80th Masters Tournament:
With a bogey-free 5-under-par 34-33=67, Danny Willett overcame a 3-stroke deficit in the final round to win the 80th Masters with a 72-hole aggregate of 5-under 283, good for a 3-shot victory over countryman Lee Westwood and 54-hole leader and defending champion Jordan Spieth.
This is Willett’s first major title in 12 major championship appearances and it came in his second Masters (T38/2015). His previous best was T6 at the 2015 Open Championship. The 28-year-old won on the PGA TOUR for the first time in his 23rd career start and it’s his third podium of the season, posting T3s at both the WGC-HSBC Champions and the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
The Englishman, who became a first-time dad on Mar. 30th, claims his fifth European Tour title in 197 career starts and second of the season, joining a 1-stroke triumph at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in February.
With the win, Willett moves from No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to a career-best No. 9, and collects $1.8M in non-PGA TOUR member earnings. He’s only the second Brit to win a green jacket, 20 years after Nick Faldo won his last, and the first Euro to win since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999.
The Winner’s Stats (rank):
Driving Accuracy: 38/56 (T26)
Driving Distance: 278.8 yards (32nd)
Greens in Regulation: 48/72 (T6)
Putts per GIR: 1.813 (13th)
Total Putts: 114 (T4)
Putts per Round: 28.50 (T4)
Overall Putting Average: 1.583 (T4)
3-putts (total)*: One (T2)
Scrambling: 17/24 (1st) at 70.83 percent
Eagles: 0 (T22)
Birdies: 13 (T16)
Bogeys: 8 (1st)
Double bogeys: 0 (T1)
*NOTE: Troy Merritt, who finished T42, was the only player without a 3-putt over 72 holes. Two players were tied-worst with nine each, Harris English (T42), and Danny Lee (T17).
Scoring Average by Round:
Augusta National Golf Club
7,435 yards
Par: 72 (36-36)
R1: 74.090 (highest on TOUR this season)
R2: 75.022 (highest on TOUR this season)
R3: 75.719 (highest on TOUR this season)
R4: 72.702
The cumulative scoring average of 74.421 was the highest on TOUR this season (previously, Farmers Insurance Open: 73.275).
The Champion:
5-under 283 (70-74-72-67)
Playing out of the fourth-to-last twosome, Willett began the finale three strokes back of Spieth on even-par (T5) and landed nine (of 14) fairways, 13 greens in regulation, and posted a sterling 1.56 putts per hole.
He circled birdies on Nos. 6 and 8 and after back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14, suddenly found himself leading the tournament for the first time after Spieth opened his inward half in bogey-bogey-quad bogey-7.
Willett canned a 7-footer for birdie-2 at the 16th and parred in to post 5-under. Spieth, 3-under total thru 15, was the only one who could catch him, but finished par-bogey-par for the final margin.
Draw:
With 89 players there wasn’t a traditional early/late, late/early draw per se. That said, we’ve noted the top-6 players and their first-round (Thursday) tee times (EDT).
Danny Willett (Won): 1:39 P.M.
Lee Westwood (T2): 9:15 a.m.
Jordan Spieth (T2): 9:48 a.m.
Paul Casey (T4): 9:48 a.m.
J.B. Holmes (T4): 1:50 P.M.
Dustin Johnson (T4): 9:59 a.m.
Golf Channel Perfect Picks ($3,973,333):
Group 1: Jordan Spieth (T2): $880,000
Group 2: Danny Willett (Won): $1,800,000
Group 3: Paul Casey (T4): $413,333
Group 4: Lee Westwood (T2): $880,000
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
R1: Jordan Spieth (66)
R2: Troy Merritt, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Daniel Berger (71)
R3: Smylie Kaufman (69)
R4: Danny Willett, Paul Casey, Matthew Fitzpatrick (67)
Bogey-free rounds:
R1- (ONE): Jordan Spieth (66)
R2- (NONE)
R3- (NONE)
R4- (TWO): Danny Willett (67); Paul Casey (67)
The Runners-up:
2-under 286:
Jordan Spieth: The defending champ stalled out to a 1-over-par 32-41=73, settling for a two-way T2, three adrift.
After opening with a tourney-low bogey-free 66, his ninth straight round at par or better at Augusta National, he chased with three consecutive over-par rounds of 74-73-73.
The 22-year-old began the finale with a 1-stroke lead over TOUR rookie (and playing partner) Smylie Kaufman. That lead should’ve been greater, but he finished his third round in bogey-double bogey-6.
That said, the Texan seemingly had put that in the past after posting a five-birdie one-bogey 32 to reach the turn on 7-under total, highlighted by four straight circles on holes 6-9, including a 21-footer at the ninth.
The World No. 2 came to the 10th having extended his lead to FIVE and seemed in total control of the tournament. Then the back nine on Masters Sunday happened.
He bogeyed 10 and 11 (failed scrambles) and then splashed two in the water at the 155-yard par-3 12th, eventually 1-PUTTING for a quadruple bogey-7. Spieth surrendered six strokes over those three holes and his chase for back-to-back green jackets was essentially over.
He fought back like a champion however, with birdies at the par-5 12th and 15th, respectively, but missed birdie from 8'0" at 16 and squared his fourth bogey of the round with a failed scramble on 17. Spieth had a birdie chance from 17 feet at the last for solo second, but missed.
Dating back to last year’s wire-to-wire Masters win, the Dallas native and resident had converted his last five when the 54-hole leader/co-leader but drops to 5-for-10 now in that regard. Entering the final round, he led/co-led the Masters for eight of the last nine rounds and became the first player in history to lead outright for seven consecutive.
Spieth departs with his 10th career runner-up finish in 84 pro starts, including three in major championships (T2/2014 Masters; 2nd/2015 PGA Championship; T2/2016 Masters). He led the field in birdies (22), seven in R4, but squared 10 bogeys, three double bogeys and the quad bogey-7.
Lee Westwood: The World No. 67 spun a 3-under-par 34-34=68 in the final round to wrap his 17th appearance on 2-under 286, up six places on the day to co-runner-up.
He pocketed $880,000 in non-PGA TOUR member earnings and jumps 32 spots to OWGR No. 35. Westwood remains winless in 72 major championship appearances but did notch his third career runner-up (2010/Masters; 2010/Open Championship).
The 42-year-old struggled to get into this year’s edition after ending last year exactly at No. 50 in OWGR. He won’t have to worry about that for 2017. The Englishman, grouped with the would-be-champ in the fourth-to-last pairing, began the final round on 1-over (T8), four shy of Spieth.
He opened with a 3-putt bogey from 37'0" but rebounded with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7. Westwood added a third circle at the ninth from 12'0" to turn 2-under. He bogeyed the 10th (failed scramble) and 3-putted the 16th from 47'0" for bogey-4, his fifth 3-putt of the week, but erased them with a birdie on the par-5 13th and a chip-in eagle-3 on 15 from 25 yards away.
4th Place (x3):
1-under 287:
Paul Casey: The 38-year-old and OWGR No. 25 began the final round T16 on 4-over and back-doored a three-way T4 with bogey-free 67, chasing 66-77-74. His T4 is his best finish in 10 Masters appearances, eclipsing T6s in 2004 (debut) and 2015. The Englishman’s best finish in 48 major appearances remains T3 at the 2010 Open Championship.
J.B. Holmes: The World No. 23 rallied for a 4-under-par 36-32=68 to wrap his third appearance in a three-way T4, up eight places on the day. Notably, Holmes was unable to defend his title at last week’s Houston Open, withdrawing prior to the start with a shoulder injury. It obviously didn’t hamper him this week as he drastically improved on T25 in his 2008 tournament debut.
Holmes began his final frame on 3-over (T13) after opening 72-73-74. He circled seven on the card, including a walk-off 3, to erase three straight bogeys on holes 2-4, and played his final 14 holes in blemish-free 6-under.
The 33-year-old, making his 23rd overall appearance in a major, had not had a prior top 10, posting a previous best of T14 at the 2010 Open Championship.
Dustin Johnson: The World No. 8 carved out a 1-under-par 35-36=71, up one spot on the leaderboard into a three-way T4, four back.
Making his seventh Masters appearance, with a previous best of T6 last year, he began his final frame on even-par (T5) after opening in 73-71-72.
The 31-year-old, twice a major runner-up in 27 prior appearances, missed birdie from 9'0" at the par-5 second and from 5'0" at the par-4 third. He took four to get on the par-4 fifth, 2-putting for his first double bogey-6 and later, 3-jacked the 17th for his second.
In between, he birdied the sixth with a hole out from five yards, the par-5 eighth after missing eagle from 13'0", the ninth from 7’0”, and 2-putted the par-5 13th and 15th for birdies after missing eagle tries from 20'0" and 13'0", respectively.
What We Learned:
The pre-tourney odds-favorites have won just ONCE this season thru 22 events (Spieth- Hyundai TOC). Day was the book-maker favorite this week (13/2) and finished a somewhat disappointing T10 on 1-over 289 (72-73-71-73), six in arrears of Willett, who was a pre-tourney 60/1 outright.
All 25 of the Top 25 OWGR were in the field:
Ten (10) finished in the Top 10: Danny Willett (Won); Jordan Spieth (T2); Paul Casey (T4); J.B. Holmes (T4); Dustin Johnson (T4); Hideki Matsuyama (T7); Jason Day (T10); Rory McIlroy (T10); Justin Rose (T10); Brandt Snedeker (T10).
Five (5) missed the 36-hole cut: Rickie Fowler; Branden Grace; 2007 champ Zach Johnson; 3x champ Phil Mickelson; and 2011 champ Charl Schwartzel.
There were 20 Masters debutants in the 89-man field (two PGA TOUR rookies):
Daniel Berger: The 23-year-old and World No. 53 took top honors of first-timers with a T10 on 1-over 289 (73-71-74-71). It’s his second top 10 of the season (13 starts) and comes back-to-back off last week’s T5 at the SHO. It’s also Berger’s best finish in four major appearances, eclipsing T28 at the 2014 U.S. Open.
Emiliano Grillo: The 23-year-old and World No. 36 was the top TOUR rookie posting T17 on 5-under 283 (68-74-71-70). It’s his fourth top 25 of the season (12 starts) and best finish in two major appearances, bettering T61 at the 2015 PGA Championship.
NOTE: Grillo’s fellow rookie Smylie Kaufman, solo second to begin the final round and paired with Spieth, ballooned to a 9-over 81 to drop 27 places to T29. The 24-year-old circled two birdies, squared nine bogeys and a double. On the bright side, it’s his first cash in his second major appearance after qualifying for and missing the cut at the 2014 U.S. Open.
Bryson DeChambeau: Making his Masters debut, the 22-year-old and 464th-ranked player in the world was low amateur with T21 on 5-over 293 (72-72-77-72). He jumps to No. 349 in OWGR ahead of his professional debut at this coming week’s RBC Heritage.
Up Next:
The TOUR heads to Hilton Head, South Carolina, for the 132-man RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Jim Furyk, out with injury, would’ve been the defending champion after winning last year’s edition in a playoff over South Carolinian Kevin Kisner, who is in the field.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and opinions as the TOUR readies for its 23rd tournament of the season.
