
No. 19 Bubba Watson (CUT)
No. 20 Branden Grace (T27)
No. 22 Brandt Snedeker (T27)
No. 23 Russell Knox (CUT)
No. 24 Jimmy Walker (T18)
No. 25 Brooks Koepka (T11)
Season Trends:
As mentioned, Garcia is the EIGHTH straight winner to have at least one week off prior to the win.
13 of 22 winners this season were in their 20s;
6 were in their 30s (Garcia: age: 37)
3 were in their 40s
17 of the 21 winners (minus Match Play) emerged out of the FINAL group on Sunday, including Garcia. The four outliers:
Marc Leishman: Penultimate twosome: erased 3-shot deficit w/ 3-under 69; won API by 1.
Hideki Matsuyama: Penultimate threesome: erased 4-shot deficit w/ 5-under 66; won WMPO in playoff.
Jon Rahm: Fifth-to-last threesome: erased 3-shot deficit w/ 7-under 65; won Farmers by 3.
Brendan Steele: Third-to-last threesome: erased 4-shot deficit w/ 7-under 65; won Safeway by 1.
54-hole leaders/co-leaders are now 9-for-21 converting:
Converted: Hideki Matsuyama (WGC-HSBC), Mackenzie Hughes (The RSM Classic), Justin Thomas x2 (SBS TOC and Sony); Jordan Spieth (AT&T Pro-Am); Dustin Johnson (Genesis); Rickie Fowler (Honda); Adam Hadwin (Valspar); Sergio Garcia (Masters)
Failed: Patton Kizzire (Safeway); Anirban Lahiri (CIMB); Luke List, Chris Kirk (Sanderson Farms); Lucas Glover (Shriners); Gary Woodland (OHL); Adam Hadwin (CBC); Patrick Rodgers, Brandt Snedeker (FIO); Byeong Hun An (WMPO); Justin Thomas (WGC-Mexico); Kevin Kisner, Charley Hoffman (API); Chris Stroud (PRO); Sung Kang (SHO); Justin Rose (co-Masters)
Draw:
No traditional draw. The 36-hole cut fell on 6-over 150 (for a second year in a row). A total of 51 pros and two amateurs from a field of 88 pros and five amateurs made the cut.
With a first-round tee time of 1:19PM (EDT), Garcia is the fourth straight Masters winner to have a first-round tee time of 1:15PM or later, fifth in the last six.
Also of note, Garcia had been paired in the first two rounds with three of the last four eventual champs, including with Willett last year.
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
R1: Charley Hoffman (65)
R2: Rickie Fowler (67)
R3: Justin Rose (67)
R4: Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama (67)
Bogey-free Rounds:
R1: Sergio Garcia (71)
R2: Martin Kaymer (68); Ryan Moore (69)
R3: Brandt Snedeker (69); Adam Scott (69)
R4: NONE
Runner-Up:
Justin Rose: This was the 36-year-old’s 12th Masters. After opening with four pars and a 3-putt bogey-5 at five, he fell three behind, but leveled the contest with a 3-birdie train on holes 6-8. The overnight co-leader and World No. 14 would end up signing for a 3-under-par 34-35=69 to match, but couldn’t get over the finish line, dropping his record to 1-2 in extra time.
Overall, Rose was making his 52nd major championship appearance and this is a second runner-up, both at Augusta. His last three stabs at the green jacket read: P2-T10-T2. In Rose’s 12 trips down Magnolia Lane, he’s cashed every time, posting 10 top 25s and five top 10s.
In 295 career TOUR starts (294 pro), this is his 11th runner-up finish, second this season in eight events (solo 2nd, Sony Open).
Rose is 8-for-8 in 2016-17 with four top 10s, all doubling as top 5s.
He’s a 7-time TOUR winner but hasn’t won since the 2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans 37 starts ago. The Brit, who was born in South Africa, climbs six places to 8th in OWGR and seven spots to 9th in the FEC standings. He led the field in birdies with 21, but was T16 in bogeys with 12.
First-timers and/or Rookies:
First-timers: 19
Top-10 finishes: 1
Thomas Pieters: The Special Temporary Member and World No. 35 was the only debutant to finish in the top 10 with a two-way T4 on 5-under 283, four strokes shy of the playoff. William McGirt (T22) was next-best.
This was the 25-year-old’s third major, brushing aside a previous-best T30 at the 2016 Open Championship. Overall, it was his 12th career start on TOUR and third top 10, all top 5s and all this season, just shy of his career-TOUR-best T2 at the Genesis Open. The Belgian, a 3-time Euro Tour winner, was a 36-hole co-leader (72-68) and finished 75-68. He bumps nine places to a career-high 26th in OWGR.
TOUR Rookies: 1
Top-10 finishes: 0
Mackenzie Hughes: The 26-year-old and World No. 116 was the only TOUR rookie (of this year’s class of 25) to qualify and missed the cut by nine with rounds of 79-80.
Other Notable Finishes:
Charl Schwartzel: The 2011 winner and World No. 29 finished solo 3rd on 6-under 282 (74-72-68-68), three swings short of the playoff.
This was the South African’s 41st major appearance, with the win here his lone major title, and is a second top 10 in eight visits to ANGC.
It’s also a second top 10 of the season in seven starts, joining solo 6th as defender at the Valspar Championship. The 32-year-old jumps 11 spots to 18th in OWGR and 54 places to 42nd in the FEC standings.
Matt Kuchar: The 38-year-old and World No. 21 aced the par-3 16th en route to a day-tying-low 5-under-par 36-31=67 and a 72-hole total of 5-under 283 (72-73-71-67), up eight places to T4, four adrift of the playoff.
Round 4 was his 42nd career lap at ANGC and is a new low, supplanting 68 four times. The Georgia Tech alum’s HIO was his second of the season, the first coming in R3 at the WGC-HSBC.
This was his 45th major with a best of T3 at the 2012 Masters and just a second top 10 of the season in 11 starts (T9, Phoenix Open). Kuchar bumps four spots to 17th in OWGR and jumps 28 places to 45th in the FEC standings.
Stewart Hagestad: Making his Masters and PGA TOUR debut, the 25-year-old and 708th-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking took the silver cup with T36 on 6-over 294 (74-73-74-73).
One of five amateurs to begin the week, the Southern Cal grad was one of two to survive the cut, becoming the first U.S. Mid-Amateur champ to play the weekend at the Masters.
He was three swings better than the world’s No.1-ranked amateur Curtis Luck, who is the 2016 U.S. Amateur and Asia-Pacific Amateur champ and finished T46. Luck is scheduled to turn pro after the Masters.
Consecutive top 10s on TOUR:
Dustin Johnson (1st-1st-1st-3rd)
Paul Casey (6th-T9)
Rafael Campos (7th-T10)
Consecutive top-10 streaks ended:
Jon Rahm (T27-T10-2nd-T3-T5)
Adam Hadwin (T36-6th-1st)
Hudson Swafford (CUT-6th-T10)
Up Next:
The TOUR heads to Hilton Head, South Carolina, for this week’s 132-man RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links where Branden Grace is the defending champ. The South African erased a 3-shot deficit with 5-under 66 to beat Russell Knox and 54-hole leader Luke Donald by two.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and analysis as the TOUR readies for its 23rd tournament of the season (of 47).
