Sunday, April 1, 2018

MASTERS 2018 

The Augusta Chronicle • augustachronicle.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M1 

Sunday, April 1, 2018 

Augusta.com 

Greener Days 

Garcia's Masters 

moment came 

after years of 

striving, struggle 

and doubt 

Story, M3 

[CHRIS THELEN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

INSIDE THIS PREVIEW SECTION 

RETURN ENGAGEMENT: Four-time champion 

Tiger Woods is back in the field and in the 

hunt after a two-year hiatus. M17 

NEW LEADER: Career amateur Fred Ridley 

is the club's first chairman who competed 

in the Masters Tournament. M25 

BEAR TRAPS: Six-time Masters champion 

Jack Nicklaus offers his tips on the six shots 

to avoid at Augusta National. M33

M2 Sunday, April 1, 2018 The Augusta Chronicle • augusta.com 


The Masters Tournament field as of March 31, with 

each player’s country of origin and how he qualified. 

Qualifications are for one year, except where noted. 

Players index 

Masters Champions (Lifetime) 

US Open Champions (five years) 

British Open Champions (five years) 

PGA Champions (five years) 

Winners of The Players Championship (Three years) 

US Amateur Champion 

US Amateur runner-up 

British Amateur Champion 

Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion 

Latin America Amateur Champion 

US Mid-Amateur Champion 

Top 12, including ties, in 2017 Masters 

Top 4, including ties, in 2017 US Open 

Top 4, including ties, in 2017 British Open 

Top 4 including ties, in 2017 PGA Championship 

Winners of qualifying PGA Tour events since 2017 Masters 

Qualifiers for 2017 season-ending Tour Championship 

Top 50, final 2017 Official World Golf Ranking 

Top 50 week before Masters 

# Denotes first Masters *Denotes Amateur **Denotes Invitee Not Playing 

World ranking 

Page Player Country 

M28 Kiradech Aphibarnrat Thailand ● ● 29 

29 

M28 Daniel Berger United States ● ● ● ● 37 

37 

M30 # Wesley Bryan United States ● 89 

89 

M36 Angel Cabrera Argentina ● 

M38 Rafael Cabrera-Bello Spain ● ● ● 22 

22 

M28 Patrick Cantlay United States ● ● ● ● 33 

33 

M23 Paul Casey England ● ● ● ● ● 13 

13 

M42 Kevin Chappell United States ● ● ● ● ● 38 

38 

M42 # Austin Cook United States ● 108 

108 

M18 Fred Couples United States ● 

M39 Jason Day Australia ● ● ● ● ● ● 12 

12 

M21 Bryson DeChambeau United States ● 64 

64 

M20 Jason Dufner United States ● ● ● ● ● 49 

49 

M42 #* Harry Ellis England ● 

M42 # Tony Finau United States ● ● ● 34 

34 

M23 Ross Fisher England ● ● 35 

35 

M23 Matthew Fitzpatrick England ● ● 36 

36 

M23 Tommy Fleetwood England ● ● ● 11 

11 

M20 Rickie Fowler United States ● ● ● ● ● 8 

M37 # Dylan Frittelli South Africa ● 47 

47 

M3 Sergio Garcia Spain ● ● ● ● 9 

M42 #* Doug Ghim United States ● 

M37 Branden Grace South Africa ● ● 31 

31 

M36 Adam Hadwin Canada ● ● 42 

42 

M31 Brian Harman United States ● ● ● ● ● 23 

23 

M23 Tyrrell Hatton England ● ● 17 

17 

M31 Russell Henley United States ● ● ● 56 

56 

M36 Charley Hoffman United States ● ● ● 28 

28 

M36 Billy Horschel United States ● 86 

86 

M28 Yuta Ikeda Japan ● 54 

54 

M37 Trevor Immelman South Africa ● 

M20 Dustin Johnson United States ● ● ● ● ● 59 

59 

M21 Zach Johnson United States ● ● ● 1 

M36 Martin Kaymer Germany ● 87 

87 

M28 SiWoo Kim Korea ● ● ● 50 

50 

M30 Kevin Kisner United States ● ● ● ● 25 

25 

M42 # Patton Kizzire United States ● 53 

53 

M36 # Satoshi Kodaira Japan ● 46 

46 

M13 ** Brooks Koepka United States ● ● ● ● ● 10 

10 

M31 Matt Kuchar United States ● ● ● ● ● 20 

20 

M39 Bernhard Langer Germany ● 

M39 Marc Leishman Australia ● ● ● ● 16 

16 

M28 # Haotong Li China ● ● 41 

41 

M42 #* Yuxin Lin China ● 

M39 Sandy Lyle Scotland ● 

M28 Hideki Matsuyama Japan ● ● ● ● ● ● 6 

M22 Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 7 

M21 Phil Mickelson United States ● ● ● ● ● 18 

18 

M28 # Yusaku Miyazato Japan ● 57 

57 

M30 Larry Mize United States ● 

M36 Francesco Molinari Italy ● ● ● 27 

27 

M42 Ryan Moore United States ● 66 

66 

M42 #* Joaquin Niemann Chile ● 

M36 Alex Noren Sweden ● ● 14 

14 

M18 Mark O’Meara United States ● 

M38 Jose Maria Olazabal Spain ● 

M37 Louis Oosthuizen South Africa ● ● ● 32 

32 

M42 #* Matt Parziale United States ● 

M28 Pat Perez United States ● ● ● ● 19 

19 

M38 Thomas Pieters Belgium ● ● ● 45 

45 

M36 Ted Potter Jr. United States ● 80 

80 

M38 Jon Rahm Spain ● ● ● ● 3 

M42 Chez Reavie United States ● 48 

48 

M42 #* Doc Redman United States ● 

M29 Patrick Reed United States ● ● ● ● 24 

24 

M22 Justin Rose England ● ● ● ● ● ● 5 

M42 # Xander Schauffele United States ● ● ● ● 26 

26 

M37 Charl Schwartzel South Africa ● ● ● 58 

58 

M39 Adam Scott Australia ● ● ● 61 

61 

M36 #^ Shubhankar Sharma India 68 

68 

M20 Webb Simpson United States ● ● ● 40 

40 

M36 Vijay Singh Fiji ● 

M39 Cameron Smith Australia ● 44 

44 

M14 Jordan Spieth United States ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 4 

M28 Kyle Stanley United States ● ● ● ● 43 

43 

M36 Brendan Steele United States ● ● ● 39 

39 

M36 Henrik Stenson Sweden ● ● ● ● 15 

15 

M15 Justin Thomas United States ● ● ● ● ● 2 

M38 Jhonattan Vegas Venezuela ● ● ● 52 

52 

M20 Jimmy Walker United States ● 95 

95 

M31 Bubba Watson United States ● ● ● 21 

21 

M36 Mike Weir Canada ● 

M38 Bernd Wiesberger Austria ● 55 

55 

M23 Danny Willett England ● 274 

274 

M42 Gary Woodland United States ● ● ● 30 

30 

M17 Tiger Woods United States ● 104 

104 

M39 Ian Woosnam Wales ● 

What’s inside 

This section 

6M: Defending champion 

Sergio Garcia has had a 

love-hate relationship 

with Augusta National. 

Section 2 

9M: Angela Akins Garcia 

has provided her husband 

with a positive outlook. 

Section 3 

17M: Tiger Woods will 

play in the Masters for the 

first time since 2015, and 

expectations are sky high. 

Section 4 

25M: Fred Ridley takes over 

as Augusta National and 

Masters chairman, and will 

bring a player’s perspective. 

Section 5 

33M: Six-time champion 

Jack Nicklaus points out 

the areas to avoid at 

Augusta National. 

Section 6 

41M: Driving distances 

continue to increase, but 

will the governing bodies 

do anything to stop it? 

The Augusta Chronicle • augustachronicle.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M1 

Greener Days 

[CHRIS THELEN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

INSIDE THIS PREVIEW SECTION 


Garcia's Masters 

moment came 

after years of 

striving, struggle 

and doubt 

Story, M3 

Sunday, April 1, 2018 Augusta.com 

RETURN ENGAGEMENT: Four-time champion 

Tiger Woods is back in the field and in the 

hunt after a two-year hiatus. M17 

NEW LEADER: Career amateur Fred Ridley 

is the club's first chairman who competed 

in the Masters Tournament. M25 

BEAR TRAPS: Six-time Masters champion 

Jack Nicklaus o fers his tips on the six shots 

to avoid at Augusta National. M33 

The Augusta Chronicle • Augusta.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M9 


By Scott Michaux 

Staff Writer 

AUSTIN, Texas — Sergio 

Garcia insisted he didn’t feel 

any di ferent as he sat in the 

interview room wearing his 

green jacket while trying to 

explain how he fina ly got it 

after 18 years of pursuit. 

“I’m sti l the same guy,” 

he said. “I’m sti l the same 

goofy guy, so that’s not 

going to change.” 

That’s not the analysis 

that was unfolding in the 

clubhouse, where the members 

were gathering for the 

traditional victory party 

Augusta National throws for 

the newly minted Masters 

champion and his entourage. 

Marty and Pamela Akins – 

parents of Garcia’s fiancee, 

Angela – were sitting at a 

table catching their breath 

after a long emotional day. 

One after another, members 

and their spouses kept 

approaching them, a l saying 

a variation of the exact same 

thing. 

“They said this is the most 

incredible transformation 

that they’d seen,” Marty 

Akins said. “People just 

poured over to us and told us 

how different Sergio was. I 

told Pamela they a l had seen 

what we’d seen. It was like 

a miracle to a lot of them.” 

The difference tha they 

and every other golf fan saw 

that Sunday had nothing to 

do with golf. Garcia at age 

37 is as gifted and ski led a 

golfer as he was when he first 

came to Augusta at age 19. 

Geo f Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. 

Open champion, ca ls Garcia 

“the best ba l-striker in the 

world for the last 20 years.” 

“A l of the guys of my generation 

who have played a lot 

with Sergio would acknowledge 

that fact,” Ogilvy told 

Golf Digest’s John Huggan. 

“No one has been more consistent 

than Sergio. Nobody. 

. I’ve seen guys hit it better 

than Sergio. But I’ve never 

seen anyone so good for so 

long.” 

A l of that ski l is a testament 

to Garcia and his 

father, Victor Sr., who has 

been the only teacher the 

Spaniard has ever known. 

But what was different 

about Garcia that Sunday – 

what enabled him to avoid 

another collapse when 

adversity and bogeys started 

piling up around Amen 

Corner – came from another 

source. It came from three 

generations of Texas sporting 

aristocracy delivered by 

the woman he loved. 

“I think when you put 

Sergio and Angela together 

you’ve got a winning combination,” 

said Marty Akins 

of the couple who got married 

in June. “I know Sergio 

was a great golfer before he 

met Angela. I know he did 

outstanding things before 

he met Angela. He’s won 

a l over the world. But I was 

able to notice that something 

happened to him and 

he changed in a way that we 

measure.” 

Garcia doesn’t argue the 

point considering the ultimate 

measure is a major 

championship. 

“It’s true,” he said. “She’s 

been an amazing influence.” 

Family tradition 

Akins first met Garcia in 

2015 a the Houston Open 

in her role as a Golf Channel 

reporter, asking him a few 

questions after his pro-am 

round. 

“He was very, very nice,” 

she said. “I was so busy 

trying to do my job and 

I’d just started a the Golf 

Channel four months before 

that. Honestly I didn’t think 

anything of it. I just remember 

Sergio always being one 

of the nicest guys, not just to 

me but a l of the media.” 

That was the extent of their 

relationship for months, 

occasiona ly running into 

each other a tournaments 

and exchanging pleasantries. 

By the end of the year, Garcia 

started asking Akins out. 

When they started o ficia ly 

dating in 2016, she resigned 

from Golf Channel. 

Garcia had found a kindred 

spirit who gets him. 

“For me it helps because I 

could see that she can understand 

me a little bit better 

than some other people 

might,” Garcia said. “It 

made things a little bit easier 

to deal with.” 

It’s constructive to understand 

how Angela Akins 

Garcia grew up. 

Her grandfather, Ray 

Akins, was a Ha l of Fame 

high school coach in Texas 

who won 302 games in 37 

seasons under the Friday 

night lights. 

Her father, Marty, was an 

A l-American quarterback 

a the University of Texas, 

establishing rushing records 

running the wishbone 

offense in the mid-1970s 

that weren’t surpassed until 

Vince Young came along 30 

years later. He preceded his 

father into the Texas high 

school footba l Ha l of Fame. 

Her first cousin is Drew 

Brees, the former Purdue 

A l-American quarterback 

who led the New Orleans 

Saints to a Super Bowl win 

and is less than 1,500 yards 

from becoming the NFL’s 

career passing leader. His 

induction in the Texas high 

school footba l Ha l of Fame 

in 2011 made them the first 

family with three generations 

enshrined. 

“We are a l highly competitive 

no matter what we 

do in this family,” said Pam 

Akins. “I think Sergio rea ly 

likes that and fit right in.” 

Angela was a ste lar athlete 

at track, basketba l and 

golf, eventua ly getting a 

scholarship to join the Texas 

women’s golf team. 

“We always taught her to 

expec to win,” her father 

said. “There’s a saying in 

our family that what you 

think and what you believe 

is who you are. My dad used 

to say that a l the time. So 

if you think you’re the best 

and believe you’re the best, 

you’re going to be the best. 

If you think you’re going to 

win and believe you’re going 

to win, you’re going to win. 

She’s grown up with that her 

whole life.” 

Garcia quickly grew close 

to Angela’s father and 

grandfather. Ray Akins died 

the day after Christmas at 

age 92. 

“If he was talking to you, 

he would be subtly coaching 

you and teaching you something,” 

Pam Akin said of 

her father-in-law. “I think 

between Marty and his dad, 

their philosophy has had an 

impact on Sergio.” 

Those lessons are absorbed 

every day with Angela in 

Garcia’s life. 

The 

good 

wife 

Akins put Garcia 

on positive path 

toward green jacket 

Sergio Garcia celebrates with fiancee Angela Akins after his Masters Tournament victory. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Garcia met Akins when she was a Golf Channel reporter. “She’s an unbelievable woman, very driven 

and very competitive,” he said. “So she’s always pushing me to become better not only as a player but 

as a person.” [JOHN EVANS/GATEHOUSE MEDIA] 

“For me it helps because 

I could see that she can 

understand me a little bit 

better than some other 

people might. It made 

things a little bit easier to 

deal with.” 

Sergio Garcia, on his wife, 

Angela 

See ANGELA, M10 


[ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 


Sta f Writer 

As the months counted 

down to weeks and then 

days before the 2016 and 

2017 Masters, there was 

no word until the very end 

about Tiger Woods’ playing 

status. 

Despite not playing anywhere 

else, sidelined with 

a bad back that often left 

him unable to even get out 

of bed much les swing a 

golf club, he sti l seemed 

to be harboring hopes for a 

miracle. It seemed implausible 

that Woods was even 

considering teeing it up at 

Augusta National, bu the 

truth is he actua ly was. 

“Yeah, I was trying,” 

Woods admitted before the 

Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

“If there was one tournament 

I could come back 

to, it would be that one. 

There’s no other tournament 

like it. It has a deep 

place in my heart. From 

the time I was there as an 

amateur to my first win 

and to my other wins there 

as we l, I just love playing 

Augusta National. I was 

just hoping I could just 

get my back to hold on for 

four days. I don’t need the 

practice rounds, I can just 

walk them and take a look 

at them and maybe chip and 

putt a little bit. But can it 

hold on for four days? And 

there was no chance, no.” 

If there is a concept of 

he l for Tiger Woods, it was 

coming to Augusta in April 

three of the past four years 

without his golf clubs – just 

to have dinner. He wouldn’t 

miss a meal with his fe low 

green jacketed champions 

– especia ly walking Arnold 

Palmer in with Jack Nicklaus 

two years ago because they 

a l knew it would likely be 

Arnie’s last – but it was 

tough to swa low that his 

competitive days in the 

Masters might be over. 

“Frustrating, very frustrating, 

because I love 

playing Augusta National,” 

Woods said. “I love it. And 

I know how to play it. 

Sometimes I don’t play it 

we l, but I know how to play 

it. I just love being out there 

on those greens and hitting 

putts and being creative. It 

is . there’s no other golf 

course like it in the world 

and there’s no other golf 

tournament like it. It is 

litera ly, it’s a player’s 

heaven. And yeah, the last 

couple dinners have been 

frustrating in that aspect 

for sure.” 

When Thursday’s first 

round arrives, it wi l have 

been 1,090 days since the 

last time Woods teed it up 

in the Masters – finishing 

tied for 17th in 2015. Painfree 

for the first time in five 

years with a game evolving 

into a very familiar quality, 

Wood smiles a the 

thought. 

“Very eager, yes, very,” 

he said of his long-awaited 

return. “I feel like I am physica 

ly able to do it again and 

it’s going to be a lot of fun.” 

Since the end of last 

summer when Woods 

started posting videos 

of his incremental progress 

swinging after a 

spinal fusion surgery that 

he ca led “the last rope” 

option, anticipation has 

been building for his return 

to Augusta. Woods has 

referenced pointing his 

compass toward Augusta 

every week he’s played 

since competing in the 

Bahamas in December. 

There’s been parabolic 

progress in his game every 

start, with the expectation 

growing from just finishing 

18 holes healthy to making 

the cut to actua ly contending 

in quick succession. 

He played three times on 

the Florida swing and put 

himself in the mix every 

Sunday, finishing with ties 

for 12th, second and fifth at 

PGA National, Innisbrook 

and Bay Hill. 

Tiger Woods lines up a pu t during the final round of the 2015 Masters. He hasn’t played in the 

tournament since tying for 17th that year. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Tiger’s Masters wins 

1997 

Tiger Woods’ first major 

tournament as a professional 

didn’t get o f to a smooth 

start. Woods played the first 

nine holes of the 1997 Masters 

in 4-over-par 40, hardly the 

beginning he was looking for. 

But he righted his ship with 

30 on the back nine, including 

an eagle on No. 15, and 

from that poin the rout was 

on. Woods shot 66 and 65 the 

nex two rounds as he overpowered 

Augusta National 

and made believers out of 

his critics. A final-round 69 

gave him the lowest 72-hole 

score in Masters history and 

a 12-stroke victory. Only 

a handful of golfers, most 

notably Jack Nicklaus a the 

1965 Masters, had so thoroughly 

dominated a course 

and a tournament. “My dad 

told me last night, ‘Son, this is 

probably one of the toughest 

rounds you’ve ever had to 

play in your life,'” Woods said. 

“'If you go out there and be 

yourself, it wi l be one of the 

most rewarding rounds you’ve 

ever played in your life.' And 

he was right.” 

“ . I love playing Augusta National. I love it. And I know how to play it. Sometimes I don’t play it well, 

but I know how to play it. I just love being out there on those greens and hitting putts and being creative. 

It is . there’s no other golf course like it in the world and there’s no other golf tournament like it.” 

Tiger Woods 

Tiger Woods receives his 

green jacket from 1996 

champion Nick Faldo. [RON 

COCKERILLE/THE AUGUSTA 

CHRONICLE] 

See TIGER, M18 

See WINS, M18 

Tiger’s 

back 

At long last, Woods eagerly returns to ‘heaven’ 




Previous chairmen at Augusta National Golf Club 

CLIFFORD ROBERTS 

(1931-76): He was the 

brains behind most of 

what is the Masters 

Tournamen today. He 

joined with golfer Bobby 

Jones to organize the club 

and star the invitational 

tournament. Innovations 

included mounds for 

spectators to view play 

and bringing television to 

the tournament in 1956. 

Roberts died of a selfinflicted 

gunshot wound 

on the grounds of Augusta 

National in 1977. 

BILL LANE (1977-80): He 

served a very short period 

of time as chairman. Lane 

succeeded Roberts in 

1977 but soon became 

i l and was hospitalized. 

Notable occu rences 

during his tenure were 

the Par-3 Course being 

converted to bentgrass in 

preparation for insta lation 

on the main course 

and the patron badge 

waiting list being closed 

in 1978. Hord Hardin 

became acting chairman 

in 1979, and Lane died in 

1980. 

HORD HARDIN (1980-91): 

Changes during his tenure 

included the acceptance 

of Ron Townsend, the 

club’s first black member, 

in 1990; the change from 

bermuda to slick bentgrass 

greens in 1981; 

a lowing non-Augusta 

National caddies to work 

the Masters beginning in 

1983; and the reinstatement 

of honorary starters, 

featuring Gene Sarazen, 

Byron Nelson and Sam 

Snead, in 1981. He died in 

1996. 

JACK STEPHENS (1991- 

98): Under his watch, 

limitations on practiceround 

tickets were 

instituted and an agreement 

was reached to use 

Augusta National as the 

venue for golf in the 1996 

Olympic Games. The plan 

was late rejected by the 

IOC when Atlanta Mayor 

Bi l Campbell was critical 

of the lack of minorities 

on the Augusta National 

membership ro l. He died 

in 2005. 

HOOTIE JOHNSON 

(1998-2006): To combat 

advances in technology, 

he oversaw several 

changes to the golf course 

that stretched the layout 

to 7,445 yards. He also 

made headlines fo refusing 

to give in to activist 

Martha Burk, who urged 

the club to admit women 

as members. Johnson 

also made changes to the 

qualification system for 

the Masters and instituted 

18-hole television coverage 

of the tournament. He 

died in July. 

BILLY PAYNE (2006- 

2017): He welcomed the 

first female members at 

Augusta National Golf Club, 

Condoleezza Rice and Darla 

Moore, in 2012. He sought 

new ways to grow golf and 

did so by joining forces with 

golf’s governing bodies to 

create the Drive, Chip and 

Pu t Championship for 

children ages 7-15. Under 

his watch, Augusta National 

and the game’s ruling 

bodies also created two new 

amateur tournaments, the 

Asia-Pacific Amateur and 

Latin America Amateur. 

By John Boyette 

Sports Editor 

Fred Ridley can vividly 

reca l the moment he realized 

that remaining an 

amateur golfer was the right 

decision. 

It was during the first 

round of the 1976 Masters 

Tournament. Ridley, the 

reigning U.S. Amateur 

champion, was in the traditional 

pairing at Augusta 

National Golf Club with 

defending champion Jack 

Nicklaus. 

Ridley had held his own 

with the Golden Bear, a 

five-time Masters winner, 

early on. But when they 

exchanged handshakes on 

the 18th green, Nicklaus 

had shot 5-under-par 67 and 

Ridley had carded 5-over 77. 

His ah-ha moment? 

“It might have been when 

I walked off the ninth tee 

with Jack Nicklaus in the 

first round of the Masters, 

tied wit him at 1-under, 

and he beat me by 10 shots,” 

Ridley said with a laugh. 

“That might have been one 

of them.” 

For Ridley, who was 

elected chairman of Augusta 

National and the Masters 

last summer, it was another 

affirmation that he had 

made the right choice. And 

in the four decades since, the 

career amateur has enjoyed 

the gentleman’s game withou 

the rigors of chasing a 

professional career. He is the 

first chairman to have played 

in the Masters. 

He remains the last U.S. 

Amateur champion who 

didn’t turn professional. 

Instead he chose to pursue 

a career in law, and both of 

those decisions no doubt 

would have pleased Augusta 

National co-founder Bobby 

Jones. He, too, practiced 

law after his bri liant playing 

career was over. 

“Not to say anything 

against the golfing abilities 

of other chairmen, 

but you’ve got an amateur 

champion that is chairing the 

Masters Tournamen that 

was founded by golf’s greatest 

amateur champion,” said 

Bob Jones IV, the grandson 

of Jones. “That’s just poetry. 

You just don’t get better 

than that.” 

Ridley doesn’t look back 

on what could have been. 

He knows he made the right 

choice. 

“I kind of had an inkling 

when I was a young guy, as 

a teenager, that I probably 

was not going to be a golf 

professional,” Ridley said. 

“So I did read a lot about 

[Jones]. I think what struck 

me even more than his 

amazing playing record was 

the way he lived his life and 

the integrity, character and 

sportsmanship associated 

with his persona. That was 

very inspiring to me.” 

Finding his game 

It’s ironic that Ridley 

now presides over one of 

the game’s most private 

and exclusive clubs. Born in 

Lakeland, Fla., and raised in 

Winter Haven, he grew up 

playing municipal courses. 

The youngster had enough 

talen to earn a spot on the 

University of Florida golf 

team in the early 1970s, 

but his game didn’t flourish 

there. The Gators won an 

NCAA championship in 1973 

with a powerfu lineup that 

included Andy Bean, Gary 

Koch, Woody Blackburn 

and Phil Hancock, but Ridley 

didn’t crack the starting 

lineup for the championship 

tournament. 

“My co lege golf was very 

mediocre,” he said. 

Lessons from Jack Grout, 

Nicklaus’ longtime instructor, 

helped Ridley become 

a better driver in 1974, his 

senior year at Florida. 

“I had a good short game, 

and the thing he did was he 

made me a good driver of the 

ba l,” Ridley said. “That was 

always my Achi les’ heel.” 

Ridley enjoyed some success 

on the national amateur 

circuit leading into the 1975 

U.S. Amateur in Richmond, 

Va., but he was hardly 

among the favorites after 

earning the last spot in the 

qualifier in Jacksonvi le, 

Fla. As a pure match play 

even then, Ridley had to 

win eight matches to claim 

the championship. 

After winning his first four 

matches, Ridley came upon 

one of the pre-tournament 

favorites: Curtis Strange. 

Not only was Strange a local 

favorite, but he was also 

one of the top players and 

the 1974 NCAA individual 

champion. 

“It was one of those times 

I played we l and he didn’t 

quite play his best, and I won 

2 and 1,” Ridley said. 

In the quarterfinals, 

Ridley met Jack Veghte, 

who was accomplished on 

the Florida amateur scene. 

If he won that, Ridley would 

earn a berth in the Masters 

because semifinalists were 

sti l invited to Augusta. 

“I can remember on the 

18th hole I had a 3-foot putt 

to win the match,” Ridley 

said. “I wasn’t thinking 

about getting to the semifinals; 

a l I was thinking is if I 

make this putt I get to go to 

the Masters. And I missed 

it.” 

Ridley did recover to win 

the match on the first extra 

hole, but an even bigger 

opponent, litera ly and figuratively, 

was up next: his 

Florida teammate, Andy 

Bean. 

In the semifinal match, 

Ridley held on to beat his 

more accomplished friend 

2 and 1. 

“Andy’s a real big guy 

now, pre ty big then, I’m 6-2 

and he’s 6-4, and he picked 

me up by my co lar and lifted 

me up,” Ridley said. “I can’t 

repeat exactly what he said, 

but he said you’d better win 

tomorrow.” 

In the 36-hole finale, 

Ridley faced Keith Fergus of 

the University of Houston. 

“I think I was 6 up early 

in the afternoon, and I 

started thinking about what 

was going to happen, and 

we wen to the 36th hole,” 

Ridley said. “I won the hole 

to win 2 up. I think I had 69 

in the morning but it wasn’t 

very pretty in the afternoon. 

Great memories, and fun to 

reminisce.” 

The victory put Ridley’s 

name on the Havemeyer 

Trophy, the same one his 

idol Jones won a record five 

times. 

Strange won 17 times, 

including back-to-back 

U.S. Opens, in his Ha l of 

Fame career. Bean earned 11 

PGA Tour wins, and Fergus 

went on to win a combined 

six times on the PGA 

and Champions tours. Yet 

despite getting pas those 

players, Ridley had a hunch 

that he wasn’t cut out to be a 

professional. He was already 

enro led in law school at 

Stetson University. 

Masters moment 

The decision to remain 

amateur put Ridley on a path 

that eventua ly led him to the 

chairmanship of Augusta 

National. 

He didn’t qui the game 

cold turkey while studying 

law. He sti l found time to 

play in the Walker Cup and 

other amateur events he had 

earned invitations to thanks 

to being a U.S. Amateur 

champion. 

“My father, and the dean 

of the law school, a lowed 

me to take a semester off,” 

Ridley said. “I played a lot 

of golf, which was the best 

thing that happened to me, 

because I rea ly confirmed 

that I don’t want to play 

professiona ly. I realized 

how hard it was. I went back 

to law school that fa l rea ly 

kind of thinking I don’t want 

to do this.” 

In an era when more amateurs 

were invited to play 

in the Masters, Ridley did 

so three consecutive years, 

from 1976-78. He never 

made the cut, but he earned 

a lifetime of memories. 

He stayed in the Crow’s 

Nest, the perch at the top of 

the clubhouse reserved for 

amateurs. He played with 

Sam Snead. And he met 

Cli ford Roberts. 

Amateur standing 

Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament Chairman Fred Ridley. [AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB HANDOUT] 

See RIDLEY, M26 




Sports Editor 

The Usual Suspects. 

That’s what Jack Nicklaus ca ls the 

half-a-dozen shots that pose trouble 

at Augusta National Golf Club. 

Nicklaus, a six-time Masters 

Tournament winner, is often asked 

for advice by first-time participants 

or younger players on how best to play 


“When these guys come to me and ask 

me about the tournament, basica ly I te l 

them that there’s half-a-dozen shots on 

this golf course that you can put yourself 

out of the tournament,” he said. “Those 

half-a-dozen shots, think about what 

you’re doing on them. 

“If you’ve got a 50-50 chance of doing 

it, I certainly wouldn’t be doing it. If 

you’ve got a 90-10 chance, then I’m going 

to think real hard about it. And you try to 

make sure you eliminate the 10 (percent).” 

Nicklaus has enjoyed more success at 

Augusta National than any other golfer, 

but he didn’t heed his own advice in 

1971. Thinking he needed an eagle in 

the final round to catch eventual winner 

Charles Coody, Nicklaus went for it at 

the par-5 15th. He faced a shot in excess 

of 250 yards to the sma l green guarded 

by water, and his 3-wood shot came up 

short and found the water. He dumped 

his next shot in the water and walked o f 

with a triple-bogey 8. 

Twenty-five years ago, Chip Beck 

faced a similar situation. He needed a 

good score to catch Bernhard Langer 

but chose to lay up at the 15th and was 

heavily criticized. 

“I think Chip Beck’s decision was a 

very good decision for him,” Nicklaus 

said. “He didn’t put himself out of the 

tournament. I put myself out of the 

tournament with that shot. 

“You shouldn’t have one shot put you 

out of the tournament. That’s not playing 

smart.” 

The six trouble shots Nicklaus 

describes are where water comes into 

play at Augusta National. The lone 

exception is the par-3 16th, where water 

runs the length of the hole on the left. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever hit it in the 

water at 16,” Nicklaus said. “That’s 

about it. Those are the ones you can 

make a big number on.” 

With information taken from interviews 

and his descriptions in the 

Masters Journal, Nicklaus identifies the 

six trouble shots. 

The usual suspects 

Six-time champion Nicklaus describes 

trouble shots at Augusta National 

Online 

Audio: Listen to Jack Nicklaus 

describe the trouble shots at Augusta 

National at augusta.com. 

TEE SHOT AT NO. 2 

You don’t want to be down there a the 

airline booth (left o fairway, where a 

sma l stream is located). You could go 

down there and find a lie down there 

that you could play. And then you try to 

play out and you hit another tree and 

all of a sudden you’re half done. I see a 

lot of guys walk out of there with 8 and 

say I should have had 4 here. Now you’re 

si ting behind the 8-ba l. 


Off the tee, I aim a the last two trees at 

the top of the fairway and draw the ba l. 

SECOND SHOT AT NO. 13 

I play for the center of the green on my 

second shot and never fiddle around 

with a flag tucked back left. 


Nicklaus said he doesn’t like playing 

a wood into that green for his second 

shot. If he did lay up, he acknowledged 

tha the third shot from a downhi lie 

can be difficult. “It’s not a very easy 

shot, but it’s better than playing out of 

the water.” 

BONUS ADVICE 

Nicklaus also te ls players how to 

maximize their birdie chances on the 

greens. “Te l me where you’ve got a bad 

pu t from the center of these greens? 

Every single hole, maybe second hole 

is a li tle awkward, but outside of that 

every single hole in the middle of these 

greens you’ve got a pre ty darn good 

chance for birdie,” Nicklaus said. “That’s 

the way you play this golf course. If you 

use your head to play this golf course, it 

shouldn’t be tough.” 

Jack Nicklaus tees o f on the 12th hole during second-round play of the 2005 Masters a the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta. [DAVID J. PHILLIP/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] 

Jack Nicklaus casts a long shadow as he boots home a birdie putt on the 11th 

hole during a playoff round of the Masters tournament April 11, 1966, at Augusta. 

[ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO] 

Jack Nicklaus waves 

to the gallery on 

the 8th hole during 

the 2005 Masters. 

[AMY SANCETTA/THE 

ASSOCIATED PRESS] 


The key is to aim at the center of the 

front bunker and choose a club that 

wi l ge the ball just over that spot. 

If the flagstick is right, I shoot a the 

right side of the bunker. If it’s left, I 

shoot a the left side of the bunker. 

SECOND SHOT 

AT NO. 11 

The water on the left 

is an obvious no-no, 

so it has been a green 

where I’ve always 

aimed for the front 

right. You have to be 

rea ly careful here or 

you’ l walk away with 

a big number. 




Sports Editor 

Ba l go far. 

That advertising campaign 

for a golf ba l manufacturer 

could sum up the state of golf 

now. 

Professionals are hitting 

the ba l farther than ever. 

Recreational players are taking 

advantage of the benefits of 

technology to increase their 

enjoyment of the game. 

Take Fred Ridley, for example. 

The new chairman of 

Augusta National Golf Club 

and the Masters Tournament, 

now 65, admits he is hi ting the 

ba l longer than he did decades 

ago when he was one of the top 

amateurs in the game. 

For nearly two decades, 

gains in driving distance 

have been a much-debated 

topic. The USGA and R&A, 

the game’s governing bodies, 

began issuing an annual “distance 

report” in 2015 and 

found that increases in driving 

distance since 2003 were “a 

slow creep of around 0.2 yards 

per year.” 

In early March, the 2017 

report showed “the average 

distance gain across the seven 

worldwide tours was more 

than three yards since 2016.” 

That, the USGA and R&A 

said, “is unusual and concerning.” 

Any further significant 

increases would be undesirable, 

they said, but no 

timetable for action has been 

set. 

The Masters fo lows the 

guidelines set by the governing 

bodies, but the idea of 

requiring participants to play a 

“Masters ba l” has been floated 

before. 

“I think it would be difficult, 

frankly, to have a golf 

ba l for one tournament, but I 

wouldn’t rule anything out,” 

Ridley said. “We’re always 

going to do what we think 

is in the best interest of the 

tournament.” 

Teeing o f from ‘downtown’ 

Six-time Masters winner Jack 

Nicklaus has long been outspoken 

about how far the ba l goes 

and how the game’s governing 

bodies need to take action. 

In 2001, after Hootie Johnson 

announced that nine holes 

would be lengthened in time 

for the 2002 Masters, Nicklaus 

quipped that “pre ty soon we’ l 

be teeing o from downtown 

somewhere. It’s absurd.” 

When he came to Augusta the 

fo lowing year to check out the 

changes, Johnson had a surprise 

waiting for him: A brass marker 

on the new tee box at No. 18 was 

marked “Downtown.” 

Nicklaus dominated Augusta 

National in 1965 on his way to 

tying the 18-hole scoring record 

of 64 and sha tering the 72-hole 

record with a 271 total. 

That prompted the famous 

quote from Bobby Jones about 

Nicklaus: “He plays a game with 

which I am not familiar.” 

“I sti l say that was the easiest 

golf tournament I ever played 

from the standpoint of ease on 

me because it was just driver, 

wedge; driver, 9-iron; kind of 

stu f that Tiger (Woods) does 

today,” Nicklaus said in 2002. 

After Woods broke the 

72-hole scoring mark in his 

1997 victory, Augusta National 

fought back with changes in the 

next decade that were ca led 

“Tiger-proofing.” The second 

cut increased in 1999, and holes 

were lengthened in 2002 and 

again in 2006. 

“I think that if you are going 

to continue to let the golf ba l 

do what it’s doing, you’ve got 

to keep lengthening the golf 

course,” Nicklaus said in 2001. 

His tune hasn’t changed. 

Before the USGA and R&A 

unveiled their latest report, 

Nicklau said he had spoken 

with USGA executive director 

Mike Davis in late February. 

“Mike’s been very optimistic 

about wanting to get something 

done but hasn’t been able to get 

there yet,” Nicklaus said. 

Nicklaus said a longer golf ba l 

means longer courses, and that 

leads to longer rounds. 

“So, if the golf ba l came 

back, it would solve I think a 

lot of those issues,” Nicklaus 

said. “I think we only have one 

golf course in this country, 

my opinion, that’s not obsolete 

to the golf ba l, and that’s 

Augusta National. They are the 

only people that have enough 

money that have been able to 

keep the golf course and do the 

things you had to. They are even 

buying up parts of country clubs 

and roads and everything else to 

get that done. 

“Not that other people 

couldn’t do that, but it’s just 

unpractical. Why, every time 

we have an event, do we have to 

keep buying more land and then 

making things longer? It just 

doesn’t make any sense to me.” 

Fifth hole changes 

Augusta National hasn’t 

pushed the tees to downtown, 

as Nicklaus suggested, but 

they might be moved across a 

road. 

Preliminary site plans filed 

earlier this year show that the 

tee box for the fifth hole, a 455- 

yard par-4, could be pushed 

back across Old Berckmans 

Road. The new tee would a leviate 

congestion at the fourth 

green and the current fifth 

tee, which are just a few yards 

apart. 

Old Berckmans Road has 

been closed to through tra fic 

since 2015, bu the plans ca l 

for the road to curve around 

the area that wi l be used as a 

tee box. 

Ridley, who took over as 

chairman last summer, is a 

former U.S. Amateur champion 

and three-time Masters 

competitor who is expected to 

address course changes. 

“Old Berckmans Road 

certainly gives us some opportunities 

and options, and we 

are looking a those,” Ridley 

said in the fa l. 

The hole was revamped in 

2003 by moving the tees back 

20 yards and extending the two 

fairway bunkers by 80 yards to 

put them in play. The hole now 

takes a 315-yard drive to carry 

the left-side bunkers, meaning 

most golfers could no longer 

shorten the hole by playing to 

the left. 

In the 2002 and 2006 renovations, 

which lengthened 

the course to more than 7,400 

yards, Augusta National 

sough to restore shot values 

by making players use longer 

clubs for their approach to 

holes and have them play as 

they did when course designers 

Alister MacKenzie and Bobby 

Jones laid out the course in the 

early 1930s. 

Ridley said that Jones 

“believed that strategy and 

ski l were equal components 

in how the golf course should 

be played.” 

“What I think we should 

do, and what we have done 

over the years, is to go back 

to that philosophy and think 

about what do we need to do 

to make sure that we are true 

to the principles that Jones and 

MacKenzie established at the 

beginning,” Ridley said. 

13th hole next? 

A land deal with neighboring 

Augusta Country Club has 

opened up the possibility of 

Augusta National lengthening 

its par-5 13th hole. 

The acquisition for an undisclosed 

sum last summer gives 

the Masters flexibility to push 

back the tees on the 510-yard 

hole that bends to the left. For 

some players, the second shot 

has been a short iron depending 

on how much of the dogleg 

they choose to bite o f. 

The 13th hole is one of the 

most iconic holes in golf but 

consistently ranks as one of 

the easiest holes on the course. 

With the newly acquired land, 

Augusta National could stretch 

the tee back as it did in 2002 

after a previous land deal with 

Augusta Country Club. 

Counterpoint 

Acushnet, maker of the popular 

Titleist Pro V1 ba l, issued 

its own take on the distance 

report. 

The manufacturer said its 

analysis of the data shows 

that equipment regulations 

are working. 

“There were several contributing 

variables in 2017, 

including course selection 

and setup, agronomical conditions 

and weather, which 

need to be considered when 

assessing the data,” said David 

Maher, the CEO and president 

of Acushnet. 

Their findings included: 

The 2017 Masters average 

driving distance declined 0.4 

yards. 

The major championships 

conducted at new venues 

represented one-third of the 

total average driving distance 

gained in 2017: U.S. Open (Erin 

Hi ls, 20.4 yards), British Open 

(Royal Birkdale, 8.1 yards) and 

PGA Championship (Quail 

Hollow, 7.0 yards). 

A the 33 PGA Tour events 

conducted at the same venue in 

2016 and 2017, where data was 

co lected, the average driving 

distance increased 0.5 yards. 

At the eight events held at new 

venues in 2017, the average 


Reach John Boyette at (706) 

823-3337 or jboyette@ 

augustachronicle.com. 

Big hits, 

big problem? 

Driving distance report 'concerning' to governing bodies 

Paul Casey tees off on No. 7 during the 2016 Masters Tournament. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Average driving distances 

for Masters champions 

2017: Sergio Garcia, 291.5 

2016: Danny Wi lett, 278.13 

2015: Jordan Spieth, 282.63 

2014: Bubba Watson, 305.63 

2013: Adam Sco t, 293.75 


2011: Charl Schwartzel, 288.5 

2010: Phil Mickelson, 297.13 

2009: Angel Cabrera, 284.5 

2008: Trevor Immelman, 287.5 

2007: Zach Johnson, 265 


2005: Tiger Woods, 292.38 


2003: Mike Weir, 271.25 

2002: Tiger Woods, 293.75 

2001: Tiger Woods, 305.5 

2000: Vijay Singh, 273 

1999: Jose Maria Olazabal, 239.75 

1998: Mark O’Meara, 266.63 

1997: Tiger Woods, 323.13 

Driving data for seven tours 

Tour 2003 2016 2017 

European Tour 286.3 288.1 291.7 

PGA Tour 285.9 290 292.5 

Japan Golf Tour 279 276.7 282.6 

Web.com Tour 292.3 296 302.9 

Champions Tour 269.9 274.7 275.4 

Ladies European Tour (2004) 245.3 239.7 246.1 

LPGA 249.6 253.4 252.6 

How drives are measured 

According to the report, driving distance data are typica ly co lected on two holes that are selected 

based on three criteria: 

1. The holes should be oriented in opposing directions (to minimize the impact of the wind on the 

average distance). 

2. The holes should preferably both be selected such tha the landing area for the drives is flat. Where 

this is not feasible, the holes would preferably have opposing topography to minimize the e fect of 

slopes on the average driving distance. 

3. The holes should be selected to maximize the potential tha the golfers wi l choose to hi their driver 

(ensuring that the data most closely reflects the distance hit by players using drivers).



Garcia sheds snakebitten label 


Staff Writer 

It’s the Saturday before Masters Week and Sergio Garcia is walking through 

tall grass in central Texas hunting for wild hogs. Garcia is new to hunting, 

introduced to it in 2016 by his soon-to-be father-in-law, Marty Akins, on 

the family’s 1,250-acre ranch near Marble Falls, about an hour northwest of 

Austin. He’s wearing snake boots, carrying the .30-30 Winchester rifle and 

following in the precise footsteps of Akins through the grass. Sergio’s father, Victor, 

is following a few paces behind his son. As Garcia is about to put his foot down, he 

sees something move and jumps back. “Watch out big man – snake!” Garcia yelled, 

among other words he admits aren’t suitable for print. “I looked down and I had 

my foot sort of on a rattlesnake,” Akins said. “So I jumped off him and he coiled 

up. Sergio had the gun so I said, ‘Shoot him!’” 

Garcia balks, so Akins comes around, 

takes the gun and shoots the rattlesnake 

in half. Victor Garcia had already hightailed 

it back to the cart and wasn’t 

getting out again. 

“I would literally have put my foot 

probably 3 inches left of it,” Garcia 

said of the snake. “Obviously we were 

wearing snake boots and everything, 

but you never know. If I step on it 

and it bites me, maybe I’m not even 

playing in Augusta. So I guess it was just 

one of those things that was meant to 

be.” 

For a player whose major championship 

fortunes have often been described 

– even by himself – as “snakebitten,” 

Garcia literally avoided it on the eve 

of his long-awaited breakthrough. He 

never bagged a hog that afternoon, 

but that adrenaline rush sent him to 

Augusta, where he exorcised all of the 

poisonous demons that had haunted 

him for nearly two decades with a newfound 

optimism. 

“It was pretty funny to me,” Akins 

said, “that eight days after he almost 

stepped on that rattlesnake, he won the 

Masters.” 

Sergio Garcia holds up his trophy for 

being the low amateur at the 1999 

Masters. He finished 7-over and tied for 

38th in his tournament debut. [FILE/THE 

AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Kid's play 

As can’t-miss kids embarking on pro 

careers go, Garcia was arguably the 

best bet to ever come along in the wake 

of Tiger Woods. There was nothing not 

to like about his game. 

Sergio was practically born to be 

a golf superstar, very nearly arriving 

into the world in 1980 in the pro 

shop at Mediterraneo Golf Club where 

his mother, Consuelo, went into 

labor while she was running the register. 

His father, Victor Sr., was the 

club’s pro in the town of Borriol, not 

far from Spain’s eastern coast on the 

Mediterranean Sea. 

Garcia was just 2 when he started 

mimicking his father’s swing with a 

feather duster. 

See GARCIA, M5 

Sergio Garcia reacts to a putt on No. 3 during the third round of the 2012 Masters. 

After that Saturday, he declared that “I don’t have the thing I need to have” to win 

majors. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]

M4 Sunday, April 1, 2018 The Augusta Chronicle • Augusta.com 


Coming up clutch 

A look at who 

has birdied 

the final hole to 

win the Masters 

1930s 

1934 

Horton 

Smith 

70-72-70-72–284 

1935 

Gene 

Sarazen 

68-71-73-70–282 

1936 

Horton 

Smith 

74-71-68-72–285 

1937 

Byron 

Nelson 

66-72-75-70–283 

1938 

Henry 

Picard 

71-72-72-70–285 

1939 

Ralph 

Guldahl 

72-68-70-69–279 

1940s 

WORLD WAR II 

1943-1945 

1940 

Jimmy 

Demaret 

67-72-70-71–280 

1941 

Craig 

Wood 

66-71-71-72–280 

1942 

Byron 

Nelson 

68-67-72-73–280 

The tournament was put on hold for the 

duration of the war. Augusta National’s 

greenskeepers raised turkey and cattle on 

the grounds to help with the war effort. 

1946 

Herman 

Keiser 

69-68-71-74–282 

1947 

Jimmy 

Demaret 

69-71-70-71–281 

1948 

Claude 

Harmon 

70-70-69-70–279 

1949 

Sam 

Snead 

73-75-67-67–282 

1950s 

Art Wall Jr., 1959: Wall birdied five of the last six holes, including Nos. 17 and 18, to shoot 66 and pass 12 players. 

1950 

Jimmy 

Demaret 

70-72-72-69–283 

1951 

Ben 

Hogan 

70-72-70-68–280 

1952 

Sam 

Snead 

70-67-77-72–286 

1953 

Ben 

Hogan 

70-69-66-69–274 

1954 

Sam 

Snead 

74-73-70-72–289 

1955 

Cary 

Middlecoff 

72-65-72-70–279 

1956 

Jack 

Burke Jr. 

72-71-75-71–289 

1957 

Doug 

Ford 

72-73-72-66–283 

1958 

Arnold 

Palmer 

70-73-68-73–284 

1959 

Art 

Wall Jr. 

73-74-71-66–284 

1960s 

Arnold Palmer, 1960: Ken Venturi had the clubhouse lead, but Palmer knocked in a birdie putt on No. 17 to tie. On the 18th, he hit his 6-iron approach to five feet and calmly 

sank the putt for his second Masters win. 

1960 

Arnold 

Palmer 

67-73-72-70–282 

1961 

Gary 

Player 

69-68-69-74–280 

1962 

Arnold 

Palmer 

70-66-69-75–280 

1963 

Jack 

Nicklaus 

74-66-74-72–286 

1964 

Arnold 

Palmer 

69-68-69-70–276 

1965 

Jack 

Nicklaus 

67-71-64-69–271 

1966 

Jack 

Nicklaus 

68-76-72-72–288 

1967 

Gay 

Brewer 

73-68-72-67–280 

1968 

Bob 

Goalby 

70-70-71-66–277 

1969 

George 

Archer 

67-73-69-72–281 

1970s 

Gary Player, 1978: The South African won his third Masters with a Sunday charge that featured birdies on seven of his final 10 holes, including No. 18. 

1970 

Billy 

Casper 

72-68-68-71–279 

1971 

Charles 

Coody 

66-73-70-70–279 

1972 

Jack 

Nicklaus 

68-71-73-74–286 

1973 

Tommy 

Aaron 

68-73-74-68–283 

1974 

Gary 

Player 

71-71-66-70–278 

1975 

Jack 

Nicklaus 

68-67-73-68–276 

1976 

Raymond 

Floyd 

65-66-70-70–271 

1977 

Tom 

Watson 

70-69-70-67–276 

1978 

Gary 

Player 

72-72-69-64–277 

1979 

Fuzzy 

Zoeller 

70-71-69-70–280 

1980s 

Sandy Lyle, 1988: Lyle’s 7-iron from the bunker landed about 30 feet from the pin, then trickled down to 10 feet away. Lyle made the putt and did a celebratory jig. 

1980 

Seve 

Ballesteros 

66-69-68-72–275 

1981 

Tom 

Watson 

71-68-70-71–280 

1982 

Craig 

Stadler 

75-69-67-73–284 

1983 

Seve 

Ballesteros 

68-70-73-69–280 

1984 

Ben 

Crenshaw 

67-72-70-68–277 

1985 

Bernhard 

Langer 

72-74-68-68–282 

1986 

Jack 

Nicklaus 

74-71-69-65–279 

1987 

Larry 

Mize 

70-72-72-71–285 

1988 

Sandy 

Lyle 

71-67-72-71–281 

1989 

Nick 

Faldo 

68-73-77-65–283 

1990s 

Mark O’Meara, 1998: O’Meara created a three-way tie with Fred Couples and David Duval with his birdie at No. 17, then broke it by sinking a 20-foot putt for the victory. 

1990 

Nick 

Faldo 

71-72-66-69–278 

1991 

Ian 

Woosnam 

72-66-67-72–277 

1992 

Fred 

Couples 

69-67-69-70–275 

1993 

Bernhard 

Langer 

68-70-69-70–277 

1994 

Jose Maria 

Olazabal 

74-67-69-69–279 

1995 

Ben 

Crenshaw 

70-67-69-68–274 

1996 

Nick 

Faldo 

69-67-73-67–276 

1997 

Tiger 

Woods 

70-66-65-69–270 

1998 

Mark 

O’Meara 

74-70-68-67–279 

1999 

Jose Maria 

Olazabal 

70-66-73-71–280 

2000s 

Phil Mickelson, 2004: A charge put Lefty into a tie with Ernie Els with one to go. Mickelson put his second shot within 18 feet, then jumped for joy when his birdie putt fell in. 

Tiger Woods, 2005: Woods won for the fourth time at Augusta National when he sank a birdie putt in sudden death to defeat Chris DiMarco. 

2000 

Vijay 

Singh 

72-67-70-69–278 

2001 

Tiger 

Woods 

70-66-68-68–272 

2002 

Tiger 

Woods 

70-69-66-71–276 

2003 

Mike 

Weir 

70-68-75-68–281 

2004 

Phil 

Mickelson 

72-69-69-69–279 

2005 

Tiger 

Woods 

74-66-65-71–276 

2006 

Phil 

Mickelson 

70-72-70-69–281 

2007 

Zach 

Johnson 

71-73-76-69–289 

2008 

Trevor 

Immelman 

68-68-69-75–280 

2009 

Angel 

Cabrera 

68-68-69-71–276 

2010s 

2010 

Phil 

Mickelson 

67-71-67-67–272 

2011 

Charl 

Schwartzel 

69-71-68-66–274 

2012 

Bubba 

Watson 

69-71-70-68–278 

2013 

Adam 

Scott 

69-72-69-69–279 

2014 

Bubba 

Watson 

69-68-74-69–280 

2015 

Jordan 

Spieth 

64-66-70-70–270 

2016 

Danny 

Willett 

67-72-74-70–283 

2017 

Sergio 

Garcia 

71-69-70-69–279 

Sergio Garcia, 2017: 

Garcia won in his 19th 

try at the Masters when 

he rolled in a short 

birdie putt on the first 

extra hole against Justin 

Rose.


The Augusta Chronicle • Augsuta.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M5 

GARCIA 

From Page M3 

“I’ve always loved 

sports, but I guess I 

was always drawn to 

golf a little bit more for 

various reasons even 

though I played tennis 

and soccer, too,” Garcia 

said. “With my dad being 

a professional and me 

being on the golf course, 

I was always a little more 

drawn to golf.” 

In a family of golfers 

– his older brother, 

Victor Jr., and younger 

sister, Mar, each played 

college golf in the U.S. – 

Sergio excelled under his 

father’s tutelage. He’s still 

never had another coach 

for a swing that’s endured 

for three decades. By the 

time he was 12 he was 

breaking 70 and beating 

all the adults to win 

Mediterraneo’s club 

championship. The 

impressed membership 

and Spanish media 

dubbed him “El Niño” – 

The Kid. 

In short order, El Niño’s 

reputation as a prodigy 

spread. He played with 

Spanish legend Seve 

Ballesteros for the first 

time at his home club 

when he was 14. At 15, 

he became the youngest 

player to make the cut in a 

European Tour event and 

then the youngest to win 

the European Amateur. 

He played in his first 

British Open at 16. 

Garcia was already on 

the global map when he 

won the British Amateur 

in 1998 to earn a spot in 

the 1999 Masters, where 

as a bright 19-year-old he 

would be paired the first 

two rounds with Woods. 

Garcia finished tied 

for 38th, the first British 

Amateur winner to earn 

Augusta’s sterling silver 

cup for low amateur. He 

shared the Butler Cabin 

ceremony with fellow 

Spaniard Jose Maria 

Olazabal, who claimed 

his second green jacket. 

“It was a dream come 

true to be totally honest 

... to kind of look at my 

amateur career and think 

this couldn’t have finished 

in a better way,” 

he said. “Obviously, if 

you would have won 

the Masters it would 

be better, but realistically 

I was low amateur 

at Augusta first time I 

played, Jose Maria wins 

and we get to celebrate 

our victories together 

with one of my golfing 

idols. It was just amazing 

timing and obviously 

it kind of helped me even 

more as I turned pro the 

week after and gave 

me an extra boost of 

confidence.” 

The growing legend 

of El Niño only accelerated 

after that. A month 

after the Masters in his 

Sergio Garcia’s early success helped him become a recognizable star, but as his chase for a major grew more 

frustrating, his near-misses often brought out his worst emotional tendencies. “They’re all great learning 

experiences if you take them the right way,” he said of his many teachable moments. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF] 

Tiger Woods talks with Sergio Garcia during practice for the 1999 Masters. [AMY 

SANCETTA/ASSOCIATED PRESS] 

first PGA Tour start as a 

pro at the Byron Nelson, 

Garcia shot 62 in his 

opening round to sit one 

stroke behind Woods’ 

course-record 61. By the 

end of the week, Garcia 

tied for third and earned 

about $50,000 more 

than Woods. 

“He’s the next one,” 

Jerry Higginbotham, Mark 

O’Meara’s usual caddie, 

said when he carried 

Garcia’s bag that week. 

“Believe me, he’s 

going to be successful,” 

said Woods. 

Success came that July 

with his first pro win at 

the Irish Open – moving 

him permanently into 

the world’s top 100 

for the next 18 years, 9 

months and still counting 

– and a runner-up a 

week later in the Scottish 

Open. But just when you 

thought the teenager’s 

game was all grown up, 

he missed the cut the 

next week in the British 

Open at Carnoustie and 

was seen crying on his 

mother’s shoulder. 

Before anyone had 

time to temper expectations, 

however, the 1999 

PGA Championship 

at Medinah seared the 

image of Garcia ebulliently 

nipping at Tiger’s 

heels. In the final round, 

Garcia was tracking 

down Woods when his 

drive on No. 16 came to 

rest at the base of an oak 

tree. Instead of carefully 

punching out, he 

closed his eyes and took 

a full whack at the ball 

between the roots. As his 

shot curved up the hill, 

Garcia skipped across 

the fairway after the ball 

and executed a leaping 

scissor kick to see it roll 

up onto the green. 

Woods ultimately held 

off the challenge to win 

his second career major 

by one stroke over the kid, 

but the narrative had been 

established. Not only 

would Sergio be the next 

great Spanish star, but he 

would also be Europe’s 

answer to rival Tiger. 

“I embraced it for 

sure,” Garcia said of 

the “El Niño” hype. “I 

think it was great fun. I 

enjoyed it. Yeah, maybe 

it was a little extra pressure 

on but it’s fine. I 

was also putting extra 

pressure on myself to try 

to do well every week.” 

Frustrated ambition 

Garcia became one of 

golf’s most recognizable 

global superstars. 

He followed in the footsteps 

of Ballesteros and 

Olazabal by winning in 

Europe, Asia and on the 

PGA Tour. He was still a 

teenager when he qualified 

for his first Ryder 

Cup in 1999 and became 

a fixture during much 

of the European team’s 

success over the next 

two decades. 

His good looks, passion 

and charisma held 

a magnetism much 

like Ballesteros. His 

moments of petulance 

and fits of pique drew 

heaps of criticism as 

well. 

“I’m Spanish, we are 

very emotional and it 

is good,” he said. “I’d 

rather be like that and 

not be a robot. I can’t 

live my life like that, 

forget about golf, like a 

flat line.” 

The standard his 

Spanish predecessors 

set came at the Masters 

and British Open, and 

that was a legacy Garcia 

was expected to carry 

on. His relatively routine 

leaderboard appearances 

in every brand of major 

proved he was capable, 

amassing 22 top-10s, 

12 top-fives and four 

runner-ups in majors 

as the mileage steadily 

accumulated . 

Every time Garcia 

would put himself in 

position to win a major, 

an alternative ending 

kept cropping up. Three 

times he got aced out on 

Sundays by Woods, who 

piled up 14 major wins 

in an 11-year span that 

largely coincided with 

Garcia’s most aggressive 

opportunities. 

“I do have to say, all 

of us, we did probably 

run into if not the greatest 

player ever, one of 

them,” Garcia said of 

Woods. “That makes 

things a little bit tougher. 

But I enjoyed it. I thought 

it was a good thing and 

kind of pushed all of us to 

work harder and become 

better golfers. It was one 

of those mixed things. If 

he had not been there, 

would I have had more 

chances of winning other 

majors? For sure. At the 

same time, it would have 

made all of us maybe not 

as good golfers as we are 

now.” 

At the 2007 British and 

’08 PGA Championship, 

Garcia also finished 

second to Padraig 

Harrington, including 

a playoff defeat at 

Carnoustie after his putt 

to win on the 72nd hole 

lipped out. 

His near-misses 

often brought out his 

worst emotional tendencies. 

He speculated 

that Woods and “bigger 

guys” got favoritism 

in weather rulings and 

received ridicule from 

the galleries when he was 

hounded for a re-gripping 

tic that emerged 

during the 2002 U.S. 

Open at Bethpage Black. 

Other forces conspired 

to disrupt his chances 

in 2007 at Carnoustie, 

including a bunkerraking 

crew delaying 

his final approach in 

regulation and his ball 

bouncing long off a pin 

in the playoff. 

“I should write a book 

on how to not miss a shot 

in the playoff and shoot 

1-over,” he groused 

after the playoff loss to 

Harrington, adding that 

he was playing against 

“more than the field.” 

“It’s the way it is. I 

guess it’s not news in 

my life.” 

Garcia wore the label 

of “best player to never 

win a major” like a yoke 

until he finally broke 

after another familiar 

Saturday letdown at the 

Masters in 2012. 

“I don’t have the thing 

I need to have” to win 

majors, the 32-year-old 

Garcia said. “I’m not 

good enough. I had my 

chances and opportunities 

and I wasted them. I 

have no more options. I 

wasted my options.” 

Garcia admits his 

attitude did himself no 

favors in the majors. 

“They’re all great 

learning experiences if 

you take them the right 

way,” he said of his many 

teachable moments. 

“The way I look at it, the 

seconds that I had, yeah, 

you lost it. But to have 

a chance of winning a 

major and be there on 

Sunday afternoon, there 

are so many good things 

that have to happen to get 

there. If you only look at 

the couple little negative 

things that didn’t help 

you win it, it kind of ruins 

the whole week. 

“So it’s important to 

look at the things that 

could have gone better so 

you can improve them, 

but make sure that you 

look at the good things 

because you’ve done so 

many good things to put 

yourself in that situation. 

You have to give 

yourself credit for those, 

too.” 

See GARCIA, M6



Garcia finally mastered 

love/hate relationship 

with Augusta National 

LEFT: Jose Maria Olazabal poses with countryman Sergio Garcia at the 1999 Masters, where Olazabal won for the 

second time and Garcia was the low amateur. [ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS] 

RIGHT: Garcia sports his green jacket from last year’s Masters victory. [JOHN EVANS/GATEHOUSE MEDIA] 

GARCIA 

From Page M5 

Carnoustie remains his 

hardest one to come to 

terms with before being 

able to press onward. 

“I’m not going to lie, I 

remember the week after 

being in Spain with my 

family and going to the 

beach by myself and 

just walking and thinking 

and being a little bit down 

about it,” he said. “But 

after that I kind of started 

thinking why are you just 

thinking about all the bad 

things that happened and 

not all the good things you 

did to have a chance and 

put yourself in that situation. 

I kind of figured that 

out. I look back at it now 

and I think all of those 

experiences helped get me 

to where I am now.” 

Despite his frustrated 

surrendering to his 

major fate at Augusta in 

2012, Garcia never really 

gave up the quest. He 

illustrated that with his 

most optimistic major 

defeat in 2014 in the 

Open Championship at 

Hoylake. 

On the same course 

where he got lapped in 

the final Sunday pairing 

with Woods in 2006, 

Garcia made a charge 

from seven strokes 

behind Rory McIlroy on 

Sunday to draw as close 

as two before leaving a 

shot in the bunker on 

the 15th hole to blunt his 

challenge and settle for 

joint runner-up. 

“I enjoyed that British 

Open at Hoylake,” he 

said. “Shot on 15 comes 

to mind, but you never 

know. It was fun to at 

least make Rory sweat a 

little bit. 

“The important thing 

was that I didn’t make 

(winning majors) a priority. 

Obviously I want 

to win a major, but it’s 

not the main thing. If I 

didn’t want to do that I 

wouldn’t practice. But 

if it doesn’t happen, 

that’s OK. I started to 

learn to deal with that 

and just keep doing 

what you’re doing and 

if you’re healthy you’re 

going to put yourself in 

that position many times 

again. Just wait for that 

day when you feel great 

and everything happens 

to you.” 

Ending the drought 

That day arrived last 

Sergio Garcia makes 

par on No. 13 during 

his final round duel 

with Justin Rose in last 

year’s Masters. [MICHAEL 

HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA 

CHRONICLE] 

April just eight days after 

avoiding a snakebite in 

Texas. 

All of the pieces that had 

kept Garcia from fulfilling 

his destiny had fallen into 

place. A player more prone 

to playing in tandem with 

his emotional biorhythms 

than most, he was in a 

happy place having gotten 

engaged at the start of 2017 

and was planning a wedding 

for the summer. His 

form was in good order, 

winning the European 

Tour event in Dubai in 

February. 

So it wasn’t much of a 

surprise that through 3½ 

rounds he found himself 

tied for the lead with one 

of his most familiar peers 

going back to their amateur 

days in Europe, Justin 

Rose. 

“He’s always been a 

heart-on-sleeve guy,” 

Rose said. “You know 

exactly what is going on 

with Sergio, rightly or 

wrongly. So he doesn’t 

hide things very well. 

Everyone talks about 

when he’s happy off the 

golf course he’s one of the 

best in the world on the 

golf course.” 

As if on cue, however, 

the gremlins that had 

always derailed Garcia’s 

major aspirations convened 

in the vicinity of 

Amen Corner. On No. 10 – 

“not my most comfortable 

hole” – he made bogey to 

fall one back. On the 11th, 

his drive rolled through 

the fairway and he made 

another bogey and slipped 

two behind Rose. 

After a sensible par at 

No. 12, his drive on the 

13th was slightly left of his 

target line and clipped a 

pine branch, kicking the 

ball to the wrong side of 

the creek into an azalea 

bush. 

Everyone had seen this 

script before. 

“In the past he would 

have gotten so frustrated 

he would have just took 

himself right out of it,” 

said Marty Akins. “He 

didn’t do that this time.” 

Instead, Garcia drew 

from all of the cruel lessons 

in his career and stayed 

focused on the positive. 

“I was very calm ... 

much calmer than I’ve 

felt probably in any 

major championship on 

Sunday,” Garcia said. “So 

obviously Justin wasn’t 

making it easy; he was 

playing extremely well. 

But I knew what I was 

capable of doing, and I 

believed that I could do it.” 

After taking a penalty 

and a drop, Garcia saved 

par with a clutch 8-footer 

and Rose subsequently 

missed his 5-footer for 

birdie to remain two up. 

“That little two-shot 

swing there was kind of 

when he was back in the 

tournament,” Rose said. 

“If he misses at that point, 

I make, I’m four clear.” 

With that momentum 

shift, the mood on the 

course changed. Patrons 

who sensed Garcia had 

been wilting again were 

trying to will him on. 

“The thing that was 

different out there, I 

thought, was he had the 

whole crowd rooting for 

him,” Rose said. “I think 

he’s probably felt the 

opposite at times. ... The 

crowd probably sensed 

that he was happy and 

more relaxed and they also 

thought this guy’s paid his 

dues. He’s had some tough 

crosses to bear and had 

some tough losses. This is 

Sergio’s time and let’s get 

behind it.”Garcia agreed: 

“I think they were supporting 

Justin a lot, too, 

but I think once it became 

just him and me, I definitely 

sensed that people 

were very excited for me 

to do well and hopefully 

win the green jacket.” 

The energy snowballed 

as Garcia birdied No. 14 

and eagled the 15th to 

draw even with Rose. 

Then, despite missing a 

5-footer to win in regulation, 

Garcia drained 

his birdie on the first 

playoff hole to shed his 

snake bitten past as the 

Augusta crowds chanted 

“Ser-Gee-O!” 

“Sergio is obviously 

the best player not to 

have won a major, no 

longer,” Rose said. “It 

must be hard for guys 

when they are striving to 

win majors and they are 

seeing their peers pick 

them off and they are 

kind of being left behind. 

Any time one of those 

types of players – there’s 

a handful of them – gets 

that huge monkey off 

their back, I think it 

makes it a poignant 

major championship.” 

Brighter days 

Garcia seemed at peace 

as he wore his green jacket 

and faced the media after 

his emotional victory. 

There were no demons to 

curse, no misfortune to 

bemoan. After 18 years, 

Garcia had finally fulfilled 

his original destiny and 

not the looming alternative 

fate he had come to 

terms with after so many 

heartaches. 

Garcia – a fan of the 

horror-movie genre 

– insists he never felt 

trapped in his own psychological 

thriller. 

“Not in the least bit; not 

at all,” he said. “I have a 

beautiful life, major or 

no major. I said it many, 

many times. I have an 

amazing life. I have so 

many people that care for 

me and love me and support 

me. I feel so nicely 

surrounded. Obviously 

this is something I wanted 

to do for a long time but, 

you know, it never felt 

like a horror movie. It felt 

like a little bit of a drama 

maybe, but obviously 

with a happy ending.” 

With the birth of his 

and Angela’s first daughter 

in mid-March, the 

only rattle he was likely to 

encounter this time would 

be in gifts for his little girl. 

He prefers the rush of 

a Sunday in contention 

between the Georgia pines 

to a serpent encounter in 

the tall grass of a Texas 

prairie. 

“It’s a different kind 

of adrenaline,” he said. 

“One is excitement from 

having a chance to win a 

tournament that we love. 

The other one is kind of 

scared of what might 

happen.” 

Garcia no longer needs 

to be scared of what 

might happen on a major 

championship Sunday. 

He rethinks about what 

happened after encountering 

that rattlesnake in 

the grass for a second, and 

smiles. 

“If it means I’ll win 

another green jacket? 

We’ll see.” 


Staff Writer 

In the modern parlance 

of social media, 

Sergio Garcia’s nearly 

20-year relationship 

with Augusta National 

Golf Club and the 

Masters Tournament 

could best be summed 

up with the phrase “it’s 

complicated.” 

“It’s obviously not 

my favorite, my most 

favorite place,” Garcia 

said in 2013 in the midst 

of his extended cold war 

with Augusta. “But you 

know, we try to enjoy it 

as much as we can each 

time we come here. ... 

It’s easy to think about 

negative things on this 

course.” 

That was not always 

the case – and it won’t 

ever be again now that 

Garcia has been parading 

around the world at 

everything from iconic 

sporting events to his 

wedding reception 

donning a green jacket 

for the past 12 months. 

It was not a linear 

journey from wideeyed 

teenage rookie 

to happily ever after. 

Over the course of two 

decades, when both the 

golf course and Garcia 

evolved, the Spaniard 

fought with demons 

at Augusta National 

– many of his own 

creation. 

“Nothing wrong with 

Augusta,” Garcia said. 

“I think that the main 

thing that has improved 

is the way I’m looking 

at it the last probably 

two or three years.” 

So how did Garcia go 

from being the guy who 

once said at Augusta “I 

don’t have the thing I 

need to have” to win 

majors to winning the 

2017 Masters in a playoff 

duel with Justin 

Rose? 

Most of it is a golf 

game that has consistently 

been elite since 

his father first taught 

him as child. But the 

final ingredient was a 

newfound positive attitude 

drawn out by his 

new wife, Angela Akins 

Garcia, who waged 

an all-out confidence 

campaign last April. 

Thanks to that winning 

combination, 

Garcia will never again 

have to answer the 

mystery of why he 

couldn’t win the big 

one. 

‘Dream come true' 

It was love at first 

sight when Garcia first 

arrived at Augusta 

National as a can’tmiss 

19-year-old 

amateur nicknamed “El 

Nino.” 

“I loved it early on,” 

Garcia said. “I loved the 

way it played in ’99. It 

was great.” 

Garcia's first 

impression of Augusta 

National was mostly 

colored by conversations 

with his Spanish 

golfing idols and twotime 

Masters winners, 

Seve Ballesteros and 

Jose Maria Olazabal. 

When he was growing 

up during the golden 

age of European dominance 

in the Masters 

that started with Seve’s 

first win a few months 

after Garcia was born 

(1980) and ended with 

Olazabal’s last the year 

Garcia first qualified 

to play (1999), television 

coverage of golf 

“wasn’t great” in Spain. 

He was too young to 

remember Ballesteros’ 

two wins (1980 and ’83) 

and constant contending 

for a decade. He 

doesn’t even remember 

watching Olazabal’s 

first win at the 1994 

Masters. 

He’d only seen the 

tournament a couple 

of times on television 

before he won the 1998 

British Amateur to 

qualify . 

“We decided that 

was going to be my 

last tournament as an 

amateur,” Garcia said. 

“Obviously I talked to 

Jose, I talked to Seve 

and all the people that 

were there. They said 

it’s unbelievable and 

amazing and so much 

hillier than you think 

or you can see on TV. So 

you get an idea but you 

get there and it’s like ... 

no, you can’t explain 

it. The atmosphere, 

the feel you get when 

you get to Augusta. 

How different it looks 

and all those things. It 

doesn’t matter what 

you say, you can’t really 

describe it.” 

What he found in 

person obviously suited 

him. Garcia played his 

first two rounds with 

Tiger Woods, matching 

his opening score 

of even-par 72. Though 

he didn’t break par, 

his tie for 38th beat 

fellow amateurs Tom 

McKnight, Matt Kuchar 

and Trevor Immelman 

to become the first 

British Amateur winner 

to claim low amateur 

honors at Augusta. 

He shared the Butler 

Cabin ceremony with 

Jose Maria Olazabal, 

still calling it “a dream 

come true, to be totally 

honest.” 

First signs of trouble 

Garcia left Augusta 

in 1999 believing it 

was the beginning of a 

great relationship with 

the Masters. 

See LOVE-HATE, M7 

“He’s always been a heart-on-sleeve guy. You know exactly what is going on with Sergio, rightly or 

wrongly. So he doesn’t hide things very well. Everyone talks about when he’s happy 

off the golf course he’s one of the best in the world on the golf course.” 

Justin Rose, on Sergio Garcia 

Sergio Garcia celebrates winning the 2017 Masters 

on the first playoff hole. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF]



LOVE-HATE 

From Page M6 

“For sure, I remember 

talking to my dad after 

’99,” he recalled. “I said 

I feel like we’re definitely 

going to win here. I was 

probably thinking more 

than once.” 

His first flirtation with 

contending came in 2002 

when he shot three consecutive 

rounds under 

par to sit inside the top 

four every day before 

finishing eighth with a 

Sunday 75. He started off 

in second place again in 

2003 before a Friday 78 

dashed his chances. 

The first sign that there 

were cracks forming in 

the Garcia-Masters relationship 

came in 2004 

when he arrived in a bit 

of a mini-slump that had 

seen him slip from No. 4 

in the world at the end of 

2002 to No. 48 when he 

showed up at Augusta. 

Lurking just outside 

the leaderboard the first 

three days, Garcia fired 

31 on the second nine 

Sunday to shoot a day’s 

best 66 and vault into a 

fourth-place finish. He 

showed up in the interview 

room for the first 

time all week visibly 

irritated with the small 

gathering of media who 

came to talk to him while 

Phil Mickelson and Ernie 

Els were still putting on a 

show down the stretch. 

“You seem upset about 

something,” were the 

first words that greeted 

him, and he said “it’s been 

going on for awhile” and 

complained that “you 

guys” only pay attention 

to “a handful of players.” 

“You guys but, that’s 

the way you guys are,” 

he said. “When we’re 

playing well, we’re the 

best, and even if we’re 

playing well and things 

are not going our way, 

you know, we can be 

shocking. So it’s nice to 

see how fair you guys 

are, and I just hope that 

you guys don’t come 

out now saying, oh, you 

know, he’s back, and this 

is the Sergio we know 

and all that.” 

He admits now that he 

could be his own worst 

enemy at Augusta. 

“You have to be on in 

so many ways to be able 

to win a tournament, to 

be able to win a major 

and to be able to win 

at Augusta – so many 

things have to go right 

not only in your golf 

game but in your head,” 

he said. “Unfortunately, 

I probably wanted it so 

much those next few 

years (after 1999) that I 

Sergio Garcia reacts after hitting out of the bunker at the 2004 Masters. After his Sunday round, Garcia complained 

to the press about their turnout for him in the interview room. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Sergio Garcia and his caddie Glen Murray watch carefully as his ball continues to roll 

down a hill on No. 3 during the third round of the 2009 Masters. Garcia went thrrough 

a rough stretch at Augusta National. [RAINIER EHRHARDT/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

got really intense, really 

frustrated when I could 

see that I was there and 

didn’t cross the line a 

couple times. Until I kind 

of stepped back and said 

just enjoy it, just play, do 

your thing, be positive, 

accept what’s happening 

good and bad and just let 

it happen ... I probably 

wasn’t able to perform 

as well as I could there. 

As well as I should.” 

Dark period 

That 2004 grousing was 

the start of a dark decade 

for Garcia at Augusta, as 

whatever love he originally 

had for the course and the 

tournament had turned 

into a palpable dislike. 

Garcia broke par only 

twice in his next 18 Masters 

rounds from 2005-10, 

missing the cut three times 

and never finishing better 

than 38th. 

He admits he wrestled 

with the changing nature 

of the course that had 

grown longer and tighter 

and softer than the one 

he first fell in love with in 

1999. 

“It felt like the essence 

of the Masters, to me, it 

kind of went away a little 

bit,” he said. “It went 

from what I fell in love 

with. Obviously I got a 

little frustrated. Don’t get 

me wrong, it was also my 

fault. I took everything too 

personal my way and feeling 

like nothing was really 

happening to me. Which 

obviously is not true. You 

get some bad breaks and 

you get some good ones. 

But I just struggled for 

some years to see the good 

ones I was getting.” 

The same could be 

said for his personal life, 

which spiraled along with 

his golf in 2010, eventually 

prompting a 10-week 

leave of absence to get his 

head right, He fell as low 

as 85th in the world in 

the weeks before the 2011 

Tiger Woods (left) grabs the shoulders of Sergio Garcia after Garcia’s drive on the 

second hole during the 1999 Masters Tournament. Garcia finished as low amateur 

and shared the Butler Cabin ceremony with Jose Maria Olazabal, still calling it “a 

dream come true, to be totally honest.” [ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS] 

Masters. 

But with his game on the 

uptick, Garcia got off to a 

strong start at Augusta and 

climbed into third place on 

the leaderboard at 7-under 

par at the turn on Saturday 

playing with 2009 winner 

Angel Cabrera. Then it all 

went sour, going bogeydouble-bogey 

on Nos. 

10-12 en route to a backnine 

42 that derailed him. 

As Garcia slumped up the 

18th fairway, Cabrera – 

who shot 67 to vault into 

second place and into the 

final Sunday pairing with 

Rory McIlroy – put his arm 

around Garcia’s shoulders 

and appeared to be giving 

him a pep talk. 

“Just my head kind of 

went out on 9 and I just 

couldn’t recover,” Garcia 

said. 

'I’m not good enough' 

Years of frustration 

finally came to a head in 


Garcia started the third 

round in third place just 

a shot behind leaders 

Fred Couples and Jason 

Dufner, and all eyes were 

on him and McIlroy in 

a marquee Saturday 

pairing. 

Things went off the 

rails from the start for 

both players. Garcia 

bogeyed three of the first 

four holes and was five 

over on the day before he 

and McIlroy each made 

their first birdies on No. 

12 and sarcastically celebrated 

with a hug on the 

green. Garcia shot 75 and 

McIlroy 77 and both fell 

well out of contention. 

After a nondescript 

post-round interview 

with the English-speaking 

media, the 32-year-old 

Spaniard told a different 

story to Spanish-speaking 

press. 

“I’m not good enough 

... I don’t have the thing I 

need to have,” Garcia said 

in an interview translated 

from Spanish. “In 13 years 

I’ve come to the conclusion 

that I need to play for 

second or third place.” 

Asked if he meant in the 

Masters, he replied “in 

any major.” 

“I had my chances 

and opportunities and I 

wasted them,” he added. 

“I have no more options. I 

wasted my options.” 

He didn’t back down 

a day later when asked 

about his comments. 

“Do you think I lie 

when I talk?” he said. 

“Everything I say, I say it 

because I feel it. If I didn’t 

mean it, I couldn’t stand 

here and lie like a lot of the 

guys. If I felt like I could 

win, I would do it.” 

What did he think 

he was missing? 

“Everything,” he said. 

Looking back, Garcia 

admits it was years of 

frustration coming out in a 

moment of self-loathing. 

“It’s the way I felt 

at that exact time,” he 

said. “Maybe one of the 

questions they asked me 

triggered it. Obviously 

I wasn’t feeling great. 

It wasn’t the first time 

that I had a below average 

Saturday there when 

I was in contention. So I 

just said what I felt at that 

time. 

“That doesn’t mean 

that when I left Augusta 

and went to play my next 

tournament I didn’t think 

differently. If I didn’t 

think that I could keep 

winning and putting 

myself in that situation 

I probably would have 

stopped playing golf. I 

am emotional and say 

what I feel and I’m very 

truthful all the time and 

sometimes people don’t 

like what I say. It doesn’t 

mean it’s right or wrong, 

and everybody has their 

own opinion. It’s what 

I felt at the time and in a 

way I just wanted to get it 

out and not keep it inside 

of me.” 

'It just feels different' 

Whatever Garcia 

flushed out of his system 

that day seemed to work. 

A year later he returned 

to Augusta and shot a 

first-round 66 to share 

the Masters lead for the 

first time. He finished 

tied for eighth. 

His relationship with 

the course has been on 

the mend ever since, 

with recent firmer 

setups on the longer 

course making him feel 

more like it’s 1999 again. 

“I think it’s the kind 

of place that if you are 

trying to fight against 

it, it’s going to beat you 

down,” he said. “So 

you’ve just got to roll 

with it and realize that 

sometimes you’re going 

to get good breaks ... 

and sometimes you’re 

going to get not-so-good 

breaks. But at the end of 

the day, that’s part of the 

game.” 

When Angela Akins, 

then a sports reporter 

at a local Texas station, 

heard Garcia’s “not good 

enough” comments, she 

reached her own conclusion 

from afar. 

“I thought he was 

wrong,” she said of the 

man she married in July. 

Sergio Garcia 

Age: 38 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Crans- 

Montana, 

Switzerland 

World Ranking: 9 

Career victories: 30 

Tournament invitation: 

2017 Masters champion* 

*A full list of qualifications is on 2M. 

Record at the Masters 

Best Finish: WIN 

Earnings: $3,263,530 

’99: 72-75-75-73–295-a T38 

’00: 70-72-75-78–295 T40 

’01: 70-76–146 

’02: 68-71-70-75–284 8 

’03: 69-78-74-73–294 T28 

’04: 72-72-75-66–285 T4 

’05: 77-72–149 

’06: 72-74-79-73–298 46 

’07: 76-78–154 

’08: 76-72–148 

’09: 73-67-75-74–289 T38 

’10: 74-70-76-78–298 T45 

’11: 69-71-75-73–288 T35 

’12: 72-68-75-71–286 T12 

’13: 66-76-73-70–285 T8 

’14: 74-75–149 

’15: 68-74-71-70–283 T17 

’16: 69-75-81-71–296 T34 

’17: 71-69-70-69–279 WIN 

It came as no shock 

to Angela when his 

long-awaited major 

breakthrough happened 

last April in a playoff win 

over Justin Rose. 

“I personally have 

always thought that golf 

course was a great fit for 

Sergio,” she said. “After 

he won I heard people 

say, ‘it’s a little bit of 

a surprise that he won 

after the comments he 

made.’ I wasn’t surprised 

at all because of what 

that golf course demands 

from the player. I think 

it’s a phenomenal fit for 

Sergio.” 

Garcia’s appreciation 

for the Masters 

has soared and there’s 

only love remaining for 

Augusta National now 

that he’s a member of 

its most exclusive club. 

“It’s been an unbelievable 

experience to 

be able to travel with the 

green jacket all around 

the world,” he said. “It’s 

obviously a tremendous 

honor and you realize it 

even more after you win 

it. When you’ve played 

it enough, and I’ve 

been fortunate enough 

to play the Masters 19 

or 20 times, you see it 

and kind of have an idea 

how big it is. But once 

you win it and you get 

to travel with the jacket 

and you see the reaction 

on the people all over 

the place – in Spain, in 

Germany, in Australia, 

in Hong Kong and Asia 

– you see the reaction 

from them and realize 

how much bigger it is 

than you first think. You 

have to understand how 

big an honor that is and 

you have to be respectful 

of it.” 

He looks forward to 

returning for the Masters, 

wearing the green jacket 

as he mingles with the 

kids during the Drive, 

Chip and Putt competition 

and joining Olazabal 

in the Champions Locker 

Room. In some ways it 

will be as incomprehensible 

as that first feeling he 

had when he first arrived 

in 1999. 

“I’ve talked to Jose 

Maria and he told me 

when you get there and 

you go through the gates 

and drive down Magnolia 

Lane as a Masters champion, 

you’ll see,” Garcia 

said. “He couldn’t explain 

the feeling. He said you’ll 

see it just feels different. 

To walk around the 

grounds at Augusta and 

wearing the jacket and 

being seen as a Masters 

champion and everything, 

it’s just so different.” 

When he stands up 

to greet his peers at the 

Champions Dinner, his 

words will be a lot different 

than they were in 

2012 when he thought 

he’d never get there. 

“I’m not going to write 

anything,” he said. “I’m 

just going to say it from 

the heart because I think 

that’s the way I am.”

M8 Sunday, April 1, 2018 The Augusta Chronicle • Augusta.com



The 

good 

wife 

Akins put Garcia 

on positive path 

toward green jacket 


Staff Writer 

AUSTIN, Texas — Sergio 

Garcia insisted he didn’t feel 

any different as he sat in the 

interview room wearing his 

green jacket while trying to 

explain how he finally got it 

after 18 years of pursuit. 

“I’m still the same guy,” 

he said. “I’m still the same 

goofy guy, so that’s not 

going to change.” 

That’s not the analysis 

that was unfolding in the 

clubhouse, where the members 

were gathering for the 

traditional victory party 

Augusta National throws for 

the newly minted Masters 

champion and his entourage. 

Marty and Pamela Akins – 

parents of Garcia’s fiancee, 

Angela – were sitting at a 

table catching their breath 

after a long emotional day. 

One after another, members 

and their spouses kept 

approaching them, all saying 

a variation of the exact same 

thing. 

“They said this is the most 

incredible transformation 

that they’d seen,” Marty 

Akins said. “People just 

poured over to us and told us 

how different Sergio was. I 

told Pamela they all had seen 

what we’d seen. It was like 

a miracle to a lot of them.” 

The difference that they 

and every other golf fan saw 

that Sunday had nothing to 

do with golf. Garcia at age 

37 is as gifted and skilled a 

golfer as he was when he first 

came to Augusta at age 19. 

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. 

Open champion, calls Garcia 

“the best ball-striker in the 

world for the last 20 years.” 

“All of the guys of my generation 

who have played a lot 

with Sergio would acknowledge 

that fact,” Ogilvy told 

Golf Digest’s John Huggan. 

“No one has been more consistent 

than Sergio. Nobody. 

... I’ve seen guys hit it better 

than Sergio. But I’ve never 

seen anyone so good for so 

long.” 

All of that skill is a testament 

to Garcia and his 

father, Victor Sr., who has 

been the only teacher the 

Spaniard has ever known. 

But what was different 

about Garcia that Sunday – 

what enabled him to avoid 

another collapse when 

adversity and bogeys started 

piling up around Amen 

Corner – came from another 

source. It came from three 

generations of Texas sporting 

aristocracy delivered by 

the woman he loved. 

“I think when you put 

Sergio and Angela together 

you’ve got a winning combination,” 

said Marty Akins 

of the couple who got married 

in June. “I know Sergio 

was a great golfer before he 

met Angela. I know he did 

outstanding things before 

he met Angela. He’s won 

all over the world. But I was 

able to notice that something 

happened to him and 

he changed in a way that we 

measure.” 

Garcia doesn’t argue the 

point considering the ultimate 

measure is a major 

championship. 

“It’s true,” he said. “She’s 

been an amazing influence.” 

Family tradition 

Akins first met Garcia in 

2015 at the Houston Open 

in her role as a Golf Channel 

reporter, asking him a few 

questions after his pro-am 

Sergio Garcia celebrates with fiancee Angela Akins after his Masters Tournament victory. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Garcia met Akins when she was a Golf Channel reporter. “She’s an unbelievable woman, very driven 

and very competitive,” he said. “So she’s always pushing me to become better not only as a player but 

as a person.” [JOHN EVANS/GATEHOUSE MEDIA] 

round. 

“He was very, very nice,” 

she said. “I was so busy 

trying to do my job and 

I’d just started at the Golf 

Channel four months before 

that. Honestly I didn’t think 

anything of it. I just remember 

Sergio always being one 

of the nicest guys, not just to 

me but all of the media.” 

That was the extent of their 

relationship for months, 

occasionally running into 

each other at tournaments 

and exchanging pleasantries. 

By the end of the year, Garcia 

started asking Akins out. 

When they started officially 

dating in 2016, she resigned 

from Golf Channel. 

Garcia had found a kindred 

spirit who gets him. 

“For me it helps because I 

could see that she can understand 

me a little bit better 

than some other people 

might,” Garcia said. “It 

made things a little bit easier 

to deal with.” 

It’s constructive to understand 

how Angela Akins 

Garcia grew up. 

Her grandfather, Ray 

Akins, was a Hall of Fame 

high school coach in Texas 

who won 302 games in 37 

seasons under the Friday 

night lights. 

Her father, Marty, was an 

All-American quarterback 

at the University of Texas, 

establishing rushing records 

running the wishbone 

offense in the mid-1970s 

that weren’t surpassed until 

Vince Young came along 30 

years later. He preceded his 

father into the Texas high 

school football Hall of Fame. 

Her first cousin is Drew 

Brees, the former Purdue 

All-American quarterback 

who led the New Orleans 

Saints to a Super Bowl win 

and is less than 1,500 yards 

from becoming the NFL’s 

career passing leader. His 

induction in the Texas high 

school football Hall of Fame 

in 2011 made them the first 

family with three generations 

enshrined. 

“We are all highly competitive 

no matter what we 

do in this family,” said Pam 

“For me it helps because 

I could see that she can 

understand me a little bit 

better than some other 

people might. It made 

things a little bit easier to 

deal with.” 

Sergio Garcia, on his wife, 

Angela 

Akins. “I think Sergio really 

likes that and fit right in.” 

Angela was a stellar athlete 

at track, basketball and 

golf, eventually getting a 

scholarship to join the Texas 

women’s golf team. 

“We always taught her to 

expect to win,” her father 

said. “There’s a saying in 

our family that what you 

think and what you believe 

is who you are. My dad used 

to say that all the time. So 

if you think you’re the best 

and believe you’re the best, 

you’re going to be the best. 

If you think you’re going to 

win and believe you’re going 

to win, you’re going to win. 

She’s grown up with that her 

whole life.” 

Garcia quickly grew close 

to Angela’s father and 

grandfather. Ray Akins died 

the day after Christmas at 

age 92. 

“If he was talking to you, 

he would be subtly coaching 

you and teaching you something,” 

Pam Akins said of 

her father-in-law. “I think 

between Marty and his dad, 

their philosophy has had an 


Those lessons are absorbed 

every day with Angela in 

Garcia’s life. 

See ANGELA, M10



ANGELA 

From Page M9 

“I think my father and 

grandfather have had 

a positive influence on 

Sergio,” Angela said. 

“I get my competitive 

spirit and my drive and 

my confidence from 

them, and so I think they 

passed that on to Sergio 

a little bit.” 

Said her father: “I just 

see a different kind of 

guy when Angela’s with 

him. Pam and I take no 

credit for any of it. She 

was just brought up that 

way. She expects to win 

just like all the Akins clan 

expects to win.” 

Uplifted 

Athletes pay a lot of 

money to sports psychologists 

in hopes 

that planting the right 

thoughts will be the difference 

in winning. 

Garcia has worked 

with sports psychologists 

before, but he got 

engaged to a veritable 

Norman Vincent Peale 

in the positive thinking 

department. Akins 

conducted a 24-7 intervention 

during Masters 

Week that Bob Rotella 

could never pull off. 

“There was something 

about that week that felt 

right and felt like something 

I wanted to do,” 

she said. 

It started weeks in 

advance with a letterwriting 

campaign. Akins 

solicited all the people 

closest to Garcia – family 

and friends, including 

Jose Maria Olazabal – 

to write him personal 

notes with only two 

directives. 

“I said write whatever 

you want to Sergio but 

maybe include why you 

love him and why you 

know he can win this 

tournament,” she said. 

The letters came pouring 

in the weeks leading 

up to the Masters, many 

via email. 

“Then my mom and I 

rewrote them in different 

handwriting – like 

left-handed and stuff to 

look as if different people 

had written them,” 

Angela said. “The notes 

were incredible. I was 

crying reading them.” 

The pile of letters 

greeted Garcia when he 

got to Augusta, and they 

had a powerful effect on 

him as he prepared for 

the tournament. 

“They were extremely 

special,” he said. “They 

Fireworks go off at the July wedding of Sergio Garcia and Angela Akins. [JENNIFER LINDBERG WEDDINGS/COURTESY OF 

ANGELA GARCIA] 

were proper notes – 10 

or 15 pages, all of them. 

So many amazing things. 

Why they love me and 

why they believed I could 

win. So many encouraging 

words.” 

Olazabal’s note 

included a plea that 

Garcia said “touched my 

heart.” 

“I’m not sharing my 

locker at the moment, 

and I hope that I get to 

do it with you,” Olazabal 

wrote of his place in the 

champions locker room 

at Augusta. 

Phase II of Angela’s 

plan was to fill the bathroom 

mirror with green 

Post-it notes so that he 

would wake up every 

morning to affirmations 

from numerous sources 

including Buddha, 

Nelson Mandela and 

Teddy Roosevelt. 

“Short little phrases 

from important people 

and some of her own,” 

Garcia said. “It was 

really nice to wake up 

and be brushing your 

teeth and see ‘You’re the 

best’ and ‘Don’t forget to 

be amazing!’” 

“Something in talking 

with Angela about how 

great he was and he was 

going to win that tournament, 

he believed it,” 

Marty Akins said. 

Angela smiled at 

Garcia’s retelling. 

“I’ve just tried to be 

there for him every step 

of the way and remind 

him often just how great 

he is,” she said. 

Sunday support 

All of those lessons 

and affirmations took 

hold when Garcia needed 

it most during Sunday’s 

final round. The tournament 

had basically boiled 

down to Garcia vs. Justin 

Rose in the final pairing 

as they turned to the 

second nine tied for the 

lead and a few shots clear 

of anyone else. 

Then Garcia made 

bogeys on Nos. 10 and 

11 to fall two behind. 

When his drive on No. 13 

clipped a tree branch and 

caromed into an azalea 

bush on the wrong side 

of the tributary to Rae’s 

Creek, a bleak familiarity 

settled in. 

“I just think that 

maybe in the old days 

Sergio might have 

thought that bad luck 

had jumped on his back,” 

Marty said. “All the 

adversity and the defeat 

that was staring him in 

the face, he may not have 

been able to overcome 

that.” 

Instead of cursing 

his luck, Garcia took 

it in stride and moved 

forward with a new purpose. 

He took a penalty 

drop in the pine straw, 

punched out into the 

fairway, wedged it to 7 

feet and drained the putt 

to save par and remain 

only two behind Rose. 

“I kept believing in 

myself and kept telling 

myself it’s your 

time and you’re playing 

great,” he said. “The 

way you’re playing you 

can make something 

happen so let’s keep at it. 

It was as simple as that. 

Sometimes we seem to 

over think things. A lot 

of times just the simplest 

thought is all you need. 

Just keep believing.” 

Akins felt the same 

way outside the ropes. 

“It was a roller coaster 

of emotions,” she said. “I 

remember thinking at 10 

and 11, ‘This isn’t over.’ 

I never once doubted 

Sergio. I never once lost 

the confidence he was 

going to win that day. I 

don’t know where that 

came from, but I had that 

confidence the entire 

time.” 

His own confidence 

sparked anew with the 

par save, he hit two perfect 

shots to set up birdie 

on No. 14 – the hole formerly 

known as Spanish 

Dagger. After he hit 

his approach to 4 feet, 

he looked left and spotted 

Angela outside the 

ropes. 

“Somehow he turned 

and looked right at me 

in this sea of people,” 

she said. “We gave each 

other fist pumps.” 

The ‘True’ Sergio 

For only the second 

time in his career, Garcia 

stood over a putt to win 

a major on the last hole 

of regulation. Like his 

attempt at Carnoustie 

in 2007 that lipped out, 

his 5-footer for birdie at 

Augusta never took the 

break and stayed out of 

the hole. 

Garcia, however, 

remained positive with 

another assist from his 

fiancee as he walked off 

the back of the green to 

go sign his scorecard. 

“She could have given 

me a hug and said, 

‘It’s okay, baby, don’t 

worry, you’ll get it,’” he 

said in a consoling tone. 

“It’s more of a negative 

embrace. Instead of that 

she just gave me a low 

five, looked at me and 

said ‘You’ve got this.’ I 

was like, yeah, perfect. 

I kept going with a good 

attitude.” 

That was the instinct 

of Angela’s athletic 

upbringing. 

“Anyone who knows 

athletes, it’s so important 

to have the right 

thoughts in your head,” 

she said. “I never say 

anything that’s going 

to put a thought in his 

head that I don’t think 

is going to be helpful. So 

after he missed the putt 

I just said to him, ‘You 

fought your way back; 

you’ve got this.’ That’s 

what came to my mind 

and I thought would be 

the most helpful for him 

to hear.” 

While Rose struggled 

to a bogey on the first 

hole of sudden death, 

Garcia painted a perfect 

drive, solid approach 

and curled in a 12-footer 

for birdie to win. All 

of his frustrations that 

had been bottled up for 

18 years came out in 

a primal scream as he 

crouched in celebration. 

“A lot of things Sergio 

was able to accomplish 

that day were pretty 

miraculous,” said Marty 

Akins. “I think Angela 

has had a tremendous 


Garcia said that in 

that winning moment, 

all of the people who 

helped him along the 

way came flooding out 

in his emotional display 

– his parents and management 

team who have 

been with him every 

step of his career and his 

new family that brought 

his life a new level of 

fulfillment. 

“She’s an unbelievable 

woman, very driven and 

very competitive,” he 

said . “So she’s always 

pushing me to become 

better not only as a 

player but as a person. 

It is a team effort, not 

only Angela and myself. 

Our whole families and 

managers and everybody 

that we work with 

try to help us out to make 

us better. With those 

things coming together 

it helped me obviously 

to see things a little differently 

at Augusta last 

year.” 

Angela is flattered that 

some people give her 

a little bit of credit for 

assisting Garcia’s longawaited 

breakthrough, 

but she knew he had it in 

him all along. 

“We’re so new to the 

Sergio team and there 

were a lot of things 

going right for Sergio 

way before any of us ever 

met him,” she said. “His 

dad has done a phenomenal 

job coaching him his 

whole life and obviously 

his mom and dad have 

been there for everything 

and he’s had the same 

managers for many, 

many years. I just think 

that now just one more 

piece of the puzzle has 

been added and it’s the 

piece that has brought it 

all together.” 

While folks watching 

Garcia tame his demons 

to finally win the Masters 

might believe they saw a 

changed man, all they 

really saw was a more 

complete version of the 

same old Sergio. 

“Sergio’s not a different 

person,” his 

wife said. “I think what 

people are seeing now 

when they watch Sergio 

play golf, whether at a 

tournament or watching 

on TV, is they’re seeing 

Sergio’s true personality. 

The Sergio you also 

get off the golf course, 

which is the Sergio I fell 

in love with – this happy, 

light hearted, funny guy 

who just attracts people 

and makes them want to 

be around him. 

“I think that true personality 

has come out 

on the golf course and 

that has helped him be 

so successful in the last 

few years. He’s worked 

really, really hard.” 

Baby Azalea extends Masters theme in Garcia's life 


Staff Writer 

For many newly 

engaged couples, the 

conversation often turns 

to having children. 

After their engagement 

on New Year’s 2017, 

Angela Akins planted 

two seeds when the topic 

came up with her fiance 

Sergio Garcia – that they 

would have a child and it 

would come after winning 

a major. 

“She said we should 

name our first baby 

something related to 

where you win your first 

grand slam,” Garcia 

said. “I hoped it wasn’t 

Shinnecock.” 

Garcia wasted no time 

getting the major part out 

of the way with his playoff 

victory at the Masters 

Tournament. They 

were married in July and 

announced their pregnancy 

in October. 

Kicking around 

Masters-related ideas for 

their baby girl, there were 

plenty of girlish names 

Marty and Pamela Akins (from left) joined their daughter Angela and Sergio Garcia 

and his parents, Consuelo and Victor Garcia, after the wedding at the Akins family 

ranch. [PHOTOS BY JENNIFER LINDBERG PHOTOGRAPHY] 

to consider – Augusta, 

Magnolia, Jasmine, Holly. 

But only one stood out as 

perfect, sounding a little 

bit Spanish and English 

while meaning the same 

thing in both languages. 

Azalea Adele Garcia 

was born in the wee hours 

of March 14 in Austin, 

Texas. 

It was the perfect choice 

since Garcia’s victory last 

April bloomed out of the 

middle of an azalea bush 

on the 13th hole, appropriately 

named Azalea. 

It was from that azalea 

where Garcia summoned 

the strength to fight back 

from a two-shot deficit 

and an unplayable lie to 

rally and win the green 

jacket. 

“If it’s meant to be,” 

Garcia said of the situation 

that could easily 

have derailed his major 

hopes again. “Saturday 

my ball hit the bank and 

The party after the 

wedding had a theme of 

Masters green, including 

the special beer koozies. 

Sergio Garcia’s gifts for 

his groomsmen were 

Masters-green Adidas 

shoes. 

stayed up and (Sunday) it 

hit the tree and went into 

the azaleas. So that was 

meant to happen.” 

The Garcias have 

enjoyed a very Mastersthemed 

life over the past 

12 months. Garcia wore 

his green jacket for the 

ceremonial kickoff before 

an El Clasico soccer 

match at the Bernabeu, 

where Lionel Messi’s 

Barcelona beat Garcia’s 

beloved Real Madrid 3-2. 

It showed up again in a 

VIP box at Wimbledon. 

Had the Minnesota 

miracle not eliminated 

Angela’s first cousin, 

Drew Brees, and the 

Saints from the NFL 

playoffs, the green jacket 

might have shown up at 

the Super Bowl. 

The most unique 

appearance for the green 

jacket, however, came in 

July on the Akins family 

ranch. The newly married 

Garcias burst into 

the wedding reception 

tent with him wearing 

the green jacket for their 

first dance. 

Much of the wedding 

afterparty's theme was an 

homage to Masters green 

– from the icing on the 

cookies to the special beer 

koozies to the fireworks 

display. Even Garcia’s 

gifts for his groomsmen 

were Masters-green 

Adidas shoes.



Sergio Garcia holds the winner’s trophy during the green jacket ceremony following the final round of the 2017 Masters. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]



“Hopefully, it is a Masters that goes down [in history]. Masters Sunday, it’s a special day. 

Being in the final group is an incredible experience. The crowd, there’s a lot of energy out there.” 

Justin Rose, 2017 Masters runner-up 

Splendor in the grass 

Garcia, Rose engaged in classic 

final-round duel at 2017 Masters 

By David Westin 

Staff Writer 

Before Sergio Garcia 

and Justin Rose went 

head-to-head in the 2017 

Masters Tournament, it 

had been four years since 

two men battled on the 

final nine with the green 

jacket on the line. 

In 2013, Adam Scott 

outdueled Angel Cabrara 

as the rest of the field 

played for third place. 

The difference between 

that match-up and the 

Garcia-Rose battle was 

that Scott and Cabrera 

were not in same group, 

as Garcia and Rose were. 

Both ended in sudden 

death, with Scott and 

Garcia emerging to 

win their first major 

championship . 

“He played awesome. 

I played nicely, too,” 

Garcia said of Rose. “So 

it was nice to be able to 

battle that out with him, 

throughout the whole 

day.” 

“Hopefully, it is a 

Masters that goes down 

[in history],” Rose said. 

“Masters Sunday, it’s a 

special day. Being in the 

final group is an incredible 

experience. The 

crowd, there’s a lot of 

energy out there. I was 

really interested and surprised 

that nobody was 

able to make a run during 

the front nine. Sergio got 

off to a great start, and 

when I birdied 6, 7 and 8, 

it became pretty apparent 

that it was me and him 

down the stretch, really. ” 

Garcia and Rose traded 

haymakers over the final 

five holes. 

In a sudden-death 

playoff, Garcia settled 

Future Masters 

2019: April 8-14 





the issue on the first 

hole – No. 18 – sinking 

a 12-foot birdie for the 

victory. 

It was the 37-year-old 

Garcia’s first win in 74 

major championships, 

four of which he’d been 

runner-up. Winning 

in his 19th start in the 

Masters earned Garcia 

the record for most 

starts for a champion at 

Augusta National before 

winning. The record 

had been 15, by Mark 

O’Meara in 1998. 

Garcia and Rose 

started the day tied for 

the lead and shot 3-under 

69s to finish at 9-under 

279. Garcia opened with 

71-69-70 while Rose 

shot 71-72-67 in the first 

three rounds. The nextclosest 

golfer – 2011 

Masters champ Charl 

Schwartzel – finished 

three shots back.Garcia 

led by three shots after 

five holes, but Rose birdied 

Nos. 6, 7 and 8, and 

both made the turn tied 

for the lead after 2-under 

34s.After 12 holes, 

Garcia had fallen two 

shots behind Rose and 

saw his drive on No. 13 

clip the trees on the left 

side of the fairway and go 

left, across the tributary 

of Rae’s Creek. He had 

to take an unplayable lie 

and punched out, leaving 

89 yards to the pin. He 

knocked it to 7 feet and 

made that for par.Rose, 

meanwhile, had to settle 

Sergio Garcia embraces Justin Rose after defeating him on the first playoff hole at 

last year’s Masters. The two started Sunday tied for the lead. “He played awesome,” 

Garcia said of Rose. “I played nicely, too.” [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

for a par on No. 13, missing 

a 6-footer for birdie. 

“That little two-shot 

swing there was kind of 

when he was back in the 

tournament,” Rose said. 

“I feel like, if he misses 

at that point, I’m four 

clear.” 

Garcia got within one 

when he birdied No. 14. 

He left No. 15 tied for 

the lead when he made 

an electrifying 12-footer 

for eagle, while Rose 

made birdie. 

“No. 13 was great, 14 

was really nice, but 15, 

everything about it ... the 

energy I felt mostly on 

the putt when it dropped 

was very special,” Garcia 

said in February. “That 

was special. Every time I 

see it I get goosebumps.” 

Rose birdied No. 16 to 

take back the lead but 

bogeyed No. 17. They 

both parred No. 18, 

missing birdie putts. 

For Garcia, it was 

the second time in his 

career he had a putt on 

the 72nd hole of a major 

to win – he missed a 

putt at the 2007 British 

Open and lost in a fourhole 

playoff to Padraig 

Harrington. 

“For me the situation 

was a little different,” 

Garcia said in February. 

“Last time I had it at 

Carnoustie I bogeyed 

the last. So I had a putt 

to win. Now I wish I 

could have seen that 

differently. But in 2007, 

I bogeyed the last and 

so it’s like I gave it away 

kind of thing. Even 

though I was still in a 

playoff, I made a bogey 

and it wasn’t like I had a 

birdie putt and got a little 

unlucky. I wish I would 

have seen it differently. 

But that’s the way I saw 

it this time.” 

At the 2017 Masters, 

“I was coming back, 

making a great comeback 

after those two bogeys 

(on No. 10 and 11) and got 

myself a putt to win.” 

Garcia said he thought 

his putt on No. 18 in regulation 

was good. 

“ That’s why when 

you see my reaction it’s 

not a (moan) it’s a surprised 

look because I’m 

thinking I hit a good putt 

and how does it not go 

left,” he said. “I left the 

hole thinking I played it 

great and gave myself a 

chance, and unfortunately 

I didn’t make my 

birdie. But you still have 

another shot.” 

2017 Masters Tournament results 

1 x-Sergio Garcia 71-69-70-69—279 $1,980,000 

2 Justin Rose 71-72-67-69—279 $1,188,000 

3 Charl Schwartzel 74-72-68-68—282 $748,000 

T4 Matt Kuchar 72-73-71-67—283 $484,000 

T4 Thomas Pieters 72-68-75-68—283 $484,000 

6 Paul Casey 72-75-69-68—284 $396,000 

T7 Kevin Chappell 71-76-70-68—285 $354,750 

T7 Rory McIlroy 72-73-71-69—285 $354,750 

T9 Ryan Moore 75-69-69-73—286 $308,000 

T9 Adam Scott 74-69-69-74—286 $308,000 

T11 Rickie Fowler 73-67-71-76—287 $233,200 

T11 Russell Henley 71-76-71-69—287 $233,200 

T11 Brooks Koepka 74-73-71-69—287 $233,200 

T11 Hideki Matsuyama 76-70-74-67—287 $233,200 

T11 Jordan Spieth 75-69-68-75—287 $233,200 

T16 Martin Kaymer 78-68-74-68—288 $181,500 

T16 Steve Stricker 75-73-72-68—288 $181,500 

T18 Fred Couples 73-70-74-72—289 $148,500 

T18 Pat Perez 74-74-70-71—289 $148,500 

T18 Jimmy Walker 76-71-70-72—289 $148,500 

T18 Lee Westwood 70-77-68-74—289 $148,500 

T22 Jason Day 74-76-69-71—290 $105,600 

T22 Charley Hoffman 65-75-72-78—290 $105,600 

T22 William McGirt 69-73-74-74—290 $105,600 

T22 Phil Mickelson 71-73-74-72—290 $105,600 

T22 Justin Thomas 73-76-71-70—290 $105,600 

T27 Daniel Berger 77-73-72-69—291 $78,100 

T27 Branden Grace 76-74-71-70—291 $78,100 

T27 Jon Rahm 73-70-73-75—291 $78,100 

T27 Brandt Snedeker 75-74-69-73—291 $78,100 

T27 Brendan Steele 74-73-75-69—291 $78,100 

32 Matthew Fitzpatrick 71-78-73-70—292 $68,200 

T33 Byeong-Hun An 76-73-74-70—293 $62,150 

T33 Jason Dufner 71-76-70-76—293 $62,150 

T33 Francesco Molinari 78-72-71-72—293 $62,150 

T36 Bill Haas 75-72-71-76 —294 $52,938 

T36 Adam Hadwin 75-74-75-70 —294 $52,938 

T36 *Stewart Hagestad 74-73-74-73—294 

T36 Soren Kjeldsen 72-73-71-78—294 $52,938 

T36 Brian Stuard 77-70-74-73—294 $52,938 

T41 Ross Fisher 76-74-74-71—295 $46,200 

T41 Louis Oosthuizen 77-71-76-71—295 $46,200 

T43 Kevin Kisner 74-75-74-73—296 $40,700 

T43 Marc Leishman 73-74-78-71—296 $40,700 

T43 Bernd Wiesberger 77-72-76-71—296 $40,700 

T46 *Curtis Luck 78-72-75-72—297 

T46 Daniel Summerhays 74-75-75-73—297 $36,300 

T48 James Hahn 75-75-75-73—298 $33,000 

T48 Andy Sullivan 71-78-76-73—298 $33,000 

50 J.B. Holmes 78-72-73-76—299 $30,140 

51 Emiliano Grillo 79-70-73-78—300 $28,600 

52 Larry Mize 74-76-79-76—305 $27,720 

53 Ernie Els 72-75-83-78—308 $27,060 

MISSED CUT 

T54 Jim Furyk 78-73—151 $10,000 

T54 Billy Hurley III 75-76—151 $10,000 

T54 Yuta Ikeda 74-77—151 $10,000 

T54 Zach Johnson 77-74—151 $10,000 

T54 Shane Lowry 72-79—151 $10,000 

T54 Kevin Na 76-75—151 $10,000 

T54 Danny Willett 73-78—151 $10,000 

T54 Chris Wood 74-77—151 $10,000 

T62 Rafa Cabrera-Bello 75-77—152 $10,000 

T62 Tommy Fleetwood 78-74—152 $10,000 

T62 Russell Knox 76-76—152 $10,000 

T62 Alexander Noren 74-78—152 $10,000 

T62 Rod Pampling 74-78—152 $10,000 

T62 Scott Piercy 73-79—152 $10,000 

T62 Webb Simpson 75-77—152 $10,000 

T62 Henrik Stenson 77-75—152 $10,000 

T62 Bubba Watson 74-78—152 $10,000 

T71 *Brad Dalke 78-75—153 

T71 Bernhard Langer 75-78—153 $10,000 

T71 Sean O’Hair 76-77—153 $10,000 

T71 Jose-Maria Olazabal 77-76—153 $10,000 

T71 Patrick Reed 76-77—153 $10,000 

T71 Vijay Singh 78-75—153 $10,000 

T71 Hudson Swafford 77-76—153 $10,000 

T78 Angel Cabrera 79-75—154 $10,000 

T78 Jhonattan Vegas 78-76—154 $10,000 

T78 Ian Woosnam 76-78—154 $10,000 

T81 Trevor Immelman 79-76—155 $10,000 

T81 Mike Weir 76-79—155 $10,000 

T81 Gary Woodland 75-80—155 $10,000 

T84 Si Woo Kim 75-81—156 $10,000 

T84 Mark O’Meara 78-78—156 $10,000 

T84 Hideto Tanihara 76-80—156 $10,000 

T84 Jeunghun Wang 78-78—156 $10,000 

T88 Roberto Castro 79-78—157 $10,000 

T88 *Scott Gregory 82-75—157 

90 Tyrrell Hatton 80-78—158 $10,000 

91 Mackenzie Hughes 79-80—159 $10,000 

92 Sandy Lyle 77-83—160 $10,000 

93 *Toto Gana 81-80—161 

x-Won in playoff 

*Amateur



Wrist injury will keep Koepka out of Masters 


Staff Writer 

Brooks Koepka spends 

so much time hanging 

out with Dustin Johnson 

that a lot of the world 

No. 1’s habits seem to be 

rubbing off on him – not 

all of them ideal. 

After following 

Johnson’s example to 

win his own U.S. Open 

in overpowering fashion 

a year after his closest 

tour friend, Koepka is 

maintaining the pattern 

by copying Johnson and 

missing the Masters with 

an injury. 

After finishing last 

in the Bahamas and 

Kapalua in December 

and January, an MRI 

revealed that Koepka had 

a torn tendon in his left 

wrist that would sideline 

him at least two months. 

With treatment instead 

of surgery, he had set 

his sights on returning 

in time for Augusta. 

Two weeks before 

the Masters, however, 

Koepka admitted that he 

might not be able to play 

after the latest assessment 

from his doctors. 

“They said I would be 

about 80 percent, but I 

can’t play 80 percent,” 

Koepka said March 20 . 

“I either have to go full 

bore or not at all. I don’t 

want to risk getting it reinjured 

and then be out a 

long time.” 

Koepka informed 

Masters officials a week 

later that he would not 

play, according to The 

Associated Press. 

Like Johnson’s slip on 

the stairs on the eve of 

the Masters last year, 

Koepka’s timing was 

unfortunate. He’d just 

finished runner-up in the 

WGC event in China and 

won the Dunlop Phoenix 

in Japan to climb to No. 

7 in the world before he 

started feeling pain in 

his wrist playing in the 

Hero World Challenge in 

the Bahamas. He hasn’t 

missed a cut in 19 worldwide 

starts since 2017 at 

Bay Hill. 

It was at the U.S. Open 

where Koepka finally 

revealed his full potential 

in a major where 

he already had shown a 

knack for strong play. 

He’s made the cut in 15 

Brooks Koepka overpowered the longest course in U.S. Open history last June to win 

by four strokes. He’s made the cut in 15 consecutive majors since 2013, finishing in 

the top 20 in 11 of them and the top 10 six times, including a sixth-place finish at the 

Tour Championship in September. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

consecutive majors since 

2013, finishing in the top 

20 in 11 of them and the 

top 10 six times. 

“There’s something 

about majors where I 

just focus in a lot more,” 

Koepka said. “Obviously 

I need to do that more 

often. But it’s got my 

full attention. Every 

shot, every putt – even 

if it’s 12 inches – I’m 

still reading it, still doing 

everything, and it’s got 

my attention.” 

Koepka grabbed 

everyone’s attention 

on Sunday at Erin Hills 

when he overpowered 

the longest course in 

U.S. Open history and 

pulled away from Brian 

Harman and Hideki 

Matsuyama . 

Koepka’s final-round 

67 left him 16-under 

par, tying the U.S. 

Open scoring record in 

relation to par set by 

Rory McIlroy in 2011 at 

Congressional. 

His unblemished finish 

and almost casual style 

was eerily similar to 

Johnson the year before 

at Oakmont. Koepka 

took to heart the advice 

from Johnson in a twominute 

phone call on the 

eve of the final round to 

remain patient and just 

do his thing. 

“I’ve been trying to 

win so badly,” he said. 

Brooks Koepka has been improving in his Masters 

finishes, tying for 33rd, 21st and 11th in his three 

previous starts at Augusta. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE 


Brooks Koepka 

Age: 27 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 186 

Residence: 

Jupiter, Fla. 

College: 

Florida State 

University 




2017 U.S. Open champion* 



Best Finish: T11 

Earnings: $403,200 

’15: 74-71-71-72–288 T33 

’16: 73-72-76-72–293 T21 

’17: 74-73-71-69–287 T11 

“I felt like I’ve underachieved. 

And the 

more patient that I can 

become, the more times 

I’ll put myself in this 

situation.” 

It was a pretty good 

breakthrough for a 

27-year-old who’d previously 

won only once 

each on the European 

and PGA tours. 

“I just felt like I should 

be winning more,” he 

said. “I don’t know why. 

It’s one of those things. 

Not a big fan of losing 

– I don’t think anyone 

out here is. And I just 

couldn’t stand the fact 

that I’d only won once 

Future U.S. Opens 

June 14-17 : Shinnecock 

Hills Golf Club 

June 13-16, 2019: Pebble 

Beach Golf Links 

June 18-21, 2020: Winged 

Foot Golf Club 

June 17-20, 2021: Torrey 

Pines Golf Course 

(on the PGA Tour).” 

Before this setback, 

Koepka had been trending 

upward every year 

at Augusta – finishing 

in ties for 33rd, 21st and 

11th in his three previous 

Masters starts. 

When he hangs out 

with Johnson in the gym 

or at each other’s home 

in Florida, they don’t 

typically discuss strategies 

to conquer Augusta 

National or any other 

golf course. 

“To be honest with 

you, I don’t think we’ve 

ever really talked about 

golf,” Koepka said. 

“More just laughing, 

having a good time and 

hanging out and it’s 

nothing. Maybe when 

we play practice rounds, 

that’s about the only 

time we ever talk about 

golf.” 

The biggest issue for 

both at the Masters turns 

out to be just getting to 

the first tee. 

U.S. Open champions 

2017: Brooks Koepka 

2016: Dustin Johnson 

2015: Jordan Spieth 

2014: Martin Kaymer 

2013: Justin Rose 

2012: Webb Simpson 

2011: Rory McIlroy 

2010: Graeme McDowell 

2009: Lucas Glover 

2008: x-Tiger Woods 

2007: Angel Cabrera 

2006: Geoff Ogilvy 

2005: Michael Campbell 

2004: Retief Goosen 

2003: Jim Furyk 

2002: Tiger Woods 

2001: x-Retief Goosen 


1999: Payne Stewart 

1998: Lee Janzen 

1997: Ernie Els 

1996: Steve Jones 

1995: Corey Pavin 

1994: x-Ernie Els 

1993: Lee Janzen 

1992: Tom Kite 

1991: x-Payne Stewart 

1990: x-Hale Irwin 

1989: Curtis Strange 

1988: x-Curtis Strange 

1987: Scott Simpson 

1986: Ray Floyd 

1985: Andy North 

1984: x-Fuzzy Zoeller 

1983: Larry Nelson 

1982: Tom Watson 

1981: David Graham 

1980: Jack Nicklaus 

1979: Hale Irwin 

1978: Andy North 

1977: Hubert Green 

1976: Jerry Pate 

1975: x-Lou Graham 

1974: Hale Irwin 

1973: Johnny Miller 


1971: x-Lee Trevino 

1970: Tony Jacklin 

1969: Orville Moody 

1968: Lee Trevino 


1966: x-Billy Casper 

1965: x-Gary Player 

1964: Ken Venturi 

1963: x-Julius Boros 

1962: x-Jack Nicklaus 

1961: Gene Littler 

1960: Arnold Palmer 

1959: Billy Casper 

1958: Tommy Bolt 

1957: x-Dick Mayer 

1956: Cary Middlecoff 

1955: x-Jack Fleck 

1954: Ed Furgol 

1953: Ben Hogan 

1952: Julius Boros 


1950: x-Ben Hogan 

1949: Cary Middlecoff 


1947: x-Lew Worsham 

1946: x-Lloyd Mangrum 

1942-45: No tournament* 

1941: Craig Wood 

1940: x-Lawson Little 

1939: x-Byron Nelson 

1938: Ralph Guldahl 

1937: Ralph Guldahl 

1936: Tony Manero 

1935: Sam Parks Jr. 

1934: Olin Dutra 

1933: Johnny Goodman 

1932: Gene Sarazen 

1931: x-Billy Burke 

1930: Bobby Jones 

1929: x-Bobby Jones 

1928: x-Johnny Farrell 

1927: x-Tommy Armour 


1925: x-Willie MacFarlane 

1924: Cyril Walker 

1923: x-Bobby Jones 


1921: James M. Barnes 

1920: Edward Ray 

1919: x-Walter Hagen 

1917-18: No tournament** 

1916: Charles Evans Jr. 

1915: Jerome Travers 

1914: Walter Hagen 

1913: Francis Ouimet 

1912: John McDermott 

1911: John McDermott 

1910: Alex Smith 

1909: George Sargent 

1908: Fred McLeod 

1907: Alex Ross 

1906: Alex Smith 

1905: Willie Anderson 



1902: Laurie Auchterlonie 


1900: Harry Vardon 

1899: Willie Smith 

1898: Fred Herd 

1897: Joe Lloyd 

1896: James Foulis 

1895: Horace Rawlins 

x-won in playoff 

*World War II 

**World War I



Spieth eager to click into Masters mode 


Staff Writer 

Sunday of the 2017 

Masters was a little 

disorienting for Jordan 

Spieth. 

It wasn’t the fact that 

he was not in the final 

twosome for the first 

time in four career starts 

at Augusta. He was OK 

sitting only two shots 

back to start in the penultimate 

pairing. 

The part that was 

tough to stomach for 

Spieth was reaching the 

10th tee without being a 

part of the hunt on the 

second nine. 

“I walked away disappointed 

that I didn’t 

have a chance to win at 

the turn,” said Spieth, 

who had fallen six shots 

behind the co-leaders 

after nine holes. 

“Because starting the 

day in the second-to-last 

group you want to feel 

like once you make the 

turn you have a chance. 

If I’d started the day in 

35th and didn’t have a 

shot, that’s one thing; 

you have fun playing 

the golf course and try to 

shoot the lowest round 

possible. But when you 

start in the second-tolast 

group you’re looking 

to be at or near the lead at 

the turn.” 

Still only 24, Spieth 

has become as much of 

a Sunday afternoon fixture 

at the Masters as 

the roars. He’d finished 

2-1-2 in his first three 

starts, which could have 

been all wins. So when 

he rallied from an opening 

75 to put himself 

in fourth place to start 

the final round, he was 

expected to be a factor 

down the stretch yet 

again. 

Yet despite feeling 

as comfortable as 

ever, he tumbled to a 

career-worst tie for 

11th with another 75 

that he described as 

“bizarre.” 

“It was the most free 

that I’ve ever felt at 

Augusta National, and 

so happens that I end up 

shooting one of my worst 

Jordan Spieth entered the final round of last year’s Masters in fourth place but fell to 

a career-worst tie for 11th after shooting 75. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

rounds,” he lamented. 

Not that Spieth’s confidence 

at Augusta took a 

hit. He managed to insert 

himself into the mix 

despite bringing nothing 

close to his A-game 

last year. 

“I wasn’t on; I wasn’t 

playing well at all that 

week,” he said. “I just 

kind of found a way to go 

about it. Which is room 

for confidence right 

now. I still feel like that 

golf course is tailor made 

for me. I was just upset 

that it wasn’t on the back 

nine.” 

At Royal Birkdale, 

three months after the 

Masters , Spieth showed 

what he’s capable of 

given any wiggle room 

on the back nine of a 

major. Dueling with 

Matt Kuchar, Spieth's 

drive missed the 13th 

hole wide right, and 

after a protracted ruling 

he had to take a penalty 

drop onto the back of the 

practice range. He salvaged 

bogey to slip only 

a shot behind Kuchar 

but followed it up with 

a birdie-eagle-birdiebirdie 

binge to win the 

British Open and claim 

the third leg of a career 

grand slam. 

The quick reversal 

is illustrative of how 

Spieth’s fortunes can 

turn in a snap. 

Jordan Spieth 

Age: 24 

Height: 6-1 

Weight: 185 

Residence: 

Dallas, Texas 

College: 

University of 

Texas 








Earnings: $3,705,200 

’14: 71-70-70-72–283 T2 

’15: 64-66-70-70–270 WIN 

’16: 66-74-73-73–286 T2 

’17: 75-69-68-75–287 T11 

“You saw it at the 

British,” he said. “I 

mean, I was all over the 

place to start the final 

round and I had one putt 

and then rattled them 

all off. I don’t want to 

be streaky; I’d rather be 

consistent. But the good 

news is my confidence 

can flip into a pretty 

elite level once that kind 

of clicks.” 

Despite searching for 

the right switch in the 

months leading back to 

Augusta, Spieth believes 

he’s ready to flip the light 

on when he turns down 

Magnolia Lane. 

“Actually really like 

where I’m at right at 

this second in regards to 

approaching Augusta,” 

he said in March. “We’re 

in a very similar position 

to 2015 (when he 

Jordan Spieth 

won his third 

leg of the 

career grand 

slam at the 

British Open 

in July, closing 

with birdieeagle-birdiebirdie 

on Nos. 

14-17 in the 

final round. 

[MICHAEL 

HOLAHAN/ 

THE AUGUSTA 

CHRONICLE] 

Future British Opens 

July 19-22 : Carnoustie Golf 

Links 

July 18-21, 2019: Royal 

Portrush Golf Club 

July 16-19, 2020: Royal St. 

George’s Golf Club 

July 2021: The Old Course, 

St. Andrews 

won the Masters and 

U.S. Open and threatened 

to win the grand 

slam). So, tremendous 

year going to take place 

from here on out. I really 

consider the Masters the 

start of the season with 

anything leading into it 

as a preparation for the 

Masters.” 

That his results thus 

far have been underwhelming 

is not a grave 

concern as his major 

"season opener" looms. 

“I’ve missed the cut 

twice the week before 

and had a chance to win 

on Sunday at Augusta,” 

he said. “I’ve missed the 

cut and won the next 

week. Certainly you 

want to see progress 

and some low rounds, 

but I’ve been shooting 

4- or 5-under in regular 

rounds and pro-ams 

and at home, and that’s 

the stuff I’ve been looking 

for. I know that I’m 

close. I’ve been saying 

that and I know that 

I’m not performing on 

what I’m saying yet, 

but I really do believe 

I’ve just got to match 

my eyes up and then it 

clicks.” 

British Open champions 

2017: Jordan Spieth 

2016: Henrik Stenson 

2015: Zach Johnson 


2013: Phil Mickelson 

2012: Ernie Els 

2011: Darren Clarke 

2010: Louis Oosthuizen 

2009: x-Stewart Cink 

2008: Padraig Harrington 

2007: x-Padraig Harrington 



2004: x-Todd Hamilton 

2003: Ben Curtis 

2002: x-Ernie Els 

2001: David Duval 


1999: x-Paul Lawrie 

1998: x-Mark O’Meara 

1997: Justin Leonard 

1996: Tom Lehman 

1995: x-John Daly 

1994: Nick Price 

1993: Greg Norman 

1992: Nick Faldo 

1991: Ian Baker-Finch 


1989: x-Mark Calcavecchia 

1988: Seve Ballesteros 


1986: Greg Norman 

1985: Sandy Lyle 




1981: Bill Rogers 





1976: Johnny Miller 

1975: x-Tom Watson 

1974: Gary Player 

1973: Tom Weiskopf 



1970: x-Jack Nicklaus 

1969: Tony Jacklin 


1967: Roberto De Vicenzo 


1965: Peter Thomson 

1964: Tony Lema 

1963: x-Bob Charles 



1960: Kel Nagle 


1958: x-Peter Thomson 

1957: Bobby Locke 






1951: Max Faulkner 


1949: x-Bobby Locke 

1948: Henry Cotton 

1947: Fred Daly 

1946: Sam Snead 

1940-45: No tournament* 

1939: Richard Burton 

1938: R.A. Whitcombe 


1936: Alfred Padgham 

1935: Alfred Perry 


1933: x-Denny Shute 


1931: Tommy Armour 








1923: Arthur G. Havers 


1921: x-Jock Hutchison 

1920: George Duncan 



1913: John H. Taylor 

1912: Edward Ray 

1911: x-Harry Vardon 

1910: James Braid 



1907: Arnaud Massy 



1904: Jack White 


1902: Alexander Herd 





1897: Harold H. Hilton 

1896: x-Harry Vardon 



1893: William Auchterlonie 

1892: Harold H. Hilton 

1891: Hugh Kirkaldy 

1890: John Ball Jr. 

1889: x-Willie Park Jr. 

1888: Jack Burns 

1887: Willie Park Jr. 

1886: David Brown 

1885: Bob Martin 

1884: Jack Simpson 

1883: x-Willie Fernie 

1882: Robert Ferguson 



1879: Jamie Anderson 



1876: Bob Martin 

1875: Willie Park 

1874: Mungo Park 

1873: Tom Kidd 

1872: Tom Morris Jr. 

1871: No tournament 




1867: Tom Morris Sr. 


1865: Andrew Strath 






x-won in playoff 

*World War II 

**World War I



Thomas rides hot year into Augusta 


Staff Writer 

After a player-of-theyear 

season that included 

a major championship 

victory among his five 

wins, Justin Thomas 

hasn’t slowed down on 

his road to Augusta and 

the 2018 Masters . 

“I love where my game 

is trending for Augusta,” 

said Thomas. 

The former University 

of Alabama golfer, who 

has won twice and lost 

in a playoff so far this 

season, can’t wait to 

get back to Augusta 

National . 

“I just love that 

golf course so much,” 

Thomas said. 

His victory in the 

Honda Classic in late 

February gave the 

24-year-old eight career 

wins in his past 31 starts 

and moved him to No. 2 

in the world at the time. 

He almost won again 

the following week, 

losing in a playoff to Phil 

Mickelson in the WGC- 

Mexico Championship. 

Not bad for someone 

who won once in his first 

70 starts. 

“It's never easy,” 

Thomas said of winning. 

“I would just say 

I'm becoming more 

comfortable. I embrace 

these situations. I love 

these situations. I love 

the opportunity to win.” 

He’s come so far so 

fast in the past year that 

he’ll be the first reigning 

PGA Tour Player of 

the Year to be a rookie 

on a U.S. Ryder Cup 

team. The matches are 

in September in Paris. 

In 2017, he led the tour 

in victories and money 

earned and won the 

FedEx Cup. 

With the exception 

of the Tournament of 

Champions, where he 

finished tied for 22nd, 

Thomas was out of the 

top 20 only once in his 

first nine events this 

season. 

He’s yet to contend at 

in the Masters, finishing 

tied for 39th in his 2016 

debut and tied for 22nd 

last year. 

In his first year at 

Augusta National, 

Thomas said, he made a 

common rookie mistake 

– he spent too much time 

practicing . 

In the days leading 

Justin Thomas, the reigning Player of the Year, has finished out of the top 20 only 

once in his first nine events this season. He’s yet to contend at the Masters, finishing 

tied for 39th in his 2016 debut and tied for 22nd last year. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE 


to the 2017 Masters, 

Thomas said, he took it 

“a little bit more easy. 

The facilities here are so 

good that you can (talk) 

yourself into staying out 

here longer than you feel 

like you should. I put in 

some good work (in 2017) 

but it was just a little bit 

shorter days. I wasn't 

out there spending six, 

seven, eight hours a 

day like I maybe did (in 

2016),” 

He’s talked to six-time 

champion Jack Nicklaus 

and four-time champ 

Tiger Woods about 

Augusta National, and 

he's played a few practice 

rounds with Mickelson, a 

three-time champion. 

“I want to be around 

guys that are successful 

here, and it's kind of hard 

to get much better than 

Justin Thomas took a twoshot 

victory at the PGA 

Championship victory last 

August without a round 

in the low 60s. [MICHAEL 


CHRONICLE] 

Future PGA 

Championships 

Aug. 16-19: Bellerive 

Country Club 

May 2019: Bethpage State 

Park (Black Course) 

May 2020: TPC Harding 

Park 

May 2021: Ocean Course, 

Kiawah Island 

them,” he said. “So I try 

to, you don't want to 

collect too much information 

because then 

you're going to be just 

a little bit, not intimidated, 

but just kind 

of overflowing with 

information. 

“But I feel like if you 

get enough of it, you can 

kind of pick up the stuff 

that you didn't know or 

pick up the stuff that 

you feel is very, very 

important and use that. 

So I feel like a lot of stuff 

just in terms of course 

management and picking 

your spots that I've 

heard from those guys 

is key.” 

He’s also picked up 

valuable tips on how to 

read Augusta National's 

bentgrass greens from 

Jeff Knox, a club member 

who is the club’s noncompeting 

marker when 

there is a odd number of 

players after the 36-hole 

cut . 

Knox, who is a wizard 

Justin Thomas 

Age: 24 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 145 

Residence: 

Goshen, Ky. 

College: 

University of 

Alabama 




2017 PGA Championship 

winner* 





’16: 76-73-78-71–298 T39 

’17: 73-76-71-70–290 T22 


greens because of his 

knowledge of their 

breaks, is the father 

of Lee Knox, one of 

Thomas’ teammates on 

the Alabama golf team. 

Thomas said he stays 

with the Knox family 

and plays with Jeff 

Knox “pretty much any 

time” he visits Augusta 

National for pre-Masters 

scouting trips. 

“He knows so much 

about that course,” 

Thomas said. “Any questions 

or any concerns, 

I can ask. He’s always 

good. I don’t think anybody 

has the knowledge 

he has on those greens.” 

Thomas said veteran 

caddie Jimmy Johnson 

“has done a great job, 

helping me not change 

my mind frame and our 

game plan when we're 

playing really well and 

just continue to attack.” 

His attacking style 

paid off last August with 

his PGA Championship 

win in Charlotte. Rounds 

of 73-66-69-68 at Quail 

Hollow earned him a 

two-shot victory. 

“I just had an unbelievable 

calmness 

throughout the week, 

throughout the day,” 

said Thomas, whose key 

shot in the final round 

came on No. 13, where 

he holed out a 40-foot 

chip for birdie. 

“I truly felt like I was 

going to win,” he said. “I 

remember my girlfriend 

was supposed to fly out 

at about 7 and I was like, 

‘You need to change your 

flight to later, because I 

don’t know, I just feel 

like I don’t want you to 

miss this. I feel like I’m 

going to get it done. ” 

PGA Championship winners 

2017: Justin Thomas 

2016: Jimmy Walker 

2015: Jason Day 


2013: Jason Dufner 


2011: x-Keegan Bradley 

2010: x-Martin Kaymer 

2009: Y.E. Yang 

2008: Padraig Harrington 



2005: Phil Mickelson 

2004: Vijay Singh 

2003: Shaun Micheel 

2002: Rich Beem 

2001: David Toms 

2000: x-Tiger Woods 


1998: Vijay Singh 

1997: Davis Love III 

1996: x-Mark Brooks 

1995: x-Steve Elkington 


1993: x-Paul Azinger 


1991: John Daly 

1990: Wayne Grady 

1989: Payne Stewart 

1988: Jeff Sluman 

1987: x-Larry Nelson 

1986: Bob Tway 

1985: Hubert Green 


1983: Hal Sutton 

1982: Raymond Floyd 

1981: Larry Nelson 


1979: x-David Graham 

1978: x-John Mahaffey 

1977: x-Lanny Wadkins 

1976: Dave Stockton 






1970: Dave Stockton 

1969: Raymond Floyd 

1968: Julius Boros 

1967: x-Don January 

1966: Al Geiberger 

1965: Dave Marr 

1964: Bobby Nichols 



1961: x-Jerry Barber 

1960: Jay Hebert 

1959: Bob Rosburg 

1958: Dow Finsterwald 

1957: Lionel Hebert 

1956: Jack Burke 

1955: Doug Ford 

1954: Chick Harbert 

1953: Walter Burkemo 

1952: Jim Turnesa 


1950: Chandler Harper 



1947: Jim Ferrier 


1945: Byron Nelson 

1944: Bob Hamilton 

1943: No tournament* 


1941: x-Vic Ghezzi 

1940: Byron Nelson 

1939: x-Henry Picard 

1938: Paul Runyan 

1937: x-Denny Shute 

1936: Denny Shute 

1935: Johnny Revolta 

1934: x-Paul Runyan 


1932: Olin Dutra 

1931: Tom Creavy 

1930: Tommy Armour 

1929: Leo Diegel 

1928: Leo Diegel 





1923: x-Gene Sarazen 



1920: Jock Hutchison 




x-won in playoff, *World 

War II, **World War I




Tiger’s 

back 

At long last, Woods eagerly returns to ‘heaven’ 

[ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 


Staff Writer 

As the months counted 

down to weeks and then 

days before the 2016 and 

2017 Masters, there was 

no word until the very end 

about Tiger Woods’ playing 

status. 

Despite not playing anywhere 

else, sidelined with 

a bad back that often left 

him unable to even get out 

of bed much less swing a 

golf club, he still seemed 

to be harboring hopes for a 

miracle. It seemed implausible 

that Woods was even 

considering teeing it up at 

Augusta National, but the 

truth is he actually was. 

“Yeah, I was trying,” 

Woods admitted before the 

Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

“If there was one tournament 

I could come back 

to, it would be that one. 

There’s no other tournament 

like it. It has a deep 

place in my heart. From 

the time I was there as an 

amateur to my first win 

and to my other wins there 

as well, I just love playing 

Augusta National. I was 

just hoping I could just 

get my back to hold on for 

four days. I don’t need the 

practice rounds, I can just 

walk them and take a look 

at them and maybe chip and 

putt a little bit. But can it 

hold on for four days? And 

there was no chance, no.” 

If there is a concept of 

hell for Tiger Woods, it was 

coming to Augusta in April 

three of the past four years 

without his golf clubs – just 

to have dinner. He wouldn’t 

miss a meal with his fellow 

Tiger Woods lines up a putt during the final round of the 2015 Masters. He hasn’t played in the 

tournament since tying for 17th that year. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

green jacketed champions 

– especially walking Arnold 

Palmer in with Jack Nicklaus 

two years ago because they 

all knew it would likely be 

Arnie’s last – but it was 

tough to swallow that his 

competitive days in the 

Masters might be over. 

“Frustrating, very frustrating, 

because I love 

playing Augusta National,” 

Woods said. “I love it. And 

I know how to play it. 

Sometimes I don’t play it 

well, but I know how to play 

it. I just love being out there 

on those greens and hitting 

putts and being creative. It 

is ... there’s no other golf 

course like it in the world 

and there’s no other golf 

tournament like it. It is 

literally, it’s a player’s 

heaven. And yeah, the last 

couple dinners have been 

frustrating in that aspect 

for sure.” 

When Thursday’s first 

round arrives, it will have 

been 1,090 days since the 

last time Woods teed it up 

in the Masters – finishing 

tied for 17th in 2015. Painfree 

for the first time in five 

years with a game evolving 

into a very familiar quality, 

Woods smiles at the 

thought. 

“Very eager, yes, very,” 

he said of his long-awaited 

return. “I feel like I am physically 

able to do it again and 

it’s going to be a lot of fun.” 

Since the end of last 

summer when Woods 

started posting videos 

of his incremental progress 

swinging after a 

spinal fusion surgery that 

he called “the last rope” 

option, anticipation has 

been building for his return 

to Augusta. Woods has 

referenced pointing his 

compass toward Augusta 

every week he’s played 

since competing in the 

Bahamas in December. 

There’s been parabolic 

progress in his game every 

start, with the expectation 

growing from just finishing 

18 holes healthy to making 

the cut to actually contending 

in quick succession. 

He played three times on 

the Florida swing and put 

himself in the mix every 

Sunday, finishing with ties 

for 12th, second and fifth at 

PGA National, Innisbrook 

and Bay Hill. 

See TIGER, M18 

Tiger’s Masters wins 

1997 

Tiger Woods’ first major 

tournament as a professional 

didn’t get off to a smooth 

start. Woods played the first 

nine holes of the 1997 Masters 

in 4-over-par 40, hardly the 

beginning he was looking for. 

But he righted his ship with 

30 on the back nine, including 

an eagle on No. 15, and 

from that point the rout was 

on. Woods shot 66 and 65 the 

next two rounds as he overpowered 


and made believers out of 

his critics. A final-round 69 

gave him the lowest 72-hole 

score in Masters history and 

a 12-stroke victory. Only 

a handful of golfers, most 

notably Jack Nicklaus at the 

1965 Masters, had so thoroughly 

dominated a course 

and a tournament. “My dad 

told me last night, ‘Son, this is 

probably one of the toughest 

rounds you’ve ever had to 

play in your life,'” Woods said. 

“'If you go out there and be 

yourself, it will be one of the 

most rewarding rounds you’ve 

ever played in your life.' And 

he was right.” 

See WINS, M18 

“... I love playing Augusta National. I love it. And I know how to play it. Sometimes I don’t play it well, 

but I know how to play it. I just love being out there on those greens and hitting putts and being creative. 

It is ... there’s no other golf course like it in the world and there’s no other golf tournament like it.” 

Tiger Woods 

Tiger Woods receives his 

green jacket from 1996 

champion Nick Faldo. [RON 

COCKERILLE/THE AUGUSTA 

CHRONICLE]



2004 champion Phil 

Mickelson puts the green 

jacket on Tiger Woods. 

[ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE 


2000 champion Vijay Singh helps Tiger Woods into the 

green jacket. [TODD BENNETT/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

WINS 

From Page M17 

2001 

Tiger Woods was threequarters 

of the way to one 

of golf’s most amazing 

accomplishments. Then, 

he had to wait eight 

months. Coming into the 

2001 Masters, Woods 

had won the U.S. Open, 

British Open and PGA 

Championship in 2000, 

and now he was going for 

his version of the Grand 

Slam. No player had ever 

held all four professional 

major golf titles in one 

year. While Woods got the 

lion’s share of attention, 

Masters rookie Chris 

DiMarco seized the lead. 

He opened with round of 

65 and 69, but he couldn’t 

shake Woods. The favorite 

had started with scores 

of 70 and 66, and his 68 in 

the third round gave him 

the 54-hole lead. Plenty 

of top players, including 

Phil Mickelson and David 

Duval, were also in the 

hunt. With a one-shot 

cushion, Woods played the 

final hole like a champion. 

He rolled in his birdie putt, 

then buried his face in his 

hands. Congratulations 

poured in from all over the 

globe, including a telephone 

call from President 

George W. Bush. “There 

are so many things that 

go into winning a major 

championship or, for 

that matter, any tournament. 

More so in a major 

because you have to have 

your game peaking at 

the right time. On top of 

that, you’ve got to have 

some luck,” Woods said. 

“To have it happen four 

straight times, some of 

the golf gods are looking 

down on me the right 

way.” 

More online 

Find photos, stories, 

videos and more from 

previous Masters 

Tournaments at 

augusta.com. 

2002 

Advances in golf technology 

threatened to make 

Augusta National obsolete 

in the early 2000s. Golfers 

were hitting short clubs 

into the longest par-4s, 

and reaching the par-5s in 

two was not difficult for 

the world’s best players. 

Hootie Johnson, the 

club’s chairman, had had 

enough. He ordered a 

major facelift before the 

2002 Masters. Some called 

it “Tiger-proofing.” While 

some players didn’t care 

for the changes, it didn’t 

keep them from going 

low. Davis Love III took the 

lead with an opening 67, 

and Vijay Singh scorched 

the layout for 65 in the 

second round. Woods, 

the defending champion, 

wasn’t far off the pace. 

He opened with rounds of 

70 and 69, and grabbed a 

share of the 54-hole lead 

after firing 66. That left 

him on top with South 

African Retief Goosen. 

Woods needed only 71 in 

the final round to win his 

third green jacket. Goosen 

never mounted a serious 

threat, and Woods joined 

Jack Nicklaus and Nick 

Faldo as the only men to 

ever successfully defend 

their titles at Augusta 

National. “It’s pretty neat 

to have my name mentioned 

with some of the 

golfing greats,” Woods 

said. “To have my name on 

that trophy three times, 

that’s pretty cool.” 

Hootie Johnson puts the 

green jacket on Woods in 

2002. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/ 

THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

2005 

Tiger Woods was trying 

to regain his spot at the 

top of the game, both 

figuratively and literally. A 

streak of not winning in his 

last 10 majors combined 

with a swing overhaul with 

new coach Hank Haney 

had knocked Woods from 

his customary perch atop 

the Official World Golf 

Ranking. Chris DiMarco, 

who first made a splash at 


when he challenged Woods 

as a rookie in 2001, opened 

with a pair of 67s to open 

up a six-shot lead over 

Woods after 36 holes. 

Woods overtook DiMarco 

in the third round, which 

was split over two days, 

with seven consecutive 

birdies. Woods had 

turned a big deficit into a 

three-shot lead. DiMarco 

trailed by just one coming 

into the par-3 16th hole. 

When he hit the green and 

Woods’ tee shot sailed 

long, DiMarco had the 

advantage. But not for 

long. Woods played his 

chip well above the hole, 

then watched as it slowly 

trickled toward the cup. 

It stopped momentarily, 

then fell in the cup for an 

unlikely birdie. But Woods 

made two bogeys coming 

in, sending him and 

DiMarco into a suddendeath 

playoff. At the 18th, 

DiMarco made his par and 

could only watch as Woods 

poured his birdie putt into 

the heart of the cup, setting 

off a giant fist pump 

and another celebration 

with his caddie. It was 

his fourth win at Augusta 

National. “Got a great 

break on 16, didn’t go in 

the bunker, didn’t go in the 

rough and somehow an 

earthquake happened and 

it fell in the hole,” Woods 

said of the chip shot that 

fell for birdie. 

Tiger Woods tees off on No. 3 during the second round of the Masters Tournament 

at Augusta National Golf Club April 10, 2015, in Augusta. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/STAFF] 

TIGER 

From Page M17 

“If you would’ve 

asked me at the beginning 

of the year that 

I would have had a 

chance to win two golf 

tournaments, I would 

have taken that in a 

heartbeat,” he said after 

making a run at Bay Hill. 

His swing speed ranks 

second on tour, showing 

no signs of the back 

strain that derailed 

his career. He’s working 

without a swing 

coach for the first time 

in his career, trusting 

his hands and playing 

by more feel than 

mechanics. 

“It just seems he got 

things back in place,” 

said Adam Scott, the 

2013 Masters champion. 

“When you’ve got his 

talent, that can really 

turn around quick.” 

Heading into the 

Masters, Woods has 

played 10 consecutive 

rounds of par or better – 

his longest streak since 

he did it nine times 

before his approach 

shot bounced off the 

pin and into the pond 

on the 15th hole in the 

third round of the 2013 

Masters, costing him 

four strokes in a controversial 

ruling. So his 

game has rounded into 

mid-season form. 

“For me to go from 

not knowing whether 

or not I will ever be able 

to play the game again 

to, I might be able to 

play maybe at the tour 

level, actually I might 

be able to make a couple 

of cuts, well I might be 

able to possibly get 

myself into a mix, oh, 

I’m in the mix,” Woods 

said of a rate of return 

that surprises even 

him. “And so there’s a 

process and an evolution 

to it and it’s been 

quick, but still I have 

to say just to enjoy all 

of this. Because, at one 

point, man, that wasn’t 

even a thought, I didn’t 

ever even think about 

playing out here.” 

Before Woods 

returned in December 

at his tournament in 

the Bahamas, he had 

fallen to 1,199th in the 

world. With his fifthplace 

finish at Bay 

Hill, he climbed to No. 

105. Meanwhile, he 

went from sentimental 

long-shot at Augusta 

in December to the 

pre-tournament betting 

favorite by March. 

“The narrative has 

completely flipped,” 

he said, downplaying 

the heightening 

expectations. “I enjoy 

just playing again after 

what I’ve been through. 

Playing feels good.” 

What feels the best 

is preparing with the 

firm knowledge that 

he will be teeing it up 

on Thursday in the 

Masters. Asked what 

he needed to work on 

in his two weeks before 

Augusta, Woods said 

“everything.” But you 

could tell he’s relishing 

the work, with plans to 

spend a couple of days 

intensely studying the 

course the week before 

the tournament to re familiarize 

himself with 

a place he’s won four 

times – but none in 13 

years since 2005. 

“I hadn’t played it in 

a couple years now and 

so I’d like to get up there 

and take a look at it,” he 

said. “I know there’s no 

changes as far as design. 

I’ll get used to playing 

on bent (grass). I haven’t 

putted on bent in literally 

years. That’s going to be 

a little bit different. ... I 

want to go up there and 

make sure and then take 

a look at all my reads on 

my putts and see if they 

match my book and if 

not, then obviously I got 

to erase and draw some 

more lines.” 

At 42, he’s not counting 

himself out of the 

Masters mix. He’s not 

just showing up for 

dinner any more. 

“There are a few 

guys that can do it late 

in their career,” he said 

of winning. “For me, 

I’m ecstatic to have a 

chance to play again 

and to have a chance to 

win golf tournaments 

and compete. There 

was awhile there where 

I didn’t look like I was 

ever going to be out 

here again, not in the 

capacity of a professional 

player. But here 

I am playing again and 

it’s a lot of fun.” 

Tiger Woods 

Age: 42 

Height: 6-1 

Weight: 185 

Residence: 

Jupiter, Fla. 

College: 

Stanford 

University 




1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 

Masters champion* 




Earnings: $7,360,473 

’95: 72-72-77-72–293-a T41 

’96: 75-75–150-a 

’97: 70-66-65-69–270 WIN 

’98: 71-72-72-70–285 T8 

’99: 72-72-70-75–289 T18 

’00: 75-72-68-69–284 5 

’01: 70-66-68-68–272 WIN 

’02: 70-69-66-71–276 WIN 

’03: 76-73-66-75–290 T15 

’04: 75-69-75-71–290 T22 

’05: 74-66-65-71–276 WIN 

’06: 72-71-71-70–284 T3 

’07: 73-74-72-72–291 T2 

’08: 72-71-68-72–283 2 

’09: 70-72-70-68–280 T6 

’10: 68-70-70-69–277 T4 

’11: 71-66-74-67–278 T4 

’12: 72-75-72-74–293 T40 

’13: 70-73-70-70–283 T4 

’15: 73-69-68-73–283 T17 

Fred Couples 

Age: 58 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 185 

Residence: 

Newport 

Beach, Calif. 

College: 

University of Houston 







Earnings: $2,718,321 

’83: 73-68-81-73–295 T32 

’84: 71-73-67-72–283 10 

’85: 75-73-69-70–287 T10 

’86: 72-77-70-72–291 T31 

’88: 75-68-71-71–285 T5 

’89: 72-76-74-67–289 T11 

’90: 74-69-72-69–284 5 

’91: 67-73-72-75–287 T33 

’92: 69-67-69-70–275 WIN 

’93: 72-70-74-72–288 T20 

’95: 71-69-67-75–282 T10 

’96: 78-68-71-71–288 T15 

’97: 72-69-73-72–286 T7 

’98: 69-70-71-70–280 T2 

’99: 74-71-76-71–292 T27 

’00: 76-72-70-70–288 T11 

’01: 74-71-73-68–286 26 

’02: 73-73-76-72–294 T36 

’03: 73-75-69-77–294 T28 

’04: 73-69-74-70–286 T6 

’05: 75-71-77-72–295 T39 

’06: 71-70-72-71–284 T3 

’07: 76-76-78-71–301 T30 

’08: 76-72–148 

’09: 73-73–146 

’10: 66-75-68-70–279 6 

’11: 71-68-72-73–284 T15 

’12: 72-67-75-72–286 T12 

’13: 68-71-77-71–287 T13 

’14: 71-71-73-75–290 T20 

’15: 79-74–153 

’17: 73-70-74-72–289 T18 

Mark O’Meara 

Age: 61 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 195 

Residence: 

Houston, 

Texas 

College: Long 

Beach State University 







Earnings: $1,371,585 

’80: 80-81–161-a 

’85: 73-76-72-70–291 24 

’86: 74-73-81-73–301 48 

’87: 75-74-71-74–294 T24 

’88: 74-76-74-76–300 T39 

’89: 74-71-72-72–289 T11 

’90: 75-74–149 

’91: 73-68-72-71–284 T22 

’92: 74-67-69-70–280 T4 

’93: 75-69-73-71–288 T20 

’94: 75-70-76-70–291 T15 

’95: 68-72-71-77–288 T31 

’96: 72-71-75-72–290 T18 

’97: 75-74-70-75–294 T30 

’98: 74-70-68-67–279 WIN 

’99: 70-76-69-78–293 T31 

’00: 75-75–150 

’01: 69-74-72-68–283 T20 

’02: 78-71–149 

’03: 76-71-70-71–288 T8 

’04: 73-70-75-74–292 T27 

’05: 72-74-72-75–293 T31 

’06: 82-72–154 

’07: 77-76–153 

’08: 71-78–149 

’09: 75-76–151 

’10: 75-74–149 

’11: 77-73–150 

’12: - WD 

’13: 74-77–151 

’14: 75-77–152 

’15: 73-68-77-68–286 T22 

’16: 77-80–157 

’17: 78-78–156

The Augusta Chronicle • Augusta.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M19



Downer final round cost Fowler shot at jacket 

Chipping and 

putting let 

golfer down 


Staff Writer 

The scenario seemed 

made to order for Rickie 

Fowler after 54 holes of 

the Masters Tournament 

last year. 

Fowler, seeking his 

first major title, was one 

shot off the lead during 

a week he said then was 

“ by far the best” he’d felt 

in a major championship, 

of which he’d completed 

28 at the time. 

He liked coming from 

behind three of Fowler’s 

four career wins had 

come that way. 

He was also paired 

with good friend Jordan 

Spieth, who was two 

shots off the lead. Spieth, 

who had finished no 

worse than second with 

a victory in three starts 

in the Masters, would 

certainly play well. 

“He and I could potentially 

get off to a good start 

and we could really push 

each other,” Fowler said 

before the final round. 

“We’ll try and pull the 

best out of one another. 

It’s always fun when 

you’re playing with one 

of your good buddies.” 

Good vibes never 

Johnson makes change, 

but not to his game 


Staff Writer 

Dustin Johnson is still 

No. 1 in the world, just 

as he was at this time 

last year. 

Nothing has changed 

about the quality of his 

golf game as he prepares 

to resume his Masters 

career, which was suddenly 

derailed last year. 

The only change is 

off the course - he’s 

not staying in the same 

Augusta area rental 

house for the week. 

It was at that twostory 

house that 

Johnson, in his stocking 

feet, slipped on wooden 

stairs, fell and injured 

his back. It happened 

on Wednesday afternoon 

and forced him 

to withdraw before he 

was scheduled to tee 

off Thursday. At the 

time, he was the hottest 

player in the game and 

the overwhelming pretournament 

favorite. 

This year, he’s renting 

a one-story house. The 

other one has “bad juju,” 

said Johnson, using a 

word that means energy. 

Going into the 2017 

Masters, Johnson had 

won his previous three 

tournaments . He was 

the reigning U.S. Open 

champion and had won 

six times since the previous 

Masters, where 

he tied for fourth, his 

best finish at Augusta 

National in seven starts. 

“Obviously, I was 

playing probably the 

best golf of my career,” 

Johnson said. “And it 

wasn’t like they were 

back-to-back weeks, 

there was a lot of space in 

between, so I really felt 

like I had my game really 

dialed in.” 

Johnson, who was 

scheduled to be in the 

final group of the day in 

the first round, arrived at 

the course intending to 

play, saying he wanted 

to “give it a try.” 

His warmup consisted 

of half shots with irons 

because he couldn’t take 

a full swing because of 

the pain. After walking 

up to the putting green 

and stroking a few putts, 

Rickie Fowler was one shot off the lead going into the final round of last year’s 

Masters, but a disappointing day left him tied for 11th and still chasing his first 

major. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

appeared in the final 

round . They were both 

1-over after five holes 

and Fowler shot 76 (with 

bogeys on the final three 

holes) and Spieth had 75. 

They tied for 11th. 

“We both could have 

played better,” Fowler 

said. 

Still, it was a good 

comeback for Fowler at 

Augusta National, where 

he shot 80-73 the year 

before to miss the cut 

for the first time in seven 

Dustin Johnson missed the 2017 Masters because of 

an injured back after he slipped and fell in his rental 

house. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Dustin Johnson 

Age: 33 

Height: 6-4 

Weight: 190 

Residence: 

Myrtle Beach, 

S.C. 

College: 

Coastal Carolina 

University 








Earnings: $1,021,808 

’09: 72-70-72-73–287 T30 

’10: 71-72-76-75–294 T38 

’11: 74-68-73-74–289 T38 

’13: 67-76-74-70–287 T13 

’14: 77-74–151 

’15: 70-67-73-69–279 T6 

’16: 73-71-72-71–287 T4 

he pulled out just before 

his group teed off at 2:03 

p.m. 

“Obviously I want to 

play more than anything,” 

Johnson said at 

the time. “It hurts. I was 

doing everything I could 

to try and play.” 

He was relegated to 

watching Sergio Garcia 

win the 81st Masters 

from home. 

“It was tough to watch 

but I couldn’t do anything 

else - I was still 

laying on the couch,” 

he said. “I wanted to be 

there playing. I didn’t 

want to watch it on TV, 

but things happen. ” 

Johnson had logged 

57 consecutive weeks 

at No. 1 in the world 

through the Arnold 

Palmer Invitational in 

mid-March. 

“I guess I’ve been here 

for a little while now,” 

Johnson said. “I feel like 

Masters appearances. 

Fowler’s short game 

magic in the first three 

rounds last year disappeared 

on Sunday . After 

averaging 26.3 putts per 

round in the first three 

days, Fowler needed 30 

on Sunday. 

“Chipping and putting 

kind of went sideways 

on me,” he said. “Every 

time I chipped it close 

I missed the putt or 

I didn’t chip it close 

enough and I’d still miss 

it’s where I should be, 

and it also kind of - it 

drives me to continue 

to work, to continue to 

try to get better, and to 

continue to perform each 

and every week at a very 

high level.” 

Johnson is once again 

in fine form heading 

into the Masters: he has 

won once in the 2017-18 

wraparound season and 

has two second-place 

finishes. 

“I’m definitely looking 

forward to it this year,” 

he said of the Masters. 

“You know, I was very 

disappointed I didn’t 

get to play last year, but 

things happen. 

“So you’ve just got to 

roll with it. But yeah, it’s 

a place where I always 

love going to play. I feel 

like I really like the golf 

course.” 

His victory this season 

came at the Tournament 

of Champions, where he 

blew the field away with 

rounds of 69-68-66-65. 

It prompted runner-up 

Jon Rahm to refer to him 

as a super hero. 

At the time of his back 

injury, Johnson didn’t 

realize how long the 

effects would linger . 

Instead, he didn’t play 

again for a month. 

Though he tied for 

second in his return on 

May 7 at Wells Fargo, 

Johnson said in July he 

still wasn’t 100 percent. 

His first victory since 

the injury came at the 

Northern Trust in late 

August. He finished with 

four wins for the season, 

one less than player of 

the year Justin Thomas 

for the tour lead. 

the putt. When you’re 

not able to get the ball 

up and down out here 

or make those key kind 

of five- to 10-footers, 

that’s what happens. I 

didn’t make anything.” 

It didn’t help that 

Fowler’s swing “was 

a little off” in the final 

round. 

“It would have been 

nice to swing a little 

better, like I had been,” 

he said. 

The 2017 Masters 

Jimmy Walker 

Age: 39 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Boerne, 

Texas 

College: 

Baylor University 





winner* 





’14: 70-72-76-70–288 T8 

’15: 73-72-74-70–289 T38 

’16: 71-75-74-75–295 T29 

’17: 76-71-70-72–289 T18 

Rickie Fowler 

Age: 29 

Height: 5-9 

Weight: 150 

Residence: 

Jupiter, Fla. 

College: 

Oklahoma 

State University 




2015 The Players 

champion* 





’11: 70-69-76-74–289 T38 

’12: 74-74-72-70–290 T27 

’13: 68-76-70-78–292 T38 

’14: 71-75-67-73–286 T5 

’15: 73-72-70-67–282 T12 

’16: 80-73–153 

’17: 73-67-71-76–287 T11 

started off in windy conditions, 

just like Fowler 

likes from his days growing 

up in California and 

now living in Florida. 

“A lot of times I hope 

it gets windy because I 

feel like it separates the 

field a little bit and ball 

striking becomes a premium,” 

he said before 


The first 36 holes at the 

2017 Masters were more 

than a little blustery and 

Fowler shot 73-67, the 

latter eing Friday’s low 

round . He had 71 in the 

Webb Simpson 

Age: 32 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 185 

Residence: 

Charlotte, 

N.C. 

College: 

Wake Forest University 




Qualified for Tour 

Championship* 





’12: 72-74-70-78–294 T44 

’13: 73-76–149 

’14: 74-75–149 

’15: 69-75-72-71–287 T28 

’16: 77-72-74-72–295 T29 

’17: 75-77–152 

third round. 

Despite his problems 

on the greens in the 

fourth round, he tied for 

first place in fewest putts 

for the week (109). 

Fowler ended 2017 

and started 2018 on a 

hot streak, winning the 

unofficial Hero World 

Challenge in December 

and tying for fourth in 

the official Tournament 

of Champions in January. 

At the Hero World 

Challenge, Fowler had 

a final round to remember. 

Seven shots back 

after 54 holes, he opened 

with seven consecutive 

birdies en route to 61. 

He shot 28 on the front 

nine and finished with 

21 putts for the day and 

a career-record 30 birdies 

for the tournament. 

The win was his last 

so far. The 29-yearold 

would love to add a 

major to his list of wins . 

“Goals going forward 

this year are, I would say, 

the biggest and main one 

is get a major,” Fowler 

said. “I think I did a good 

job last year of putting 

myself in contention 

multiple times, but there 

needs to be some better 

weekends to make sure 

that we’re on top come 

Sunday afternoon. So 

that’s the main goal this 

year.” 

Jason Dufner 

Age: 41 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Auburn, Ala. 

College: 

Auburn 

University 





winner* 





’10: 75-72-75-69–291 T30 

’12: 69-70-75-75–289 T24 

’13: 72-69-75-73–289 T20 

’14: 80-74–154 

’15: 74-71-74-73–292 T49 

’16: 76-77–153 

’17: 71-76-70-76–293 T33



Phil Mickelson 

Age: 47 

Height: 6-3 

Weight: 200 

Residence: 

Rancho Santa 

Fe, Calif. 

College: 

Arizona State 




2004, 2006, 2010 Masters 

champion* 




Earnings: $7,826,762 

’91: 69-73-74-74–290-a T47 

’93: 72-71-75-73–291 T34 

’95: 66-71-70-73–280 T7 

’96: 65-73-72-72–282 3 

’97: 76-74–150 

’98: 74-69-69-74–286 T12 

’99: 74-69-71-71–285 T6 

’00: 71-68-76-71–286 T7 

’01: 67-69-69-70–275 3 

’02: 69-72-68-71–280 3 

’03: 73-70-72-68–283 3 

’04: 72-69-69-69–279 WIN 

’05: 70-72-69-74–285 10 

’06: 70-72-70-69–281 WIN 

’07: 76-73-73-77–299 T24 

’08: 71-68-75-72–286 T5 

’09: 73-68-71-67–279 5 

’10: 67-71-67-67–272 WIN 

’11: 70-72-71-74–287 T27 

’12: 74-68-66-72–280 T3 

’13: 71-76-77-73–297 T54 

’14: 76-73–149 

’15: 70-68-67-69–274 T2 

’16: 72-79–151 

’17: 71-73-74-72–290 T22 

Zach Johnson 

Age: 42 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 164 

Residence: 

St. Simons 

Island, Ga. 

College: 

Drake University 








Earnings: $1,872,042 

’05: 81-71–152 

’06: 74-72-77-70–293 T32 

’07: 71-73-76-69–289 WIN 

’08: 70-76-68-77–291 T20 

’09: 70-80–150 

’10: 70-74-76-75–295 42 

’11: 73-73–146 

’12: 70-74-75-72–291 T32 

’13: 69-76-71-75–291 T35 

’14: 78-72–150 

’15: 72-72-68-68–280 T9 

’16: 72-80–152 

’17: 77-74–151 

More online 

Get updates from 

the course during Masters 

Week at augusta.com. 

Ageless Mickelson gets back on winning track 

Lefty looking to 

slip on green jacket 

for fourth time 


Staff Writer 

The reports of Phil 

Mickelson’s demise 

have been greatly 

exaggerated. 

His confidence, however, 

is not. 

Approaching five 

years without a win in 

101 starts since lifting 

the claret jug at the 

2013 British Open, the 

47-year-old Mickelson 

took down world No. 2 

Justin Thomas in a playoff 

at the WGC event in 

Mexico in early March. 

“I knew that that 

wasn’t going to be my 

last one, no,” he said of 

the previous win. “And 

this isn’t either.” 

Mickelson has no 

doubt he’s got at least 

seven more wins in him 

to reach 50 for his career. 

“Oh, I will – I’ll get 

there,” he said. 

Getting No. 43, however, 

was a much needed 

validation boost after 

nearly five years of falters 

and close calls, 

including runner-up finishes 

at the PGA (2014), 


(2015) and British Open 

(2016). 

“I can’t really put it 

into words given the 

tough times over the 

last four years and the 

struggle to get back 

here and knowing that 

I was able to compete at 

this level but not doing 

it and the frustration 

that that led to,” he 

said. “To finally break 

through and to have this 

validation means a lot to 

me.” 

The timing of it 

a month before the 

Masters was ideal. A 

three-time winner at 

Augusta who more often 

than not seems to elevate 

his game once he drives 

down Magnolia Lane, 

Three-time Masters Tournament champion Phil Mickelson won for the first time in almost five years when he beat 

Justin Thomas in a playoff at the WGC-Mexico Championship. [JON-MICHAEL SULLIVAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Mickelson would dearly 

love to match Arnold 

Palmer and Tiger Woods 

with a fourth green 

jacket. 

He believed he was 

trending toward victory 

after tying for 

fifth, second and sixth 

in consecutive weeks in 

Phoenix, Pebble Beach 

and Riviera. 

“I had confidence it 

was going to happen, 

and it means a lot to me 

to do it now, especially 

before Augusta,” he 

said. “I needed to get a 

win before Augusta so I 

wasn’t trying to win for 

the first time in fourand-a-half, 

five years at 

that event. This certainly 

boosts my confidence 

and gives me a lot of 

encouragement on the 

things I’ve been working 

on.” 

Mickelson attributes 

his inconsistency over 

the longest winless 

streak of his career to 

some technical flaws 

that he says he’s ironed 

out, and it has led to his 

showing up every week 

in the hunt. 

“I will play consistently 

well each week 

with an occasional off 

week as opposed to playing 

poorly every week 

with an occasional on 

week,” he said. “I’m very 

optimistic and believe 

that this is just a stepping 

stone of some more good 

things to come. I feel like 

I’m starting to play some 

of my best golf again.” 

Mickelson isn’t ceding 

any ground to the young 

players he’s been mentoring 

through the 

years, relishing the 

opportunities to compete 

with Thomas, 

Dustin Johnson, Jordan 

Spieth, Jon Rahm and 

Rory McIlroy the same 

way he went head-on 

against Woods and Ernie 

Els. 

That he’s already a 

year older than Jack 

Nicklaus was when he 

set the bar as the oldest 

Masters winner in 1986 

doesn’t faze Mickelson 

at all. 

“I don’t feel that age,” 

he said. “My body feels 

great. I’m starting to 

play some of my best 

golf. I’m actually hitting 

some shots better 

than I ever have in my 

career. I’m starting to 

putt better than I ever 

have in my career. And 

I’m actually starting 

to drive it better than I 

ever have in my career, 

which is not great, but 

it’s average, and that’s 

all I need.” 

DeChambeau gains experience 

heading into second Masters 


Staff Writer 

If Bryson DeChambeau 

had been a pro in the 2016 

Masters Tournament, he 

would have taken home 

more than $110,000 in 

prize money. 

He still left with a 

smile and a silver cup for 

being the low amateur by 

finishing in a tie for 21st 

place. 

“It was great,” said 

DeChambeau, who had 

earlier won the NCAA 

Championship individual 

title and the U.S. 

Amateur. “I loved it. 

Look, playing in the 

Masters is a pretty cool 

feat. For me to do it and 

be the low amateur one 

of the years is pretty special. 

I’ll never forget it.” 

Two years later, 

he’s back at Augusta 

National, qualifying as 

a PGA Tour winner (the 

John Deere Classic) and 

can receive prize money 

as a pro. 

Now that he’s making 

his living playing golf, 

it would seem to follow 

that DeChambeau would 

take the Masters more 

seriously . 

“Naw, I really was 

(serious) when I was an 

amateur,” he said. “As a 

professional, it’s another 

tournament. It’s my 

favorite tournament of 

the year and I know I can 

do well there.” 

Looking back on the 

2016 Masters, he handled 


well, with the exception 

of one hole – the 

par-4 18th. He played it 

Bryson DeChambeau 

Age: 24 

Height, 

weight: 6-1, 

185 

Residence: 

Clovis, Calif. 

College: 

Southern Methodist 

University 




Won qualifying PGA Tour 

event since 2017 Masters* 




’16: 72-72-77-72–293-a T21 

4-over. 

“It’s always a (tough 

hole),” DeChambeau 

said . 

Had he played it even 

par, he would have tied 

for 10th place at 289 . 

Instead, he finished at 

5-over 293. 

He parred No. 18 in 

the first round, made 

triple in the second 

round, double in the 

third and birdied it in 

the final round, which 

was his last hole as an 

amateur. He turned pro 

the next week at Hilton 

Head Island, where he 

tied for fourth and won 

$259,600, softening the 

blow of leaving Augusta 

without a check. 

In the second round 

of the 2016 Masters, 

DeChambeau was among 

the leaders when he went 

to No. 18. He’d opened 

with 72 and was 3-under 

for his second round 

after 17 holes. After the 

triple, he ended up four 

shots out of the 36-hole 

lead. 

“I didn’t execute a shot 

with a certain wind,” he 

said of his tee shot on 

No. 18, which set the 

triple bogey in motion. 

“It was off the left and I 

thought it was more off 

the left and I hit it low 

and the trees were blocking 

everything. I pulled 

it. Just unfortunate.” 

Not many players 

who are about to play 

in their second Masters 

have played Augusta 

National as many times 

as DeChambeau – 

around 20. In the months 

leading up to the 2016 

Masters , he played the 

course 12 times, not 

counting practice rounds 

Masters Week and tournament 

play . 

Since qualifying again 

by winning the John 

Deere , he has taken a 

few more scouting trips 

to Augusta National. 

“Just getting comfortable 

with it again,” 

he said. “I know pretty 

much everything there 

is to know.” 

His victory at the John 

Deere in July, the week 

before the British Open, 

got him in the field at 

Royal Birkdale . 

“I was thinking about 

the British initially, then 

it hit me a little later (that 

it also qualified him for 

the 2018 Masters),” he 

said. “It was always a 

tournament I wanted to 

go back to. I definitely 

said ‘I’m going back to 

the Masters,’ after I won, 

which was fun.”



McIlroy takes another shot at career slam 


Staff Writer 

Rory McIlroy already 

has his share of ghosts to 

contend with every time 

he shows up in Augusta. 

He added another last 

month. 

Taking a re-familiarization 

trip with his 

father for a few friendly 

rounds at Augusta 

National, McIlroy had a 

little match going with 

club member Jeff Knox. 

In 2014, Knox played 

as the non competing 

marker with McIlroy in 

Saturday’s third round 

and famously beat him 

by a stroke, 70-71. 

In March, Knox beat 

him again – this time with 

the aid of four strokes a 

side. 

“Lost that match on the 

first tee,” McIlroy said. 

The Masters remains 

the last piece in the 

career grand slam puzzle 

for McIlroy, and he often 

seems to be a shot down 

on the first tee. While 

his game seems perfectly 

fitted for a green jacket, 

he’s yet to avoid the kind 

of stumbles and blunders 

that stand in the way of 

fulfilling that goal. 

The advice he offers 

rookies would serve himself 

well. 

“Just embrace the week 

and have fun and enjoy 

yourself,” is his tip for 

first-timers. “I think the 

more you can do that, the 


Staff Writer 

Gracious and magnanimous 

would best describe 

Justin Rose’s handling of 

his playoff loss to Sergio 

Garcia at the Masters. 

But underneath the 

brave professional face 

beats a gutted heart. 

“I was genuinely happy 

for (Garcia), but at the 

same token it’s a dream to 

win that tournament, so I 

was disappointed,” Rose 

said. “What I tell people 

is I wake up in the morning 

and I’m fine. I don’t 

have a hole in my heart. 

But when I think about 

it, I’m disappointed. It 

doesn’t consume me. I’m 

fine. It’s just golf.” 

Throughout the 

summer after his nearmiss 

at Augusta, Rose 

stumbled through the big 

events. He missed cuts at 

the U.S. Open and PGA. 

He lagged harmlessly 

Rory McIlroy and non-competing marker Jeff Knox watch McIlroy’s tee shot on No. 

3 during the third round of the 2014 Masters. Knox beat him by a stroke, 70-71, that 

Saturday. [SARA CALDWELL/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

more Augusta lends itself 

to letting you just play, 

and I think if you overthink 

it then that’s when 

Augusta can really get 

you. If you just go out and 

play and be creative and 

sort of use your imagination, 

you can have a really 

great week.” 

This will be McIlroy’s 

10th start in the Masters, 

and he’s finished inside 

the top 10 the past four 

years. This will be his 

fourth crack at completing 

his career slam 

– which has intensified 

outside the top 50 at the 

Players and British Open. 

His doldrums cleared 

when during the PGA 

Tour’s playoffs he heard 

about his son’s perspective 

on what happened at 

Augusta. 

“Leo, my little boy who 

never watches golf, came 

out last week and went 

right up to someone and 

said, ‘Yeah, Sergio beat 

my dad fair and square,’” 

Rose said at the Tour 

Championship. “That’s 

kind of how it played out. 

I’ve been moaning about 

it for four months.” 

Whatever post-Masters 

funk Rose might have 

experienced was buried 

in a sustained run of fair 

play since the PGA. He 

strung together 10 consecutive 

top-10 finishes 

globally, with three wins 

including the WGC event 

in China, to climb back 

from 15th to No. 5 in the 

world rankings. 

the hype surrounding 

him every time he comes 

to Augusta. 

Being played at the 

same venue every year, 

the Masters doesn’t 

allow the chances to 

shut out memories of 

previous successes and 

failures – both a player’s 

own and those they’ve 

watched. Its history can 

be intimidating. 

“It’s more the aura of 

the place, the things you 

have in your head about 

Augusta and about the 

Masters and watching all 

As one of only five 

players in history to win 

tournaments on six continents 

– joining Hall of 

Famers Gary Player, Hale 

Irwin, David Graham and 

Bernhard Langer – the 

37-year-old Rose would 

like to burnish his resume 

with more than his 2013 

U.S. Open win and 2016 

Olympic gold medal. 

Like his peers Garcia 

and Adam Scott, he 

believes the post-Tiger 

class of former “young 

guns” can do more. 

“I think we’ve all 

underachieved as well,” 

he said. “Would we have 

settled for one major 

when we were 18? No. 

But it’s hard out here. 

... I’m not over yet. If I 

win another major and 

it’s one that’s not the 

U.S. Open, I feel like I’m 

halfway to a grand slam. 

That’s the way my mentality 

is. I’ve still got eight 

years of good golf, so I’m 

the stuff on TV,” McIlroy 

said. “I think if we were 

to play the other majors 

at the same venues every 

year it would be the 

same thing. Pebble or 

Shinnecock or whatever 

for the U.S. Open, sort of 

be the same way. I think 

because you go back to 

the same venue it has 

a little bit of mystique 

about it and little bit of 

aura that others don’t.” 

McIlroy has grown 

more comfortable with 

Augusta’s mystique since 

he first played at age 19. 

pretty good at trying to 

peak at the right time. I 

hope to steal one or two 

more.” 

As someone who’s 

never missed the cut at 

Augusta and owns a pair 

of runner-ups among 

his five top-10 finishes 

in 12 starts, the Masters 

remains his top bucketlist 

item. 

“I really feel like this 

is a tournament that I 

can still go on to win,” 

Rose said before leaving 

last April. “I’d like to 

win three or four green 

jackets, but one would 

be enough, you know. I 

just want to win here. So 

I have plenty more looks, 

and I feel good about it 

happening.” 

He’ll have an extra 

scar to overcome to do it, 

knowing he held a twoshot 

lead with Garcia 

facing a penalty on No. 

13 and got chased down at 

the end. But Rose doesn’t 

Rory McIlroy 

Age: 28 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 160 

Residence: 

Holywood, 

Northern 

Ireland 




2014 British Open 

champion* 



Best Finish: 4 

Earnings: $1,569,190 

’09: 72-73-71-70–286 T20 

’10: 74-77–151 

’11: 65-69-70-80–284 T15 

’12: 71-69-77-76–293 T40 

’13: 72-70-79-69–290 T25 

’14: 71-77-71-69–288 T8 

’15: 71-71-68-66–276 4 

’16: 70-71-77-71–289 T10 

’17: 72-73-71-69–285 T7 

“I was intimidated by 

the place,” he said. “That 

was my feeling of being 

at Augusta. Because I’ve 

gotten to know the staff, 

because I’ve gotten to 

know the caddies, 

gotten to know quite a 

lot of members, it’s not so 

intimidating anymore. So 

I feel a lot more comfortable 

not just playing the 

golf course but just in 

the grounds. That can be 

quite an unnerving place 

the first time you go. I’m 

a lot more comfortable 

there.” 

After taking a couple 

of months off at the end 

of 2017 to recover from 

Rose hopes his time will come in Augusta 

dwell on regrets. 

“I never took my foot 

of the gas,” he said. “I 

was just incredibly comfortable 

at Augusta and 

just didn’t feel like I was 

going to get beaten that 

day. 

“Yeah, I would say this 

one probably is one that 

slipped by, for sure. I 

mean, I can’t pick holes 

on my performance. 

Could I have made the 

(par) putt on 17? Of course 

I could. But for the most 

part, I’m not going to sit 

here and second-guess 

one or two shots. I really 

stepped up. I felt great. I 

felt in control. I felt positive. 

I felt confident. 

“Barring a great comeback 

from Sergio, it was 

mine to cruise to the 

house. But it’s not always 

that easy. You’re going 

to win majors and you’re 

going to lose majors, but 

you’ve got to be willing to 

lose them.” 

injury, McIlroy got off to a 

strong start in the Middle 

East before cooling off 

when he returned to the 

PGA Tour and slipping 

outside of the top 10 in 

the world rankings for the 

first time since 2014. His 

confidence, however, got 

a huge boost with a timely 

victory at the Arnold 

Palmer Invitational, 

where he charged home 

in 64 to pull away from 

an elite Sunday cast 

that included Henrik 

Stenson, Tiger Woods 

and Justin Rose. That 

victory ended a drought 

dating back to the 2016 

Tour Championship and 

jumped him back to No. 

7 in the world. 

He packed six tournaments 

into seven weeks 

before taking the week 

off before the Masters – 

twice the workload of last 

year, when he was nursing 

some ailments. 

“I’ll tell you after 

Augusta,” he said of 

judging his strategy. “I 

definitely don’t feel like 

I’ve got stale or in any 

way frustrated or feel 

like it’s tedious playing 

all these weeks in a row or 

monotonous in any way. 

I like being out here; I like 

playing golf. I feel like 

over the last couple of 

months of 2017 into this 

year I sort of rediscovered 

my love for the game a 

little bit. I’m even enjoying 

playing casual rounds 

of golf more.” 

Justin Rose 

Age: 37 

Height: 6-3 

Weight: 195 

Residence: 

London, 

England 

World 

Ranking: 5 







Earnings: $3,391,515 

’03: 73-76-71-77–297 T39 

’04: 67-71-81-71–290 T22 

’07: 69-75-75-73–292 T5 

’08: 68-78-73-76–295 T36 

’09: 74-70-71-71–286 T20 

’11: 73-71-71-68–283 T11 

’12: 72-72-72-68–284 T8 

’13: 70-71-75-74–290 T25 

’14: 76-70-69-74–289 T14 

’15: 67-70-67-70–274 T2 

’16: 69-77-73-70–289 T10 

’17: 71-72-67-69–279 2 

More online 

Find photos, 

stories, videos and more 

from previous Masters 


augusta.com.

The Augusta Chronicle • augusta.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M23 


Paul Casey 

Age: 40 

Height, 

weight: 5-10, 

180 

Residence: 

Phoenix, 

Ariz.; 

Weybridge, England 

College: Arizona State 

University 




Among Top 12 at 2017 

Masters* 




Earnings: $1,821,176 

’04: 75-69-68-74–286 T6 

’05: 79-78–157 

’07: 79-68-77-71–295 T10 

’08: 71-69-69-79–288 T11 

’09: 72-72-73-69–286 T20 

’10: 75-78–153 

’11: 70-72-76-71–289 T38 

’12: 76-75–151 

’15: 69-68-74-68–279 T6 

’16: 69-77-74-67–287 T4 

’17: 72-75-69-68–284 6 

Danny Willett 

Age: 30 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 170 

Residence: 

Sheffield, 

England 

World 

Ranking: 274 







Earnings: $1,850,000 

’15: 71-71-76-71–289 T38 

’16: 70-74-72-67–283 WIN 

’17: 73-78–151 

Matthew Fitzpatrick 

Age: 23 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 155 

Residence: 

Sheffield, 

England 

College: 

Northwestern University 




Top 50 on final 2017 World 

Golf Ranking* 





’14: 76-73–149-a 

’16: 71-76-74-67–288 T7 

’17: 71-78-73-70–292 32 

Win boosts Casey’s confidence 

Steady Englishman 

hopes first victory 

on PGA Tour in nine 

years gets him over 

hump at Augusta 


Staff Writer 

When you haven’t won 

a PGA Tour event in nine 

years or a tournament 

anywhere in the world 

since 2014, being the 

most consistent check 

casher doesn’t qualify as 

aspirational. 

With a world’s best 

consecutive cuts made 

streak of 27 events dating 

back to the 2017 Sony 

Open in Hawaii, Paul 

Casey wasn’t exactly 

puffing his chest out 

among his peers. 

“Leading the tour in 

cuts made is not actually 

the stat you want 

to lead,” Casey said. 

“It makes you a lot of 

money. But I’m happy 

for the form to maybe be 

a little more volatile and 


Staff Writer 

One of England’s 

youngest rising stars 

hasn’t made an impression 

in the United States 

yet, but that could 

change quickly on the 

grand stage of Augusta 

National Golf Club. 

Tyrrell Hatton, 26, 

had moved to 13th in the 

world ranking after tying 

for third in the Mexico 

Championship in early 

March. He’s won three 

times on the European 

Tour since October 2016. 

“I’m quite happy going 

under the radar,” Hatton 

said at the Arnold Palmer 

Invitational in mid- 

March. “I guess there is 

less expected of me that 

way, which is nice. I can 

do what I want to do and 

be left alone at certain 

points, which is nice.” 

The way Hatton 

can go low on a golf 

course is definitely an 

Paul Casey’s win at the 

Valspar Championship 

in March was his first 

PGA Tour victory since 

the 2009 Houston Open. 

[MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE 


get some wins.” 

Five days after saying 

that, Casey found the 

volatility he desired, 

firing a tournament-low 

65 in the final round of the 


to win for the first time 

since the 2009 Houston 

Open on the PGA Tour. 

attention-getter. He was 

45-under par when he 

won the Dunhill Links and 

Italian Open in back-toback 

weeks last October. 

“I can go low if I 

need to,” Hatton said. 

“Everything needs to be 

on point. Low scoring is 

not an issue for me.” 

H e s h o t 

“I’d be lying to you if 

I didn’t say there were 

(doubts),” Casey said. 

“I think the place I’m in 

and how good this feels 

– although it’s been nine 

years since the last victory 

– there’s no reason 

I can’t get more victories 

this year.” 

Casey studied why he’d 

been so good at getting 

into contention but never 

closing and singled out 

his putting as the culprit. 

“I didn’t play the golf 

that I needed to win,” he 

said. “The glaring factor 

was I didn’t putt well 

enough. All the guys that 

won had strokes gained 

on the weekend putting 

and I didn’t. The putting 

wasn’t good enough. 

Even though a couple of 

times I was in the fray, I 

just wasn’t good enough, 

plain and simple. So I 

don’t actually feel that 

frustrated that I let 

chances go. 

“There’s a lot of opportunity. 

Flip it on its head, 

68-65-65-66 at the 

Dunhill tournament. 

“I was pretty comfortable 

at the Dunhill,” he 

said. “I had good memories 

from the previous 

year, obviously winning. 

It was good to be back 

there, and I was happy 

with my swing. If I’m 

happy with my swing, 

if I continue to play the 

golf I’ve played and putt 

better, I will win. We’ve 

been working hard on the 

putting and feel that this 

year can be spectacular.” 

That formula is what 

Casey needs to get over 

the hump at Augusta, 

where he’s finished in 

the top six the past three 

years. Winning in March 

only increases his confidence 

on his favorite 

major championship 

venue. 

“I turn up at Augusta 

with ‘How are we going 

to win this?’” he said. “I 

can’t always look you in 

the eye and say that at 

some of the other golf 

courses we play around 

the world. But at Augusta 

I turn up and know I 

can definitely win this. 

How are we going to do 

it? Eliminate mistakes. 

Make a couple of great 

shots. I know how to play 

well around there. It’s a 

fine line between doing 

what I’ve been doing and 

I’m generally going to 

have a good week. The 

putter behaved itself, 

which can be a little bit 

streaky.” 

In addition to his penchant 

for low scores, 

Hatton also has a reputation 

for the passion he 

shows on the golf course. 

“I’m a quite fiery 

person off the golf course 

as well,” he said. “There 

are certain aspects I could 

improve on when I’m on 

the golf course, but overall 

I wouldn’t say I need 

to turn into a robot.” 

There were no low 

scores for Hatton in his 

Masters debut last year. 

He shot 80-78 during 

rounds when the winds 

gusted as high as 30 mph. 

“It was pretty tough,” 

Hatton said. “It wasn’t 

ideal. It is what it is. The 

conditions were the same 

for everyone, and unfortunately 

I just didn’t play 

very well. It’s never going 

to be great when you 

breaking through. It’s not 

a massive difference, to 

be honest.” 

Casey has drawn even 

more inspiration from his 

generation winning big 

events, including Sergio 

Garcia getting his breakthrough 

major win last 

April in the Masters at 37. 

He believes “40-somethings 

could take on 

anybody” at Augusta 

National. 

“Yeah, and Henrik 

Stenson winning the 

Open Championship 

in his 40 s and Phil 

Mickelson winning (the 

WGC in Mexico) at 47. 

Without question I take 

that as a really positive 

sign. It’s very different 

now. Tiger (Woods) 

is back, but the players 

I’m competing against 

is a very different group 

of players than those I 

was competing against 

earlier in my career. It’s 

no easier. Ultimately, 

it’s me against the golf 

course.” 

Hatton is one of England’s newest stars 

Tyrrell Hatton throws his club after chipping during the 

second round of the 2017 Masters. Hatton missed the 

cut in his first start at Augusta National. [ANDREW DAVIS 

TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

have tough conditions 

and you’re not hitting it 

the way you want to. It 

was just a tough week. 

Hopefully, I can do better 

this year.” 

His play at Augusta 

National in 2017 was surprising 

because Hatton 

had come into the tournament 

playing well. He 

had three consecutive 

top-10 finishes leading 

into the Masters. 

“In golf, you can’t 

pick and choose when 

you’re going to play 

well,” Hatton said. 

“Unfortunately, the 

Masters just fell on a 

week I didn’t hit the ball 

that great, which was 

disappointing since it 

was a major and I didn’t 

play well. Especially 

the fact it was my first 

Masters. I was quite 

keen to have a really good 

week. It didn’t work out. 

I’ll try again this year. I’ll 

try my best and see what 

happens.” 

Online 

Ross Fisher 

Age: 37 

Height, 

weight: 6-3, 

180 

Residence: 

Cheam, 

England 





Golf Ranking* 





’09: 69-76-73-69–287 T30 

’10: 77-76–153 

’11: 69-71-71-73–284 T15 

’12: 71-77-73-74–295 T47 

’17: 76-74-74-71–295 T41 

Tyrrell Hatton 

Age: 26 

Height, 

weight: 5-9, 

161 

Residence: 

Marlow, 

Bucking– 

hamshire, England 





Golf Ranking* 





’17: 80-78–158 

Stay up to date on all 

the action at Augusta 

National Golf Club and 

read past stories about 


at augusta.com. 

Englishman breaks through into elite class 


Staff Writer 

Tommy Fleetwood has 

become better known in 

the past 15 months for his 

golf than his long hair , 

both of which are now 

world-class. 

After a solid 2016 , the 

Englishman had a breakout 

season last year on 

the European Tour at 

age 26, winning twice, 

capturing that tour’s 

Race to Dubai title and 

breaking into the top 20 

of the world golf ranking 

for the first time. It 

happened after he won 

the French Open in 

July , jumping him from 

21th to 15th. He’s been 

as high as 10th, in early 

March. 

Fleetwood edged 

Justin Rose for the 

“Race” title, which is 

based on points accumulated 

from prize money 

won on the European 

Tour. 

“It’s the biggest day 

of my career, for sure,” 

Fleetwood said. 

He also played in the 

Masters for the first 

time. He didn’t have 

a memorable debut, 

shooting 78-74 to 

miss the cut by two 

shots. 

“The weather kind 

of hurt a little bit in 

the preparation side 

on the Tuesday and 

Wednesday when it was 

foul weather,” he said 

of the 2017 Masters. 

“I didn’t prepare well 

enough on and around 

the greens, and that’s 

where Augusta obviously 

lies. I actually played 

OK, I just gave away 

so many shots away on 

the back nine around 

the greens. That’s the 

main thing to address 

when we get back out 

there. ” 

It’s been more than 

three years since 

Fleetwood let his hair 

grow out, altering his 

image on the course. 

“It’s nice to have 

something that sets 

you apart,” he said. 

“There are a lot of 

people who have long 

hair on planet Earth, but 

not many of them are 

golfers.” 

In addition to winning 

the Race to Dubai, 

Fleetwood won the Seve 

Ballesteros Award, the 

European Tour player of 

the year prize voted on 

by the players. 

“That was very cool,” 

Fleetwood said . “The 

Seve award was more 

meaningful to me. To 

have the kind of recognition 

from your peers, 

that meant more. That 

made me more emotional 

than the Race to 

Dubai. ” 

Now with four 

European Tour wins , 

including the Abu Dhabi 

HSBC in January for the 

second consecutive year, 

Fleetwood wants one 

on the PGA Tour. He’s 

splitting time on both 

tours this year. 

“It’s sort of the next 

step, if you like, since 

last year was my first 

year playing more events 

on the PGA Tour,” said 

Fleetwood, who had 

temporary membership 

last year. “This is 

my first year with full 

PGA Tour status. There 

are plenty of goals that 

I have, but winning on 

the PGA Tour would be 

great, it’s sort of the next 

step. ” 

Fleetwood was ranked 

No. 11 in the world 

going into the Arnold 


mid-March. 

“My ultimate goal 

in life is to be the best 

player in the world,” he 

said. “That will always 

be the same. Whether 

I achieve it or not is 

another thing, but I’ll 

always strive for that.” 

Tommy Fleetwood 

Age: 27 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 168 

Residence: 

Southport, 

England 

World 

Ranking: 11 



Among Top 4 at U.S. 

Open* 





’17: 78-74–152




Amateur standing 


Sports Editor 

Fred Ridley can vividly 

recall the moment he realized 

that remaining an 

amateur golfer was the right 

decision. 

It was during the first 

round of the 1976 Masters 

Tournament. Ridley, the 

reigning U.S. Amateur 

champion, was in the traditional 

pairing at Augusta 

National Golf Club with 

defending champion Jack 

Nicklaus. 

Ridley had held his own 

with the Golden Bear, a 

five-time Masters winner, 

early on. But when they 

exchanged handshakes on 

the 18th green, Nicklaus 

had shot 5-under-par 67 and 

Ridley had carded 5-over 77. 

His ah-ha moment? 

“It might have been when 

I walked off the ninth tee 

with Jack Nicklaus in the 

first round of the Masters, 

tied with him at 1-under, 

and he beat me by 10 shots,” 

Ridley said with a laugh. 

“That might have been one 

of them.” 

For Ridley, who was 

elected chairman of Augusta 


last summer, it was another 

affirmation that he had 

made the right choice. And 

in the four decades since, the 

career amateur has enjoyed 

the gentleman’s game without 

the rigors of chasing a 

professional career. He is the 

first chairman to have played 

in the Masters. 

He remains the last U.S. 

Amateur champion who 

didn’t turn professional. 

Instead he chose to pursue 

a career in law, and both of 

those decisions no doubt 

would have pleased Augusta 

National co-founder Bobby 

Jones. He, too, practiced 

law after his brilliant playing 

career was over. 

“Not to say anything 

against the golfing abilities 

of other chairmen, 

but you’ve got an amateur 

champion that is chairing the 

Masters Tournament that 

was founded by golf’s greatest 

amateur champion,” said 

Bob Jones IV, the grandson 

of Jones. “That’s just poetry. 

You just don’t get better 

than that.” 

Ridley doesn’t look back 

on what could have been. 

He knows he made the right 

choice. 

“I kind of had an inkling 

when I was a young guy, as 

a teenager, that I probably 

was not going to be a golf 

professional,” Ridley said. 

“So I did read a lot about 

[Jones]. I think what struck 

me even more than his 

amazing playing record was 

the way he lived his life and 

the integrity, character and 

sportsmanship associated 

with his persona. That was 

very inspiring to me.” 

Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament Chairman Fred Ridley. [AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB HANDOUT] 

Finding his game 

It’s ironic that Ridley 

now presides over one of 

the game’s most private 

and exclusive clubs. Born in 

Lakeland, Fla., and raised in 

Winter Haven, he grew up 

playing municipal courses. 

The youngster had enough 

talent to earn a spot on the 

University of Florida golf 

team in the early 1970s, 

but his game didn’t flourish 

there. The Gators won an 

NCAA championship in 1973 

with a powerful lineup that 

included Andy Bean, Gary 

Koch, Woody Blackburn 

and Phil Hancock, but Ridley 

didn’t crack the starting 

lineup for the championship 

tournament. 

“My college golf was very 

mediocre,” he said. 

Lessons from Jack Grout, 

Nicklaus’ longtime instructor, 

helped Ridley become 

a better driver in 1974, his 

senior year at Florida. 

“I had a good short game, 

and the thing he did was he 

made me a good driver of the 

ball,” Ridley said. “That was 

always my Achilles’ heel.” 

Ridley enjoyed some success 

on the national amateur 

circuit leading into the 1975 

U.S. Amateur in Richmond, 

Va., but he was hardly 

among the favorites after 

earning the last spot in the 

qualifier in Jacksonville, 

Fla. As a pure match play 

event then, Ridley had to 

win eight matches to claim 

the championship. 

After winning his first four 

matches, Ridley came upon 

one of the pre-tournament 

favorites: Curtis Strange. 

Not only was Strange a local 

favorite, but he was also 

one of the top players and 

the 1974 NCAA individual 

champion. 

“It was one of those times 

I played well and he didn’t 

quite play his best, and I won 

2 and 1,” Ridley said. 

In the quarterfinals, 

Ridley met Jack Veghte , 

who was accomplished on 

the Florida amateur scene. 

If he won that, Ridley would 

earn a berth in the Masters 

because semifinalists were 

still invited to Augusta. 

“I can remember on the 

18th hole I had a 3-foot putt 

to win the match,” Ridley 

said. “I wasn’t thinking 

about getting to the semifinals; 

all I was thinking is if I 

make this putt I get to go to 

the Masters. And I missed 

it.” 

Ridley did recover to win 

the match on the first extra 

hole, but an even bigger 

opponent, literally and figuratively, 

was up next: his 

Florida teammate, Andy 

Bean. 

In the semifinal match, 

Ridley held on to beat his 

more accomplished friend 

2 and 1. 

“Andy’s a real big guy 

now, pretty big then, I’m 6-2 

and he’s 6-4, and he picked 

me up by my collar and lifted 

me up,” Ridley said. “I can’t 

repeat exactly what he said, 

but he said you’d better win 

tomorrow.” 

In the 36-hole finale, 

Ridley faced Keith Fergus of 

the University of Houston. 

“I think I was 6 up early 

in the afternoon, and I 

started thinking about what 

was going to happen, and 

we went to the 36th hole,” 

Ridley said. “I won the hole 

to win 2 up. I think I had 69 

in the morning but it wasn’t 

very pretty in the afternoon. 

Great memories, and fun to 

reminisce.” 

The victory put Ridley’s 

name on the Havemeyer 

Trophy, the same one his 

idol Jones won a record five 

times. 

Strange won 17 times, 

including back-to-back 

U.S. Opens, in his Hall of 

Fame career. Bean earned 11 

PGA Tour wins, and Fergus 

went on to win a combined 

six times on the PGA 

and Champions tours. Yet 

despite getting past those 

players, Ridley had a hunch 

that he wasn’t cut out to be a 

professional. He was already 

enrolled in law school at 

Stetson University. 

Masters moment 

The decision to remain 

amateur put Ridley on a path 

that eventually led him to the 

chairmanship of Augusta 

National. 

He didn’t quit the game 

cold turkey while studying 

law. He still found time to 

play in the Walker Cup and 

other amateur events he had 

earned invitations to thanks 

to being a U.S. Amateur 

champion. 

“My father, and the dean 

of the law school, allowed 

me to take a semester off,” 

Ridley said. “I played a lot 

of golf, which was the best 

thing that happened to me, 

because I really confirmed 

that I don’t want to play 

professionally. I realized 

how hard it was. I went back 

to law school that fall really 

kind of thinking I don’t want 

to do this.” 

In an era when more amateurs 

were invited to play 

in the Masters, Ridley did 

so three consecutive years, 

from 1976-78. He never 

made the cut, but he earned 

a lifetime of memories. 

He stayed in the Crow’s 

Nest, the perch at the top of 

the clubhouse reserved for 

amateurs. He played with 

Sam Snead. And he met 

Clifford Roberts. 

See RIDLEY, M26 

Previous chairmen at Augusta National Golf Club 

CLIFFORD ROBERTS 

(1931-76): He was the 

brains behind most of 

what is the Masters 

Tournament today. He 

joined with golfer Bobby 

Jones to organize the club 

and start the invitational 

tournament. Innovations 

included mounds for 

spectators to view play 

and bringing television to 

the tournament in 1956. 

Roberts died of a selfinflicted 

gunshot wound 

on the grounds of Augusta 

National in 1977. 

BILL LANE (1977-80): He 

served a very short period 

of time as chairman. Lane 

succeeded Roberts in 

1977 but soon became 

ill and was hospitalized. 

Notable occurrences 

during his tenure were 

the Par-3 Course being 

converted to bentgrass in 

preparation for installation 

on the main course 

and the patron badge 

waiting list being closed 

in 1978. Hord Hardin 

became acting chairman 

in 1979, and Lane died in 

1980. 

HORD HARDIN (1980-91): 

Changes during his tenure 

included the acceptance 

of Ron Townsend, the 

club’s first black member, 

in 1990; the change from 

bermuda to slick bentgrass 

greens in 1981; 

allowing non-Augusta 

National caddies to work 

the Masters beginning in 

1983; and the reinstatement 

of honorary starters, 

featuring Gene Sarazen, 

Byron Nelson and Sam 

Snead, in 1981. He died in 

1996. 

JACK STEPHENS (1991- 

98): Under his watch, 

limitations on practiceround 

tickets were 

instituted and an agreement 

was reached to use 

Augusta National as the 

venue for golf in the 1996 

Olympic Games. The plan 

was later rejected by the 

IOC when Atlanta Mayor 

Bill Campbell was critical 

of the lack of minorities 


membership roll. He died 

in 2005. 

HOOTIE JOHNSON 

(1998-2006): To combat 

advances in technology, 

he oversaw several 

changes to the golf course 

that stretched the layout 

to 7,445 yards. He also 

made headlines for refusing 

to give in to activist 

Martha Burk, who urged 

the club to admit women 

as members. Johnson 

also made changes to the 

qualification system for 

the Masters and instituted 

18-hole television coverage 

of the tournament. He 

died in July. 

BILLY PAYNE (2006- 

2017): He welcomed the 

first female members at 

Augusta National Golf Club, 

Condoleezza Rice and Darla 

Moore, in 2012. He sought 

new ways to grow golf and 

did so by joining forces with 

golf’s governing bodies to 

create the Drive, Chip and 

Putt Championship for 

children ages 7-15. Under 

his watch, Augusta National 

and the game’s ruling 

bodies also created two new 

amateur tournaments, the 

Asia-Pacific Amateur and 

Latin America Amateur.



RIDLEY 

From Page M25 

It was 1976, and the longtime 

Masters chairman was in 

his final year at the helm. Ridley 

was making his Augusta National 

debut, and he had come the week 

before the tournament. That’s 

when he had a chance encounter 

with the chairman underneath the 

big oak tree behind the clubhouse. 

“I don’t remember what I was 

doing, but I was standing by 

myself, probably just soaking it all 

in,” Ridley recalled. “And I turned 

around and there was Clifford 

Roberts. I thought I’ve done 

something wrong, I was ready to 

be lectured. But we had the nicest 

conversation, and I remember he 

was very polite, very kind. 

“As we were finishing up, he said, 

‘Son,’ and he pointed over to the 

Par-3 Course, ‘You’re going to play 

over there next Wednesday. I want 

you to get a few rounds in before the 

Par-3 Contest.’ That didn’t have a 

lot of meaning to me at the time, but 

I now know that that was a really 

special place for him. He loved the 

Par-3. I do have that recollection, 

which is pretty special.” 

Making a name in Augusta 

Ridley’s law career flourished, and 

so did his position in amateur golf. 

He is currently a partner and 

national chair of the real estate 

practice for international law firm 

Foley & Lardner LLP in Tampa, Fla. 

Ridley remained active in amateur 

golf, and he served as captain 

of the 1987 and 1989 U.S. Walker 

Cup teams and the 2010 U.S. 

World Amateur Team. 

He was a member of the USGA 

Executive Committee from 1994 

to 2005 and was elected president 

of the USGA for 2004-05. 

But Ridley, who joined Augusta 

National in 2000 and took over 

as chairman of the tournament’s 

Competition Committee in 2007, 

said he hasn’t been an active past 

president of the USGA. 

“I guess I would say my jacket’s been 

green for some time now,” he said. 

At Augusta, Ridley became part 

of Chairman Billy Payne’s inner 

circle and in his role as chairman 

of the Competition Committee 

made an annual appearance on the 

dais next to the chairman during 

his “State of the Masters” address. 

It was in that role that Ridley 

faced perhaps his greatest challenge. 

At the 2013 Masters, a 

rules controversy involving Tiger 

Woods put Ridley in the spotlight. 

In the second round, Woods’ ball 

hit the flagstick and caromed into the 

pond at the 15th hole. Woods took a 

drop later deemed improper, and 

was assessed a two-stroke penalty 

before the third round began. Ridley 

used his discretion and decided 

not to disqualify Woods for signing 

an incorrect scorecard because 

the committee had initially deemed 

his drop legal after reviewing visual 

evidence and never discussed it with 

Woods before he signed his card. 

Social media howled for Woods’ 

disqualification. Further muddying 

the water was the fact that the 

ruling involved Woods, a fourtime 

Masters champion. 

Ridley now characterizes the 

ruling as “complicated” but said he 

was “very comfortable in the end 

result that we did the right thing.” 

Barely two weeks after the 

Woods controversy, the USGA and 

the R&A issued a joint statement 

that explained the ruling and, in 

effect, backed up the decision by 

Ridley and the Masters committee. 

“Given the unusual combination 

of facts – as well as the fact 

that nothing in the existing Rules 

or Decisions specifically addressed 

such circumstances of simultaneous 

competitor error and 

Committee error – the Committee 

reasonably exercised its discretion,” 

the statement said. 

Nearly five years later, Ridley 

stands firm in his belief that he 

made the right call. 

“I think people that understood 

what happened agree with (the 

decision),” he said. “At the end of 

the day, if you do the right thing, 

everything’s going to be fine. 

That’s really how I feel about it.” 

Taking the reins 

The list of accomplishments 

during Payne’s tenure is 

exhaustive. 

Grow the game by creating new 

amateur events and embracing 

a kid-friendly event that allows 

them to participate on the grounds 

of Augusta National? Check. 

As the U.S. Amateur champion at the 1976 Masters Tournament, Fred Ridley 

was paired with defending Masters champion Jack Nicklaus. [HANDOUT FROM 

AUGUSTA NATIONAL] 

Online 

To read more about where 

new Augusta National Chairman 

Fred Ridley stands on the issues, go 

to augusta.com 

Increase digital offerings and 

make the Par-3 Contest a televised 

event to show how cool golf 

can be? Check. 

Move the club and tournament 

into the 21st century with the 

addition of female members and 

numerous improvements to the 

club’s infrastructure? Check. 

“There’s a lot of physical evidence 

of what he’s accomplished 

in his tenure here,” Ridley said. 

“He has expanded our campus in 

a way you couldn’t imagine when 

he took over.” 

But there’s still plenty left for 

Ridley to accomplish. 

The biggest area left untouched by 

Payne is Augusta National’s venerable 

layout. The mandate for Ridley is 

to keep the Jones- MacKenzie masterpiece, 

now close to 90 years old, 

relevant in an age when modernday 

professionals are hitting the golf 

ball farther than ever before. 

“That is something I do know a 

little bit about,” Ridley said last 

fall. “The process is we take a hard 

look at the golf course every year.” 

Ridley’s first big course project 

as chairman could come right after 

this year’s Masters. Preliminary 

plans filed by Augusta National in 

January show renovations to the 

par-4 fifth hole, with the work tentatively 

scheduled to begin in May. 

Thanks to a project completed 

during Payne’s watch — the 

realignment of Berckmans Road — 

Augusta National now controls the 

former road that had landlocked 

the club’s western border. 

“Old Berckmans Road certainly 

gives us some opportunities and 

options, and we are looking at 

those,” Ridley said. 

Plans call for the tournament tee 

box to be relocated across the old 

road , which will free up the logjam 

at the fourth green and fifth tee. 

Old Berckmans Road would then 

be rerouted around the new tee 

box, according to the site plans. 

Site plans also have been filed 

by Augusta National to begin work 

this spring at neighboring Augusta 

Country Club. In 2017, Augusta 

National acquired land from 

Augusta Country Club near Rae’s 

Creek at the section of holes Nos. 

11, 12 and 13 known as Amen Corner. 

According to the plans, the new 

ninth hole at Augusta Country 

Club would become a dogleg right 

hole and two tee boxes for the hole 

would be located across Rae’s 

Creek. A new green complex for the 

eighth hole would shift the green to 

the right of its present location and 

be located closer to Rae’s Creek. 

No work is indicated for Augusta 

National’s holes, but the purchase 

of land will give the home 

of the Masters more access for 

maintenance and tournament 

infrastructure along its perimeter 

at that part of the course. 

Steve Melnyk, a former U.S. 

Amateur and British Amateur 

champion who played in five 

Masters, thinks Ridley’s experience 

as a competitive golfer will be a plus. 

“I think that will be beneficial in 

many ways. I think Fred will bring a 

fresh set of eyes,” Melnyk said. “With 

Fred you’ve got a chance to make the 

course better. Not necessarily harder, 

but better in subtle ways.” 

'Perfect for it' 

Ridley defies the mold of Roberts 

and the men who came after him as 

chairman. 

How many Augusta National 

chairmen can boast of a double eagle 

at the 15th hole, just as Gene Sarazen 

did on his way to winning the 1935 

Masters? 

And how many chairmen had such 

a perfect head of hair that a hashtag 

was devoted to it? 

Ridley can check both of those 

boxes. 

He might be showing a touch of 

gray at the temples, but Ridley can 

pass for much younger than his 

actual age of 65. He and his wife, 

Betsy, have been married for 40 

years, and they have three daughters: 

Maggie, Libby and Sydney. 

The Ridleys became grandparents 

earlier this year when Libby gave 

birth to a boy. 

In his new office at Augusta 

National, photos of his family are 

prominently displayed. He’s especially 

proud of one showing Sergio 

Garcia celebrating his breakthrough 

victory at last year’s Masters. In the 

background, two of Ridley’s daughters 

can be seen. 

For the Ridleys, golf is a family 

affair. 

“Our honeymoon was made up 

of me playing in Eastern Amateur 

and then the Walker Cup matches 

and the U.S. Amateur,” Ridley said 

with a laugh. “She knew what she 

was getting herself into. She’s been 

around golf a long time. So have our 

girls, they all play.” 

A photo on social media shows 

the Ridleys with their three daughters 

standing on Hogan Bridge with 

Augusta National’s 12th hole in the 

background. According to "Golf 

Digest," the chairman gets in a couple 

dozen rounds each year at the club. 

His ringer score is impressive with 

the double eagle, a handful of eagles 

and a hole-in-one at the 16th. 

His youngest daughter, Sydney, 

likes to tease him about his hair on 

social media and tags photos with 

#Fredshair. 

“Fortunately, I’ve kept it all,” 

Ridley said of his hair. 

Ridley takes it all in stride, which fits 

perfectly with his good-guy image. 

“You’d be hard-pressed to find 

anyone to say something negative,” 

said Melnyk, a longtime friend. “He 

rarely raises his voice. He’s a logical 

thinker. 

“Given the prominence of the 

chairmanship at Augusta National, I 

think he’s perfect for it. I think he will 

advance their agenda. The tournament 

and club will be better off for it.” 

Payne and his inner circle agree. 

“My connection to the chairmanship 

resides within Fred and his 

performance over the next several 

years,” Payne said. “I know it’s going 

to be outstanding. He’s an even finer 

man than he was a player.” 

An Augusta National member 

close to both Payne and Ridley 

agreed, saying Ridley is “well versed 

in the challenges the club faces” and 

he’s the “right guy to continue” the 

work started by Payne. 

“I don’t think he’s going to make 

wholesale changes,” the member 

said. “He’ll be his own man.” 

Ridley will forge his own path in 

the coming years, but all roads at 

Augusta National eventually lead 

back to the legacy created by Jones 

and Roberts. Ridley said he views his 

role as a custodian. 

“They are the ones that established 

the mandate of constant improvement, 

which is going to drive me and 

my goals as chairman of the club, and 

I feel that if I follow that mandate, I’ll 

be in a position when my time is over 

to pass this honor on to my successor 

even stronger than it is today,” 

Ridley said. “That’s my goal, and 

that’s what I think Mr. Jones and Mr. 

Roberts would expect.” 




Payne accomplished 

much in his tenure 

as chairman 


Sports Editor 

Billy Payne likes to 

talk about a key piece 

of advice he received 

from his predecessor 

as chairman of 

Augusta National Golf 

Club and the Masters 

Tournament. 

“I remember Hootie 

(Johnson) told me 

when I became chairman, 

you’re going to 

be judged by how much 

money you lose on the 

concession business,” 

Payne said with a laugh. 

“The more you lose, the 

better you’re going to 

be loved.” 

Payne, who oversaw 

the club and tournament 

from 2006-2017, 

stepped down in August 

and was replaced by 

Fred Ridley. Payne has 

assumed the title of 

chairman emeritus. 

Judged solely on concessions, 

Payne was a 

resounding success. 

“I can’t tell you how 

many letters I get after 

every tournament,” 

he said. “'Mr. Payne, 

I’ve wanted to come 

to the Masters all my 

life, and brought my 

family of four and we 

had lunch and it was 

$11 and whatever.' And 

they give me the whole 

menu they had. 

“We don’t make any 

money off concessions, 

and we don’t want to. 

We want people to feel 

like they’re getting 

value.” 

Judging his tenure as 

a whole, no chairman 

since co-founder and 

first chairman Clifford 

Roberts did more. 

Payne welcomed the 

first female members 

at Augusta National , 

embraced digital technology 

to promote 

the Masters, sought 

new ways to grow 

golf and oversaw the 

most ambitious building 

phase in the club’s 

history. 

“Billy was really 

the first chairman 

to embrace that the 

Masters is the Mona 

Lisa of sports,” one club 

member said. “We have 

a responsibility to the 

game, how are we going 

to grow the game? There 

was a lot more inclusion. 

Before it might have 

been more isolated.” 

Payne’s predecessor 

oversaw two major 

renovations to Augusta 

National during his 

tenure. Other than a 

few minor adjustments, 

Payne left the course 

largely untouched. 

Instead, he focused 

on inclusion. 

In 2012, Condoleezza 

Rice and Darla Moore 

were invited to join 

nearly a decade after 

the club’s membership 

Billy Payne timeline 

practices were criticized 

by a national 

women’s organization. 

“It was fantastic,” 

Payne said of the 

female members. “I’ve 

said repeatedly I don’t 

really make a distinction. 

I want to beat 

Condi Rice out of her 

$5, too. They’re golfers 

and they’re friends.” 

With golf struggling 

to attract new players 

because of time and 

money, Payne joined 

forces with golf’s governing 

bodies to create 

the Drive, Chip and 

Putt Championship. 

The annual event for 

children ages 7-15 

attracts thousands of 

youngsters who strive 

to reach the finals held 

at Augusta National on 

the eve of the Masters. 

Payne and the game’s 

ruling bodies also created 

two new amateur 

tournaments, the 

Asia-Pacific Amateur 

and Latin America 

Amateur. He offered 

a Masters berth to the 

winner to give each 

tournament an immediate 

boost. 

He also increased 

the tournament’s digital 

presence, bringing 

the latest in television 

technology to the 

broadcasts. He also 

expanded content 

available on the tournament 

website with 

live video channels 

and a tracking feature 

that enabled patrons to 

follow the shots of each 

player . 

Payne focused on 

carrying the Southern 

style of architecture 

throughout the club’s 

grounds. 

“Operationally, of 

course, we’ve grown, 

so we needed more 

space,” he said. “But it 

doesn’t have to be ugly 

space. It can be beautiful 

space, and that’s 

what we’ve tried to do.” 

He transformed 

Augusta National’s 

grounds by improving 

parking, on-course 

amenities, hospitality 

and even how patrons 

arrived at the course 

with the realignment 

of Berckmans Road. 

Payne said that he 

was just trying to follow 

the mantra of cofounders 

Bobby Jones 

and Roberts, which was 

to constantly strive for 

improvement. 

“I think all chairmen 

after our first two 

founders are custodians 

of their dreams and 

aspirations,” Payne 

said. “We try to maintain 

it and, if we can, 

make it a little better.” 

Reach John Boyette 

at (706) 823-3337 

or jboyette@augustachronicle.com. 

1997: Becomes member of Augusta National 

2000: Begins chairmanship of Masters Media 

Committee 

2006: Elected chairman, succeeding Hootie Johnson 

2007: Reinstates honorary starter tradition; 

announces new qualifications for invitation 

2008: Introduces Golf Goes Worldwide initiative, 

which includes televising Par-3 Contest 

2009: Announces creation of Asia-Pacific Amateur 

Championship, with winner getting berth in Masters 

2010: Tournament Practice Range used for first time 

2011: Masters works with EA Sports to produce 

video game using Augusta National layout, with 

proceeds going to Masters Tournament Foundation; 

ticket application and selection process moves 

online, with a small number of daily tournament 

tickets available for first time 

2012: Condoleeza Rice and Darla Moore announced 

as first female members at Augusta National 

2014: Inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championship is 

held at Augusta National 

2015: First Latin America Amateur Championship 

held, with winner earning spot in Masters 

2016: Berckmans Road realignment project is 

completed 

2017: Announces retirement as chairman



Johnson’s chairmanship marked by changes, controversy 


Sports Editor 

William W. “Hootie” 

Johnson, who oversaw 

major changes to Augusta 

National Golf Club’s 

layout and held firm in 

defending the club’s 

membership policies, 

died July 14. He was 86. 

Johnson served as 

chairman of Augusta 


Tournament from 1998 

to 2006, and under his 

direction, the famed 

Alister MacKenzie- 

Bobby Jones layout 

was lengthened to 

7,445 yards. During his 

tenure, 14 of the 18 holes 

were altered as Augusta 

National led the charge 

against advances in golf 

ball and club technology 

that threatened to make 

older courses obsolete. 

Johnson also modified 

the qualifications for 

invitation to the tournament, 

initiated 18-hole 

television coverage and 

began the practice of 

announcing the club’s 

donations to charity. 

But it was his response 

to Martha Burk, chairwoman 

of the National 

Council of Women’s 

Organizations, that 

thrust him into the 

national spotlight in the 

summer of 2002. 

Burk challenged 

Augusta National’s allmale 

membership, and 

Johnson responded with 

a terse, three-paragraph 

reply and issued a statement 

to the media that 

outlined the club’s position. 

He famously said 

the private club would 

not change at the “point 

of a bayonet.” 

“Our club has historically 

enjoyed a 

camaraderie and kindred 

spirit that we 

think is the heart and 

soul of our club. And 

that makes it difficult 

for us to consider 

change,” Johnson told 

The Augusta Chronicle 

at the height of the controversy. 

“Now a woman 

could very well, as I’ve 

said before, become a 

member of Augusta. 

But that is some time 

out in the future. And 

in the meantime, we’ll 

hold dear our traditions, 

and our constitutional 

right, to choose and to 

associate.” 

The controversy escalated 

as Burk threatened 

to boycott the tournament 

and its sponsors, 

but Johnson responded 

by releasing the club’s 

TV sponsors for two 

years. A planned protest 

during the 2003 Masters 

by Burk and her supporters 

fizzled. 

Johnson was succeeded 

as club and 

tournament chairman by 

Billy Payne, who in 2012 

ushered in the club’s 

first two female members. 

Johnson sponsored 

Darla Moore, a fellow 

South Carolinian and 

businesswoman. Former 

U.S. Secretary of State 

Condoleezza Rice also 

became a member. 

Payne mourned the 

loss of Johnson, calling 

him a personal mentor on 

Masters matters as well as 

those in business and life. 

“He boldly directed 

numerous course 

improvements to ensure 

that Augusta National 

would always represent 

the very finest 

test of golf,” Payne 

said in a statement. 

“Simultaneously, Hootie 

expanded television coverage 

of the Masters, 

improved qualification 

standards for invitation 

to the tournament 

and reopened the series 

badge waiting list for the 

first time in more than 

20 years. Many of these 

measures brought more 

people than ever closer to 

the Masters and inspired 

us to continue exploring 

ways to welcome people 

all over the world to the 

tournament and the game 

of golf.” 

Johnson was born in 

Augusta on Feb. 16, 1931. 

He got the nickname 

“Hootie” from a childhood 

playmate when he was 5. 

His family lived in 

North Augusta when he 

was born but moved to 

Augusta in 1935. Johnson 

attended the Masters 

that year for the first 

time. 

Johnson and his 

brother took over 

the family bank in 

Hootie Johnson served as chairman from 1998 to 2006. 

His successor, Billy Payne, said Johnson’s efforts 

“brought more people than ever closer to the Masters.” 

[FILE/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Greenwood when their 

father died in 1961. They 

turned it into Bankers 

Trust, and through a 

series of mergers and 

acquisitions he eventually 

rose to chairman of 

the executive committee 

of Bank of America 

Corp. He retired from 

that position in 2001. 

In addition to his 

changes to the course, 

Johnson also attempted 

to end the lifetime 

exemptions for Masters 

champions in 2002. He 

sent letters to former 

champions Gay Brewer, 

Billy Casper and Doug 

Ford asking them to no 

longer compete in the 

tournament because they 

exhibited a pattern of not 

completing their rounds. 

After a meeting with 

Jack Nicklaus and 

Arnold Palmer, Johnson 

rescinded the order to 

ban champions after they 

turned 65, which was to 

go into effect in 2004. 

De Vicenzo, infamous for scorecard error, among notable deaths 

From Staff and Wire Reports 

Roberto De Vicenzo, 

whose infamous scorecard 

error at the 1968 Masters 

Tournament cost him a 

place in a playoff with 

Bob Goalby, died June 1. 

He was 94. 

“All that I lose at the 

Masters is the jacket,” 

De Vicenzo said in a 2009 

interview. “The prestige, 

no. My name is in 

the Masters forever. It’s 

42 years past and we are 

still talking about the 

Masters.” 

Despite induction in the 

World Golf Hall of Fame in 

1989, De Vicenzo’s name 

doesn’t often get thrown 

into the conversation with 

Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, 

Jack Nicklaus, Arnold 

Palmer, Gary Player, Tom 

Watson, Tiger Woods and 

the rest of golf’s greatest 

players who accumulated 

multiple major victories. 

However, there was no 

more prolific winner in the 

world than De Vicenzo, 

who won 231 professional 

tournaments – 96 times 

outside Argentina with 

48 national open championships 

in 17 different 

countries. 

At his peak, he earned 

$100,000 a year even 

though he averaged seven 

victories a season from 

1948-74. The senior tour 

didn’t launch until he was 

already 57 or he could have 

cashed in more. 

“I catch everything, 

como se dice, the horse 

by the tail,” he said with 

a laugh. “But I have 

something.” 

His greatest achievement 

was winning the 

British Open at Hoylake in 

a two-stroke victory over 

Nicklaus in 1967. Nicklaus 

recalled De Vicenzo as 

“not only a great golfer, 

but a great friend.” 

De Vicenzo was a 

beloved figure in his native 

Argentina. 2009 Masters 

champion Angel Cabrera 

followed in his footsteps, 

as did Eduardo Romero, 

Fabian Gomez, Andres 

Romero and Emiliano 

Grillo. 

De Vicenzo celebrated 

his 45th birthday on the 

final round of the 1968 

Masters. He proceeded to 

hole his 9-iron for an eagle 

2 on the opening hole, followed 

by birdies at Nos. 2 

and 3 that turned a twoshot 

deficit to Player into 

a two-shot lead. He added 

birdies at Nos. 8, 12, 15 

and 17 before a bogey on 

the 18th left him shooting 

what should have been 

65 and earned a Monday 

Hall of Fame player Roberto De Vicenzo won 231 

pro tournaments, but he’s most remembered for a 

scorecard error at the 1968 Masters that kept him from 

going to a playoff for the green jacket. [FILE] 

morning date with Goalby 

for an 18-hole playoff. 

Disgusted by his closing 

bogey and distracted by a 

request to go to the interview 

room, De Vicenzo 

quickly signed his card 

without really looking, 

not noticing that playing 

partner Tommy Aaron 

had written a par 4 where 

a birdie 3 should have been 

on the 17th hole. Aaron 

tried to catch De Vicenzo 

before he left the area of 

the open-air scoring table 

on the apron of the 18th 

green, but once he stepped 

away the error was set and 

his final score was 66, 

leaving him runner-up. 

“What a stupid I am,” 

remains his most famous 

quote. 

In 1970, he received 

the Bob Jones Award, the 

USGA’s highest honor, for 

his distinguished sportsmanship 

in golf. Augusta 

National Chairman 

Clifford Roberts even 

presented him with a 

cigarette box like the ones 

the club used to give to the 

champion. 

“I didn’t accept finishing 

in second place; 

I accepted the rules,” 

De Vicenzo said. “That 

respect that I have earned 

is the green jacket which 

eluded me in 1968 in 

Augusta. It’s my victory.” 

••• 

Johnny Sands, a longtime 

Augusta newspaperman 

often credited with coining 

the phrase “Arnie’s Army” 

to describe Palmer’s golf 

fans, died Feb. 9. He was 

87. A native of Boston, 

Sands was known as an 

old-school craftsman 

on the news desk where 

he designed the newspaper’s 

front page for 

many years. Sands was 

editing a column written 

by Chronicle sports 

editor Johnny Hendrix and 

needed a subhead, the 

smaller headline newspapers 

use to break up 

text. Hendrix had written 

a description of the young 

Palmer’s fans following 

him around and looking 

like “a battalion,” Sands 

said. “I liked the image, 

but it wasn’t snappy 

enough,” he said in a 2016 

interview. He began to 

weigh phrases that would 

have the double “A” — 

“Arnie’s A ….” Batta lion 

made him think of “Army,” 

said Sands. Sands, a military 

veteran nicknamed 

“Sandman,” said he never 

really wanted to make a 

big deal about it. “I never 

took credit,” Sands said. 

“If Johnny (Hendrix) had 

nixed it, it wouldn’t have 

happened, but that’s how 

‘Arnie’s Army’ started and 

after that we began to use 

it.” 

••• 

P. Daniel Yates Jr., who 

witnessed the first 78 

Masters Tournaments 

and was a personal friend 

of Augusta National Golf 

Club co-founder Bobby 

Jones, died May 12. He 

was 98. Yates attended 

the inaugural Augusta 

National Invi ta tion 

Tournament as a 15-yearold 

in 1934 to watch his 

older brother, Charles, 

play. The Augusta National 

member and Atlanta 

businessman attended 

the Masters through 

2014. Charles Yates was 

a close friend of Jones, 

the amateur golf legend, 

and played in the first 11 

Masters. That’s how Dan 

Yates got to know him. 

“He was such a good 

fellow,” Yates said of 

Jones during a 2014 interview 

with The Augusta 

Chronicle . “He played golf 

with my brother Charles 

on Saturday mornings for 

several years. I remember 

what he told me. He 

said, ‘Dan, when you’re 

swinging at a golf ball, 

remember two things. 

The first thing is you don’t 

think about more than 

one thing, but you do 

remember to stay behind 

the ball.’ Every time I’ve 

hit a ball since then, I’ve 

always thought about 

that.” Yates, a World War 

II veteran, never played 

in the Masters, but his 

son, Danny, played twice 

as an amateur. The Yates 

family has been prominent 

in golf in Georgia for 

decades; Charles, Dan 

and Danny each won the 

Georgia State Amateur 

Championship. Yates 

played golf at Georgia 

Tech and served as team 

captain. In addition to 

the state amateur, he 

also won the Atlanta City 

Amateur and the Dogwood 

Invitational. He was 

inducted into the Georgia 

Golf Hall of Fame and the 

Georgia Tech Athletics Hall 

of Fame. Yates focused his 

efforts on serving on tournament 

committees after 

joining the club. For years, 

he and Charles worked 

on the press committee 

and conducted player 

interviews. 

••• 

Frank Broyles, who guided 

the University of Arkansas 

to its lone national football 

championship and 

later molded the overall 

program as its athletic 

director, died Aug. 14. 

He was 92. The longtime 

Augusta National member 

died from complications 

of Alzheimer’s disease, 

according to a statement 

from his family. 

••• 

B.F. “Bev” Dolan, a 

co-founder of E-Z-Go 

and a pioneer of the 

modern golf car industry, 

died Feb. 20. He was 90. 

Dolan and his brother 

Billy created the industry’s 

oldest golf car brand 

after witnessing Augusta 

National co-founder 

Bobby Jones ride around 

in a three-wheeled cart 

during the 1954 Masters. 

An Augusta native, Dolan 

helped transform what 

was once considered 

a novelty item to standard 

equipment on golf 

courses worldwide. He 

orchestrated E-Z-G o’s 

sale to Rhode Islandbased 

Textron in 1960 and 

continued running the golf 

vehicle company for all 

but three years until 1979, 

when Textron hired him 

as corporate president. 

Dolan retired as chairman 

of the company in 1991. A 

longtime Augusta National 

member, Dolan appeared 

in Augusta last April as 

one of the honorees at 

the Augusta Mayor’s 

Masters Reception. Dolan 

and his brother began 

building the vehicles by 

hand at an east Augusta 

machine shop before 

moving to a larger facility 

in Grovetown and finally 

to Marvin Griffin Road, 

where the company’s main 

manufacturing facility 

and corporate offices 

are still located. In 2012, 

Dolan received the PGA’s 

Ernie Sabayrac Award for 

lifetime contributions to 

the golf industry. 

••• 

Dick Enberg, a Hall of 

Fame broadcaster known 

for exclaiming “Oh my!” 

to describe key moments, 

died Dec. 22. He was 82. 

Enberg announced 

UCLA basketball during 

its heyday as an NCAA 

powerhouse and went 

on to call Super Bowls, 

Olympics and Final Fours. 

He retired in October 2016 

after a six-decade career 

in broadcasting. At the 

Masters, Enberg was 

part of the CBS team. 

He handled interview 

duties at Butler Cabin 

all but one year from 

2000-2006. 

••• 

Dearing Francis 

“Frank” Stone III, a 

longtime volunteer 

in the media center at 

the Masters, died Jan. 9. 

He was 69. The avid 

golfer was a longtime 

member of the Augusta 

Country Club, Secession 

Golf Club, Merion Golf 

Club and the Augusta 

Golf Association. At the 

Masters, Stone worked 

closely with tournament 

staff and helped facilitate 

player interviews for more 

than 30 years. 

Hall of Fame broadcaster 

Dick Enberg was part 

of the CBS team at 

the Masters, handling 

interview duties at Butler 

Cabin all but one year 

from 2000 to 2006. [FILE/ 


E-Z-Go founder Bev Dolan 

(right) shakes hands 

with longtime employee 

Joseph Williams at last 

year’s Mayor’s Masters 

Reception, where Dolan 

was an honoree. [FILE/THE 


P. Daniel Yates Jr. saw 

the first 78 Masters and 

served on tournament 

committees at the 

club. [FILE/THE AUGUSTA 

CHRONICLE] 

Augusta newspaperman 

Johnny Sands was often 

credited with coining the 

phrase “Arnie’s Army.” 

••• 

Dr. Herman Ray Finney, a 

longtime Augusta National 

member who headed the 

first aid committee at the 

Masters, died Jan. 14. He 

was 81. Finney served on 

the boards of Secession 

Golf Club, Champions 

Retreat Golf Club and 

Augusta Country Club. He 

was a member of Augusta 

National for more than 40 

years, serving on the tournament 

scoring committee 

and later was chairman of 

the first aid committee.



Yuta Ikeda 

Age: 32 

Height: 5-9 

Weight: 170 

Residence: 

Japan 

College: 

Tohoku 

Fukushi University 





Golf Ranking* 





’10: 70-77-72-71–290 29 

’11: 74-74–148 

’17: 74-77–151 

Kiradech Aphibarnrat 

Age: 28 

Height, 

weight: 5-8, 

229 

Residence: 

Bangkok, 

Thailand 





Golf Ranking* 





’16: 72-72-77-70–291 T15 

Yusaku Miyazato 

Age: 37 

Height: 5-7 

Weight: 150 

Residence: 

Okinawa, 

Japan 

College: 

Tohoku Fukushi University 





Golf Ranking* 



Best Finish: first 

appearance 

Patrick Cantlay 

Age: 26 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 160 

Residence: 

Los Alamitos, 

Calif. 

College: 

UCLA 









’12: 71-78-74-72–295-a T47 

’12: 75-76–151 

Kyle Stanley 

Age: 30 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

Gig Harbor, 

Wash. 

College: 

Clemson University 










Pat Perez 

Age: 42 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Scottsdale, 

Ariz. 

College: 

Arizona State University 










’03: 74-73-79-75–301 T45 

’09: 75-79–154 

’17: 74-74-70-71–289 T18 

Hideki Matsuyama 

Age: 26 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 198 

Residence: 

Sendai, Japan 

College: 

Tohoku 

Fukushi University 





Masters* 





’11: 72-73-68-74–287-a T27 

’12: 71-74-72-80–297-a T54 

’14: 80-71–151 

’15: 71-70-70-66–277 5 

’16: 71-72-72-73–288 T7 

’17: 76-70-74-67–287 T11 

Haotong Li 

Age: 22 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

Shanhai, 

China 

World 

Ranking: 41 




British Open* 



First appearance 

’17: 75-81–156 

Si Woo Kim 

Age: 22 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 182 

Residence: 

Fullerton, 

Calif. 

College: 

Yonsei University 




2017 The Players 

champion* 






Staff Writer 

There will be a lot 

of talk about a quality 

comeback from a 

career-threatening 

back injury and personal 

trauma for a former 

world No. 1 at the 2018 

Masters, and Patrick 

Cantlay’s story warrants 

a significant share of that 

conversation. 

The former world No. 

1 amateur essentially 

lost roughly four years 

of his pro career from 

the summer of 2012 to 

early 2017 with a stress 

fracture in his L5 vertebrae 

that forced him to 

sit out three, seven, 15 

and 14 months between 

aborted returns. 

A month into his last 

layoff in 2016, his world 

was further shattered 

when his caddie and best 

friend, Chris Roth, was 

killed by a hit-and-run 

driver while walking 10 

feet in front of Cantlay 

in Newport Beach, Calif. 

“I’m already at the 

lowest point I could 

be – I feel so far away 

from where my goals 

are – and then that 

Matsuyama hoping to become 

first Japanese Masters champ 


Staff Writer 

It’s been a quiet 

build-up to the Masters 

for world No. 6 Hideki 

Matsuyama after sitting 

out six weeks with 

a thumb injury, but the 

Japanese star hopes to 

cram enough practice in 

time to pass the test at 

Augusta. 

Matsuyama could 

squeeze in only two 

starts at Bay Hill and the 

WGC Match Play after 

withdrawing from his 

title defense in Phoenix 

in February after experiencing 

pain in his left 

thumb. With treatment, 

his thumb feels 100 percent 

even if his game 

isn’t. 

“There’s a little bit of 

a doubt, but I think I can 

get everything worked 

out in two weeks,” he 

said at Bay Hill. 

The lack of playing 

time – he missed three 

usual starts during his 

rehabilitation – means 

Matsuyama will put 

even more emphasis 

than usual on his early 

arrival at Augusta a full 

week before the Masters 

Tournament starts. 

“I will go early again 

this year; that is going 

to be my practice time 

and my preparation 

for the Masters,” he 

said. “I’m really going 

to try to fine-tune it at 

Augusta National that 

week before.” 

Matsuyama has always 

felt a special connection 

to the Masters since 

twice earning invitations 

as the Asian Amateur 

champion and making 

the cut both times. Still 

only 26 , he’ll be making 

happened,” Cantlay 

told GolfChannel. 

com. “For a while, it 

just made me feel like 

nothing was important. 

... It still haunts me 

when I think about it. 

It’s always going to be 

there. I’m never going 

to feel better. Nothing 

is ever going to make me 

feel OK about what happened. 

Time just heals it, 

or numbs it a little bit.” 

At Pebble Beach in 

2017, Cantlay’s mind 

and body were finally in 

a place where he could 

try golf again with a 

medical exemption to 

make 10 starts. Now 

26, he never considered 

quitting despite all the 

physical and emotional 

hardships. 

“There’s not a lot of 

give up in me,” he said. 

Hideki Matsuyama twice played in the Masters as the 

Asian Amateur champion. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF] 

his seventh start in the 

Masters. 


about that special place 

that really gets me motivated 

to play the best 

I can,” he said. “I love 

Augusta National and 

enjoy going back there 

every year. Hopefully 

through playing there 

a number of times now 

I’ve learned what it 

takes to win. Hopefully 

my experience I’ve been 

able to gain will help me 

learn how to win my first 

major. I hope it will be 

there at Augusta.” 

Matsuyama has 

shown a knack for playing 

in every one of the 

four majors, with topsix 

finishes in each . 

He’s among the most 

“I thought maybe there 

was a chance my back 

would never feel good 

enough to play again. 

But, fortunately, I feel 

great. I knew if I could 

get 100 percent healthy, 

everything else would 

take care of itself.” 

When he finished 

tied for 48th in his first 

start in three years at 

Pebble Beach last year, 

he climbed to 1,424th 

in the world. He turned 

10 events into a run to 

the Tour Championship 

at East Lake, while his 

November win in Las 

Vegas moved him into 

the world’s top 50. 

“It felt like someone 

put the pause button on 

playing, but I feel like I 

picked up right where I 

left off,” said Cantlay, 

who hasn’t missed a cut 

consistent major players , 

having posted top-20 

finishes 12 times in 19 

major starts as a professional 

while missing only 

three career cuts. 

Last year was his best 

major season yet, with 

all four finishes 14th or 

better, including a runner-up 

in the U.S. Open 

at Erin Hills and a tie for 

fifth in the PGA at Quail 

Hollow, where he started 

the final round one shot 

off the lead. 

As he keeps knocking 

on the door, 2018 could 

be the season he breaks 

through to became 

the first golfer from 

Japan to win a major 

championship. 

“It’s one of my goals, 

of course, to win a major 

since the 2014 Wyndham 

Championship when he 

got injured. 

“It feels good to be 

doing what I feel like I 

was born to do and what 

I practiced to do for such 

a long time. The other 

part is so separate and it 

was such a heartbreaking 

deal that I don’t even – 

it’s not even on the same 

level as golf.” 

Qualifying for the 

Tour Championship got 

Cantlay into all the 2018 

majors, allowing him to 

create a schedule that 

would limit wear and 

tear on his back. 

The major opportunity 

Cantlay is looking 

the most forward to is 

returning to Augusta. 

As the No. 1 ranked 

amateur in the world, 

Cantlay made his 


about that special 

place that really gets 

me motivated to play 

the best I can. I love 

Augusta National and 

enjoy going back there 

every year. ” 

Hideki Matsuyama 

and all my preparation 

and work is toward winning 

a major – but it’s 

not easy,” he said. 

There will be 

four competitors from 

Japan in this year’s 

Masters field, the 

most since 2011, when 

Matsuyama finished 

low amateur in his first 

appearance. Japan’s long 

history at the Masters 

goes back before World 

War II, when Toichiro 

“Torchy” Toda and 

Seisui “Chick” Chin 

were two of only four 

international players in 

the field in 1936. 

Matsuyama attained 

the status as the highestranked 

Japanese golfer in 

history, having reached 

No. 2 in the world after 

last year’s PGA. Despite 

finishing fifth, seventh 

and 11th in his past 

three starts at Augusta, 

he still hasn’t reached 

the record high Masters 

finishes of countrymen 

Shingo Katayama (fourth 

in 2009) and Toshi Izawa 

( tie for fourth in 2001). 

“It’s going to be an 

exciting Masters in 

Japan, especially if four 

of us are able to play,” he 

said. “All of Japan realizes 

and understands 

that Augusta is a special 

place. All I can do is do 

my best and hopefully it 

will go well for me this 

year.” 

Cantlay’s comeback takes back seat to no one 

Daniel Berger 

Age: 24 

Height, 

weight: 6-1, 

175 

Residence: 

Jupiter, Fla. 

College: 

Florida State University 










’16: 73-71-74-71–289 T10 

’17: 77-73-72-69–291 T27 

Masters debut in 2012 

as the U.S. Amateur 

runner-up. In a volatile 

even-par final round, 

he recovered from a 9-6 

combo on Nos. 13 and 

14 to play the last four 

holes in 4-under with 

an eagle-birdie-birdie 

run on Nos. 15-17. That 

rally prevented Hideki 

Matsuyama from winning 

consecutive silver 

cups as low amateur. 

“I learned a lot about 

the golf course and 

angles to play and places 

to hit it and not to hit it,” 

Cantlay said of his first 

Augusta experience, 

finishing two strokes 

behind Tiger Woods, 

Rory McIlroy and Henrik 

Stenson. “I think that’s 

really going to benefit me 

when I come back in the 

future.”



Reed hopes to build off PGA runner-up finish 


Staff Writer 

Patrick Reed walked 

away from the PGA 

Championship at Quail 

Hollow last summer 

with a runner-up finish 

in his first Sunday hunt 

at a major, and his primary 

sentiment was 

disappointment. 

“I was upset,” he said 

of his first top-10 major 

finish in 16 career starts. 

“I had one round in there 

where I only hit five total 

greens and shot 1-over. 

To do something like that 

and still have a chance 

to win a major was awesome, 

but at the same 

time just looking back 

that one round cost me 

my first major.” 

That one round was 

Friday’s second, when he 

was playing with eventual 

champion Justin Thomas. 

Reed’s 73 was seven shots 

worse than Thomas’ 66, 

and it proved to be too 

much to overcome on the 

weekend when a bogey on 

the 18th hole Sunday left 

him two shots short. 

That said, the performance 

put an end to the 

criticism that despite his 

emergence as one of the 

top-ranked golfers in the 

world, the former Augusta 

State star had never finished 

better than 12th in a 

major. That changes the 

narrative when he comes 

back to Augusta for his 

fifth Masters Tournament 

start. 

“It was good and I’m 

going to build off that 

going to Augusta,” Reed 

said of his PGA experience. 

“But really I need 

to go to Augusta and get 

comfortable on those 

greens.” 

Reed’s major debut 

came at the 2014 Masters, 

Patrick Reed 

Age: 27 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 200 

Residence: 

Spring, Texas 

College: 

Augusta 

State University 




Among Top 4 at 2017 PGA 

Championship* 





’14: 73-79–152 

’15: 70-72-74-70–286 T22 

’16: 76-73-75-76–300 T49 

’17: 76-77–153 

and it proved to be a rude 

awakening. He’d played 

the course a few times as 

a member of the Jaguars’ 

two-time NCAA championship 

golf team 

across town, but nothing 

prepared him for 

what awaited when the 

tournament started on 

Thursday. 

“The hardest thing 

is when you get there 

so early and you have 

Monday, Tuesday and 

Wednesday really getting 

used to the greens 

and Thursday they’re 

5 feet faster,” he said. 

“That threw me for a loop 

my first year out there. I 

was shocked and I didn’t 

really adjust. Knowing 

that, now I can adjust 

and expect that to happen 

come Thursday.” 

Reed has still not 

quite gotten the feel on 

Augusta’s greens. The 

same issues that caused 

him to miss the cut as a 

Masters rookie in 2014 

sent him home early again 

last year. In between he 

finished tied for 22nd and 

“I had one round in 

there where I only 

hit five total greens 

and shot 1-over. To 

do something like 

that and still have a 

chance to win a major 

was awesome, but at 

the same time just 

looking back that one 

round cost me my first 

major.” 

Patrick Reed 

49th . 

“I’ve had 19 putts on 

the front nine at least once 

the past three years,” 

he said. “Last year I hit 

the ball really well even 

though I missed the cut. 

It was the putter. I had 

37 putts and 35 putts. My 

norm is around 27-29 

putts a round. That’s a lot 

of shots I’m losing. That’s 

really it.” 

Losing shots has been a 

recurring theme in Reed’s 

season leading up to the 

Masters, as his best efforts 

have been sabotaged by 

too many disaster holes. 

He described his game 

a month out from the 

Masters as “a hair off,” an 

assessment validated by 

a runner-up finish at the 


when he three-putted the 

final hole to miss forcing a 

playoff. 

“It’s either not finishing 

rounds or not getting off 

to a good start,” he said. 

“I’m either having to dig 

myself out of a hole or I 

have a hole every round 

that takes me out of it. 

Eighty or almost 90 percent 

of all my rounds are 

pretty solid. The times I 

put myself out of position 

are doubles or triples. 

Just too many big numbers, 

which wipe out a 

lot of birdies. That’s the 

problem.” 

Patrick Reed is still trying to solve the Augusta National puzzle, especially on the 

greens. In four Masters starts, he’s missed the cut twice. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/STAFF]



Bryan focuses 

on trophies, 

not trick shots 


Staff Writer 

Wesley Bryan has a 

PGA Tour victory now, 

so he’s no longer just 

the guy who used to star 

in trick-shot videos. 

Bryan won at Hilton 

Head Island, S.C., 

last year to earn his 

first start at Augusta 

National this year. 

Bryan and older 

brother George IV did 

the videos starting in 

2014, two years after 

Wesley graduated from 

the University of South 

Carolina . He, like his 

brother George, were 

standout golfers for the 

Gamecocks. 

“I started doing them 

because I was really 

broke and really bored 

and me and my brother 

were beating it around 

on the mini-tours,” 

Bryan said. “We saw a 

couple videos go viral 

from other people 

that didn’t look overwhelmingly 

difficult, 

so we went out and 

tried them and found 

that I was pretty good 

at plucking the ball out 

of mid air and so we just 

kind of ran with it.” 

That was before 

Wesley Bryan took 

the Web.com Tour by 

storm in 2016, winning 

three times in his first 

13 starts and earning a 

promotion to the PGA 

Tour late in the season. 

Now in his second 

full year on the PGA 

Tour, Bryan has found 

that his trick-shot 

reputation is still hard 

to shake. In practice 

rounds at tour events, 

fans still ask him to do 

trick shots, which he 

politely declines. 

“You get the sense 

that he’s grateful for 

the opportunity it 

(the videos) gave he 

and his brother, but 

he wants to be known 

as Wesley Bryan, the 

golfer,” said Augusta’s 

William Lanier, who is 

Bryan’s caddie. “He’s 

been called a trickshot 

artist who turned 

into a great golfer, and 

that’s not the case. He 

was an All-American at 

South Carolina and led 

the Web.com Tour in 

money (in 2016). 

“(The victory) at 

Hilton Head separates 

himself a little from 

that (trick-shots), for 

his performance,” 

Lanier said. “He’s done 

a good job on that. In 10 

years, people will probably 

say, ‘Did you used 

to hit trick shots?’” 

Lanier says he knows 

how talented Bryan 

is from seeing him up 

close. 

“Wes has got the best 

set of hands I’ve ever 

seen,” said Lanier. 

Bryan is also loaded 

with inner confidence. 

When he was making a 

push to qualify for the 

Masters in the weeks 

leading up to the 2017 

tournament, he told 

a local reporter that if 

he didn’t make in 2017, 

he’d see him at the 

Masters in 2018. 

He was right, and 

it didn’t take long 

Wesley 

Bryan 

holds the 

trophy 

after 

winning 

RBC 

Heritage in 

Hilton Head 

Island, S.C. 

[AP PHOTO/ 

STEPHEN B. 

MORTON] 

Wesley Bryan 

Age: 27 

Height, 

weight: 6-0, 

175 

Residence: 

Augusta, Ga. 

College: 

University of South 

Carolina 









for that prediction to 

come true. Bryan’s 

win at Harbour Town 

came the week after the 

Masters. 

The victory came in 

his home state. Bryan 

was born and grew up 

in the Columbia area 

and went to the same 

Irmo, S.C., high school 

as Dustin Johnson. 

Bryan became the 

first South Carolina 

born-and-bred golfer 

to win Hilton Head 

in the tournament’s 

history. 

“Being the first South 

Carolina native to win, 

golly, that’s pretty 

cool,” Bryan said. 

“Just to be able to win 

in my home state was 

really, really special, 

and knowing that it 

punched my ticket to 

the Masters and opened 

up a lot of doors for me, 

it was really, really cool 

and I can’t wait to get 

back there and defend.” 

But first there is the 

Masters, which is in 

Bryan’s newly adopted 

hometown. He moved 

to Augusta with his 

wife, Elizabeth, so she 

could attend nursing 

school. 

“I live about two and 

a half, three miles from 

the (Augusta National) 

gate, so I’m looking 

forward to sleeping in 

my own bed that week 

and hopefully contending 

for a green jacket,” 

Bryan said. 

Bryan was at the 2017 

Masters as a spectator. 

He came out in the first 

round to mainly follow 

his friend, Russell 

Henley, who qualified 

at the last minute with 

a victory in Houston. 

“I went on Thursday 

to watch a couple buddies 

play and enjoy 

the old concession 

food,” said Bryan, 

who claimed he eats 

“half of everything” 

on the menu. “It was 

an eight-minute drive 

down the road for me, 

so it wasn’t like I had to 

make a long trek to get 

here. There were a few 

guys who recognized 

me, so that was pretty 

cool. Outside the ropes 

a few people came up 

to say hi. It was really 

weird.” 

Bryan has attended 

the Masters since he 

was a child. His father, 

George III, is a South 

Carolina club pro 

who was friends with 

fellow South Carolinian 

Hootie Johnson long 

before Johnson became 

a Masters chairman. 

Kisner hopes fair weather 

can bring sunnier results 


Staff Writer 

A diehard Georgia 

Bulldog, Kevin Kisner has 

never been described as a 

fair-weather fan. When 

it comes to the Masters, 

however, he is. 

“I just hope we have a 

good-weather year,” said 

the Aiken native regarding 

Masters Week. “The golf 

course is difficult for me 

because it’s so long. I gotta 

be on my game around the 

greens and I need good 

weather. Hopefully those 

two conditions happen 

this year.” 

Kisner averages 287.7 

yards driving, making him 

among the shorter hitters 

on the PGA Tour, ranking 

169th. That leaves him at 

a distinct disadvantage 

on a 7,435-yard Augusta 

course against the likes of 

Dustin Johnson and even 

Jordan Spieth averaging 

24 and 11 yards more per 

drive, respectively. 

Proper spring weather 

can be the great equalizer. 

Hard winds like 

players experienced the 

first couple of rounds last 

year at the Masters can 

be harsh on players like 

Kisner. 

“That wind doesn’t do 

me any favors when it’s 

blowing that hard,” he 

said. “Cold and windy is 

about as bad as it gets for 

me there. It makes the 

long holes play so hard and 

you feel like you’ll never 

make a birdie. I’m ready 

for it to be 80 (degrees) – 

firm and fast and warm. 

That’s the best-case scenario 

for me and that way 

the ball is chasing in the 

fairways and I can have 

some shorter irons into 

the greens.” 

In his two previous 

starts at the Masters, 

Kisner has been just good 

enough to make the weekend 

but finished tied for 

37th and 43rd. 

“Very average,” he 

said. “Never felt like I 

was in the tournament in 

any Masters appearance. 

That’s unfortunate.” 

That had become a 

theme for him at the 

majors. Kisner is one of 

only three players to reach 

the weekend in all eight 

majors the past two years, 

but prior to last summer’s 

PGA Championship at 

Quail Hollow his average 

finish was 48th. 

At the PGA, however, 

Larry Mize 

Age: 59 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

Columbus, 

Ga. 

College: 

Georgia Tech 








’84: 71-70-71-72–284 T11 

’85: 71-75-76-76–298 T47 

’86: 75-74-72-65–286 T16 

’87: 70-72-72-71–285 WIN 

’88: 78-71-76-79–304 T45 

’89: 72-77-69-75–293 T26 

’90: 70-76-71-71–288 T14 

’91: 72-71-66-74–283 T17 

’92: 73-69-71-68–281 T6 

’93: 67-74-74-73–288 T20 

’94: 68-71-72-71–282 3 

’95: 76-71–147 

’96: 75-71-77-68–291 T23 

’97: 79-69-74-72–294 T30 

’98: 73-79–152 

’99: 76-70-72-72–290 23 

’00: 78-67-73-74–292 T25 

’01: 74-74–148 

’02: 74-74–148 

’03: 78-74–152 

’04: 76-74–150 

’05: 78-75–153 

’06: 75-72-77-72–296 T42 

’07: 83-78–161 

’08: 77-81–158 

’09: 67-76-72-72–287 T30 

’10: 76-72–148 

’11: 73-77–150 

’12: 76-75–151 

’13: 73-76–149 

’14: 74-72-79-79–304 51 

’15: 78-73–151 

’16: 76-73-78-74–301 T52 

’17: 74-76-79-76–305 52 

Kevin Kisner has made the cut in his two Masters 

appearances but has left feeling frustrated by his 

performance. “Never felt like I was in the tournament 

in any Masters appearance,” he said. [JON-MICHAEL 

SULLIVAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Kisner shared the lead each 

of the first two rounds 

and held a one-shot lead 

through 54 holes – making 

him the first Augusta-area 

golfer to hold a lead at the 

end of any major round 

since Larry Mize was the 

36-hole leader at the 1994 

Masters. 

“That’s where our goal 

was,” he said of the PGA 

experience, where he was 

in contention until a bogey 

and double on the 16th and 

18th holes dropped him to 

seventh place. “I played in 

all these majors and made 

cuts but never competed. 

I wanted to get in contention. 

Obviously got there 

with a chance, and that’s 

all you can ever ask for. 

Every time you have experience 

in that situation you 

can only learn from it and 

get better, and hopefully 

that will be the case this 

season.” 

The 2018 season hasn’t 

sustained the momentum 

that Kisner had hoped for, 

but he’s concentrated on 

working out a few kinks 

in his scrambling to get 

ready for the Masters. At 

the WGC Match Play, the 

work paid off as Kisner 

Kevin Kisner 

Age: 34 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

Aiken, S.C. 

College: 

University of 

Georgia 










’16: 77-72-76-72–297 T37 

’17: 74-75-74-73–296 T43 

beat top-ranked Johnson 

on his way to playing 

Bubba Watson in the 

championship match. 

Watson prevailed 7 and 6 

in the finale. 

“I haven’t played that 

great this year so I’ve 

just been working on my 

own game,” Kisner said 

before the Match Play. 

“I know what needs to go 

well to play well there. I’ve 

had chances this year in 

Hawaii and Palm Springs 

to do something well and 

haven’t finished it off. 

Then missed a few cuts. 

Just not playing solid. I’m 

starting to see some good 

things and really working 

on my short game. 

“I thought the only area 

I needed to improve in my 

stats was scrambling, and 

when I scramble well I’m 

normally in the top 10 in 

tournaments.” 

With good practice 

and good weather, Kisner 

hopes to match Mize’s 

major-winning achievement 

at the 1987 Masters.



Bubba Watson 

Age: 39 

Height: 6-3 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Orlando, Fla. 

College: 

Faulkner 

State Community College; 

University of Georgia 




2012, 2014 Masters 

champion* 




Earnings: $3,330,080 

’08: 74-71-73-73–291 T20 

’09: 72-72-73-73–290 42 

’11: 73-71-67-78–289 T38 

’12: 69-71-70-68–278 WIN 

’13: 75-73-70-77–295 T50 

’14: 69-68-74-69–280 WIN 

’15: 71-71-73-74–289 T38 

’16: 75-75-76-71–297 T37 

’17: 74-78–152 

Brian Harman 

Age: 31 

Height, 

weight: 5-7, 

150 

Residence: 

St. Simons 

Island, Ga. 

College: University of 

Georgia 




Among Top 4 at U.S. 

Open* 





’15: 76-72–148 

Russell Henley 

Age: 28 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Charleston, 

S.C. 

College: 

University of Georgia 





Masters* 





’13: 72-81–153 

’14: 73-70-75-75–293 T31 

’15: 68-74-72-71–285 21 

’17: 71-76-71-69–287 T11 

More online 

Stay up to date on 

all the action this 

week at Augusta 





Watson reaches personal milestone 


Staff Writer 

It had been a while – 

two years and a lot of 

frustration to be exact 

– but Bubba Watson 

showed he can still 

handle final-round 

pressure. 

It came at the Genesis 

Open at Riviera in mid- 

February when Watson 

rallied for his first victory 

since he won 

there in 2016. He shot 

3-under-par 33 on the 

back nine for 69 and a 

two-shot victory. 

“There’s no shot that’s 

challenging, it’s dealing 

with the pressure,” 

Watson said about the 

difference in winning 

and losing on the PGA 

Tour. “Everybody can 

hit the shots. We’re all 

capable of hitting the 

shots; that’s why we’re 

in the field. It comes 

down to doing it under 

pressure and getting the 

right thought. You’re 

going to make mistakes, 

but how do you deal with 

that?” 

The way Watson dealt 

with that at Riviera was 

by making two mediumrange 

putts to save pars 

on the back nine to go 

with three birdies. 

The victory was the 

10th of Watson’s career, 

allowing him to reach 

an important personal 

milestone. 

“My goal has always 

been to get 10 wins,” he 

said. “You never know if 

you’re going to play good 

Harman ready for his second shot at Augusta 


Staff Writer 

Brian Harman had a 

revelation last summer 

when he teed off with 

Justin Thomas in the 

final pairing of the U.S. 

Open at Erin Hills. 

“You get into the 

last day of one of those 

tournaments and you 

look around and it’s not 

a bunch of strangers,” 

Harman said. “You’re still 

trying to beat the same 

guys that you’re trying to 

beat every week. For me 

it was kind of comforting. 

Yeah, it’s a big stage, but 

this is a familiar place.” 

The Savannah native 

and Georgia alum has 

been a familiar name 

on leaderboards since 

After a winless 2017 in which he fought undisclosed 

illnesses that affected his weight, Bubba Watson 

has two victories so far this season. [SARA CORCE/THE 


again. You never know 

if you’re going to lift the 

trophy.” 

That was especially 

true in 2017, the first 

winless year for Watson 

on the PGA Tour since 

2013. Tellingly, it was 

the first time he missed 

the cut in the Masters 

beating Dustin Johnson 

and winning for the 

first time in three years 

in the Wells Fargo 

Championship at Eagle 

Point last May. His runner-up 

finish to Brooks 

Koepka at the U.S. Open 

was his best major finish 

coming after missing the 

cut in every major in 2015 

and failing to qualify for 

any of them in 2016. 

After changing equipment 

and his golf ball last 

year, Harman’s success 

has taken off as he finds 

himself in the thick of 

the PGA Tour points 

race as well as Ryder Cup 

qualifying. 

“I’ve gotten a little 

older and starting to 

know what it takes 

around these courses 

(74-78) in nine career 

starts at one of his favorite 

courses. 

Two weeks before 

the Masters, Watson 

added another victory 

to his total at the WGC 

Match Play. He beat 

fellow Georgia Bulldog 

Kevin Kisner in the 

a little bit better,” the 

31-year-old said. “I want 

to think you get a little 

bit better the longer time 

you’re out here.” 

He’ll return to the 

Masters for the first time 

since his lone appearance 

in 2015, when he 

shot 76-72 to miss the 

cut. It was a tough pill 

to swallow for a Georgia 

native who first played 

Augusta National as a 

guest when he was 14 

and was dreaming about 

green jackets throughout 

one of the all-time best 

junior careers. 

Unfortunately for 

Harman, his first 

appearance coincided 

with a slump in 

form as he came to the 

Masters fresh off four 

“Everybody can hit 

the shots. We’re all 

capable of hitting the 

shots; that’s why we’re 

in the field. It comes 

down to doing it under 

pressure and getting 

the right thought. 

You’re going to make 

mistakes, but how do 

you deal with that?” 

Bubba Watson 

championship match, 

and Watson will come 

to Augusta as one of the 

favorites. 

After being as high 

as fourth in the world 

ranking as recently as 

June 2016, Watson had 

fallen to No. 117 the week 

before he won at Riviera 

and had even discussed 

retirement with his 

wife, Angie. He played 

through 2017 fighting 

illnesses that saw him 

noticeably drop weight, 

though at the time he 

said he was trying to lose 

weight by eating better. 

After he won at 

Riviera, he disclosed 

that he’d been sick in 

2017 and that it had 

caused the weight loss. 

He won’t reveal the ailments 

he had, just saying 

“a lot of stuff (was) going 

on.” 

He said the weight loss 

affected his play. 

“I didn’t have the 

energy. I couldn’t hit 

the ball as far as I wanted 

to or the numbers that 

I thought,” he said in 

mid-March. 

He’s put weight back 

consecutive missed cuts. 

“I was just irritated 

because I just didn’t play 

well,” he said. “I didn’t 

play well leading up to 

it and was just kind of 

chasing it and didn’t 

handle it as well as I 

thought I should have.” 

This time his form 

should translate better 

as he posted top-10 

finishes in six of his first 

nine PGA Tour starts this 

season, and he knows 

what to expect this time 

when he gets to Augusta. 

“Just being a little 

more familiar with 

how the week’s going 

to go, it’ll be less of a 

blur this time,” he said. 

“Hopefully it will slow 

down a little bit.” 

The left-handed 

on this year and would 

like to add five more 

pounds, as long as it is 

muscle, he said. 

Watson said he can 

free-wheel it more this 

year now that he’s got a 

win under his belt. 

“It just sets you up for 

the rest of the year to 

have a blast,” Watson 

said. “Bogey, oh, whatever. 

Every golfer here 

has a goal of winning. 

And after you win, we 

have a goal of winning 

again. So you keep 

going and trying to win 

and keep the momentum 

going and hopefully get 

a couple of bounces or 

chip-ins or putts go your 

way and you can challenge 

on Sunday.” 

Watson is one of 

those golfers who excels 

at certain courses. Of 

his 11 victories, seven 

of them have come at 

three venues: three at 

Riviera, two at TPC 

River Highlands (the 

Travelers) and two at 


“I always have confidence 

there,” Watson 

said of Augusta National. 

“We watch (former 

champion) Fred Couples 

every year and his name 

somehow pops on that 

leaderboard. It’s in perfect 

shape. You know 

what to expect. A lot of 

the holes are shaped the 

way I like it. You leave it 

in the right spot, you can 

putt. I look forward to it 

every year now that I 

know I’m in it every year 

(as a former champion).” 

Harman isn’t concerned 

that he’ll be out of his 

depth against the power 

hitters at the 7,435-yard 


“Yeah, it favors lefties 

and they’ll make a thing 

about it favoring longer 

players, but you would 

say the U.S. Open last 

year would certainly favor 

longer players,” Harman 

said. “The course I won 

at certainly favors longer 

players. I don’t pay any 

attention to that. I just 

try to play the best that I 

can. I know what I’m good 

at and know what I’m not 

good at. I can hit fairways 

and if it’s decently firm I 

can get out there a long 

ways and be competitive 

anywhere. I’ll see how it 

goes.” 

Kuchar keeps knocking on door of elusive major 


Staff Writer 

Matt Kuchar has 

ambled through a career 

in golf without ever letting 

too much get to him 

in good times or bad. 

Occasionally his goofball 

philosophy contains an 

almost accidental Zenlike 

wisdom. 

Consider how the 

39-year-old processed 

missing out on his best 

opportunity to win a 

major at last summer’s 

British Open. 

“Losing always provides 

motivation; winning 

breeds some contentment 

and complacency,” 

Kuchar said. “I certainly 

would love to be content 

and complacent, but I finished 

second. Lost to an 

amazing finishing round 

of golf that Jordan (Spieth) 

put on. I tried to use that 

as motivation.” 

It was admittedly a 

hard lesson to handle. 

Kuchar stood for nearly a 

half hour in the 13th fairway 

while Spieth went 

through an excruciating 

ruling on a penalty drop. 

The Georgia Tech alum 

Matt Kuchar during the final round of the 2017 Masters. 

Kuchar has blossomed in his 30s to become a fixture on 

the leaderboards at the majors. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE 


felt pretty confident he’d 

eventually be heading 

to the 14th hole with the 

lead, perhaps as large as 

three strokes. 

He turned out to 

be only one up after 

his birdie putt missed 

and Spieth drained an 

8-footer to save bogey. 

Then, despite two birdies 

on the next four holes, 

Kuchar found himself 

two down with one to 

play after Spieth went on 

a 5-under binge over the 

same stretch. 

“I was hurting on 

the inside,” Kuchar 

admitted. “You get so 

close. It’s like any sport, 

it’s tough when you 

get so close and end up 

losing. If you get beaten 

and beaten badly, you 

kind of dust it off and go, 

‘Oh, well; I got beat and 

I’ve got work to do.’ But 

when you’re that close 

it’s a little extra harder 

to swallow. 

“I don’t think a whole 

lot about it. I came close. 

I had a lot of people tell 

me they were pulling 

hard for me. But for the 

most part I’ve moved on 

pretty well.” 

Matt Kuchar 

Age: 39 

Height: 6-4 

Weight: 195 

Residence: 

Sea Island, 

Ga. 

College: 

Georgia Tech 





Masters* 




Earnings: $1,689,400 

’98: 72-76-68-72–288-a T21 

’99: 77-71-73-78–299-a T50 

’02: 73-77–150 

’10: 70-73-74-71–288 T24 

’11: 68-75-69-75–287 T27 

’12: 71-70-70-69–280 T3 

’13: 68-75-69-73–285 T8 

’14: 73-71-68-74–286 T5 

’15: 72-74-72-72–290 T46 

’16: 75-73-72-74–294 T24 

’17: 72-73-71-67–283 T4 

It’s easy to forget that 

after a promising amateur 

career that included 

five major starts, Kuchar 

experienced a lost decade 

of his 20s at majors . 

After a brief fling in the 

financial services sector, 

he turned pro in 2000 

and was a journeyman 

pro bouncing on and off 

the tour. In only 12 major 

starts from 2000-09, he 

made one cut and finished 

48th. 

His career flipped 180 

degrees in his 30s as 

he’s become a frequent 

fixture on major leaderboards 

– especially 

at Augusta where he’s 

finished eighth or better 

in four of the last six 

Masters. He challenged 

on Sunday both years 

Bubba Watson won and 

tied for fourth last April. 

“I’ve got some amazing 

memories there, 

winning it certainly 

would be icing on the 

cake,” Kuchar said of the 

Masters where he first 

finished as low amateur 

in 1998. “I’ve done a lot 

of fun things there, have 

a lot of great memories 

and I look forward to my 

week there every year.” 

Seeing contemporary 

Sergio Garcia finally 

break through at Augusta 

last year offers another 

example that it’s never 

too late for someone of 

Kuchar’s generation to 

get an elusive major. 

“Anybody in the field 

has that feeling,” Kuchar 

said. “Anyone who gets 

that invitation goes there 

with the dream they can 

do it. And if you don’t 

get the invitation, you 

can’t even aspire. All of 

us who receive that invitation 

think, ‘It could be 

my year.’ ” 

With a Players 

Championship title, 

Olympic bronze medal 

and 10 major top-10s on 

his resume, Kuchar is the 

kind of player with the 

potential to pull a Sergio 

at any given major. 

“Certainly Sergio has 

been a really good golfer 

for a long time and he 

was a guy carrying the 

mantle of best player not 

to have won a major,” 

Kuchar said. “I don’t 

know where I fall on that 

list and I’m not real concerned 

about it, or worry 

too much about it. 

“A major is on my list 

of things I’d certainly 

like to accomplish. I 

had my best shot (at 

the British). Start over 

this year and hope I do 

everything right so that 

I have a chance to win 

this year.”




The usual suspects 

Six-time champion Nicklaus describes 

trouble shots at Augusta National 


The key is to aim at the center of the 

front bunker and choose a club that 

will get the ball just over that spot. 

If the flagstick is right, I shoot at the 

right side of the bunker. If it’s left, I 

shoot at the left side of the bunker. 

Jack Nicklaus tees off on the 12th hole during second-round play of the 2005 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta. [DAVID J. PHILLIP/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] 


Sports Editor 

The Usual Suspects. 

That’s what Jack Nicklaus calls the 

half-a-dozen shots that pose trouble 

at Augusta National Golf Club. 

Nicklaus, a six-time Masters 

Tournament winner, is often asked 

for advice by first-time participants 

or younger players on how best to play 


“When these guys come to me and ask 

me about the tournament, basically I tell 

them that there’s half-a-dozen shots on 

this golf course that you can put yourself 

out of the tournament,” he said. “Those 

half-a-dozen shots, think about what 

you’re doing on them. 

“If you’ve got a 50-50 chance of doing 

it, I certainly wouldn’t be doing it. If 

you’ve got a 90-10 chance, then I’m going 

to think real hard about it. And you try to 

make sure you eliminate the 10 (percent).” 

Nicklaus has enjoyed more success at 

Augusta National than any other golfer, 

but he didn’t heed his own advice in 

1971. Thinking he needed an eagle in 

the final round to catch eventual winner 

Charles Coody, Nicklaus went for it at 

the par-5 15th. He faced a shot in excess 

of 250 yards to the small green guarded 

by water, and his 3-wood shot came up 

short and found the water. He dumped 

Jack Nicklaus waves 

to the gallery on 

the 8th hole during 


[AMY SANCETTA/THE 


Online 

Audio: Listen to Jack Nicklaus 

describe the trouble shots at Augusta 

National at augusta.com. 

his next shot in the water and walked off 

with a triple-bogey 8. 

Twenty-five years ago, Chip Beck 

faced a similar situation. He needed a 

good score to catch Bernhard Langer 

but chose to lay up at the 15th and was 

heavily criticized. 

“I think Chip Beck’s decision was a 

very good decision for him,” Nicklaus 

said. “He didn’t put himself out of the 

tournament. I put myself out of the 

tournament with that shot. 

“You shouldn’t have one shot put you 

out of the tournament. That’s not playing 

smart.” 

The six trouble shots Nicklaus 

describes are where water comes into 

play at Augusta National. The lone 

exception is the par-3 16th, where water 

runs the length of the hole on the left. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever hit it in the 

water at 16,” Nicklaus said. “That’s 

about it. Those are the ones you can 

make a big number on.” 

With information taken from interviews 

and his descriptions in the 

Masters Journal , Nicklaus identifies the 

six trouble shots. 

Jack Nicklaus casts a long shadow as he knocks in a birdie putt on the 11th hole 

during the playoff at the 1966 Masters. [ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO] 


You don’t want to be down there at the 

airline booth (left of fairway, where a 

small stream is located). You could go 

down there and find a lie down there 

that you could play. And then you try to 

play out and you hit another tree and 

all of a sudden you’re half done. I see a 

lot of guys walk out of there with 8 and 

say I should have had 4 here. Now you’re 

sitting behind the 8-ball. 


Off the tee, I aim at the last two trees at 

the top of the fairway and draw the ball. 


I play for the center of the green on my 

second shot and never fiddle around 

with a flag tucked back left. 

SECOND SHOT 

AT NO. 11 

The water on the left 

is an obvious no-no, 

so it has been a green 

where I’ve always 

aimed for the front 

right. You have to be 

really careful here or 

you’ll walk away with 

a big number. 


Nicklaus said he doesn’t like playing 

a wood into that green for his second 

shot. If he did lay up, he acknowledged 

that the third shot from a downhill lie 

can be difficult. “It’s not a very easy 

shot, but it’s better than playing out of 

the water.” 

BONUS ADVICE 

Nicklaus also tells players how to 

maximize their birdie chances on the 

greens. “Tell me where you’ve got a bad 

putt from the center of these greens? 

Every single hole, maybe second hole 

is a little awkward, but outside of that 

every single hole in the middle of these 

greens you’ve got a pretty darn good 

chance for birdie,” Nicklaus said. “That’s 

the way you play this golf course. If you 

use your head to play this golf course, it 

shouldn’t be tough.”



How the holes play at Augusta 

Hole 1 

TEA OLIVE (PAR 4, 

445 YARDS) 

The slight dogleg right is not the 

easiest tee shot. Carrying the 

fairway bunker on this opening 

hole requires a drive of 300 

yards, and shorter hitters face 

an uphill shot. 

Avg. strokes: 4.24 2017 avg: 4.46 

Difficulty: 6 2017 difficulty: 1 

Highest score: 9 (Ernie Els, 2016) 

Lowest score: 2 (5 players) 

Quick fact: In 1968, Roberto De 

Vicenzo started with an eagle 

on this hole. 

Hole 4 

FLOWERING CRAB 

APPLE (PAR 3, 240 

YARDS) 

This tough par-3 requires a longiron 

shot to the green, which is 

guarded by a pair of bunkers. 



Highest score: 8 (Henrik 

Stenson, 2011) 

Lowest score: 1 (Jeff Sluman, 

1992) 

Quick fact: Jeff Sluman made 

the only ace ever on this hole 

using a 4-iron from 213 yards in 

the first round. 

Hole 7 

PAMPAS GRASS 

(PAR 4, 450 YARDS) 

The new tee 

installed in 2002 and lengthened 

in 2006 puts a driver back into 

most players’ hands. The hole 

features a narrow fairway to an 

elevated, well-bunkered green. 



Highest score: 8 (2 players) 


Quick fact: In 2017, both Marc 

Leishman and Kevin Chappell 

recorded eagles on the 

weekend. 

Hole 10 

CAMELLIA 


Historically the 

toughest hole, the tee shot 

requires a hard hook for extra 

distance. Drives too far right 

leave a long second shot; too far 

left, trees. 

Avg. strokes: 4.31 2017 avg.: 4.19 

Difficulty: 1 2017 difficulty: T8 

Highest score: 9 (Danny Lee, 2009) 


Quick fact: Danny Lee, then 

an amateur, took a quintuple 

bogey when he six-putted in the 

second round in 2009. 

Hole 2 

PINK DOGWOOD 


A slight draw off the tee sets 

up a chance to reach the green 

in two. Bunkers in front of the 

green often come into play. 




Lowest score: 2 (Louis 

Oosthuizen, 2012) 

Quick fact: In the final round, 

Louis Oosthuizen holed his 

second shot from 253 yards with 

a 4-iron. 

Hole 5 

MAGNOLIA 


The deep fairway 

bunkers on the left require a 

carry of 315 yards around the 

dogleg. Large humps in the 

green make it a challenging putting 

surface. 




Lowest score: 2 (8 players, 9 

times) 

Quick fact: Russell Henley made 

an eagle here in 2017. 

Hole 8 

YELLOW JASMINE 


A large fairway 

bunker on the right catches 

errant tee shots. A blind uphill 

shot awaits those who are 

tempted to go for it in two. 



Highest score: 12 (Frank Walsh, 

1935) 

Lowest score: 2 (Bruce Devlin, 

1967) 

Quick fact: Bruce Devlin holed 

out a 4-wood shot from 248 

yards in the first round in 1967. 

Hole 11 

WHITE DOGWOOD 


This par-4 is the 

most difficult hole in recent 

years because of its greenside 

pond and added length. A slight 

fade off the tee is needed to hit 

the fairway. 





Quick fact: In 2004, K.J. Choi 

holed his second shot in the 

final round, helping him finish 

third. 

Hole 3 

FLOWERING PEACH 


Most players opt for position 

off the tee with a long iron or a 

hybrid at this short par-4. The 

small green, which slopes from 

right to left, is not entirely visible 

from the fairway. 


Difficulty: 14 2017 difficulty: T8 

Highest score: 8 (Douglas B. 

Clarke, 1980) 


Quick fact: In 2011, Charl 

Schwartzel holed out for eagle en 

route to winning the green jacket. 

Hole 6 

JUNIPER (PAR 3, 

180 YARDS) 

This downhill 

par-3 usually requires no more 

than a short iron to the large, 

undulating green. Hit the 

wrong part of the green and a 

three-putt is likely. 





Quick fact: Amateur Billy Joe 

Patton aced this hole in the 

final round in 1954. 

Hole 9 

CAROLINA CHERRY 


The severely 

sloped green makes par a challenge. 

Accuracy off the tee is 

required, and approach shots 

that are short of the target often 

roll off the green. 





Quick fact: Bill Haas made eagle 

in 2013 for the first one on this 

hole since 2000. 

Hole 12 

GOLDEN BELL 


The shortest hole 

is a bear because of swirling 

winds. The narrow green is protected 

by Rae’s Creek in front 

and a steep hill behind. 



Highest score: 13 (Tom 

Weiskopf, 1980) 


Quick fact: After Curtis Strange 

aced the difficult hole in 1988, 

he turned and threw his ball 

into Rae’s Creek. 

Hole 13 

AZALEA 

(PAR 5, 

510 YARDS) 

More challenging since a new 

tee was added in 2002, a slight 

draw is required to get the preferred 

angle for the second shot. 

A creek tributary catches shots 

that come up short. 



Highest score: 13 (Tommy 

Nakajima, 1978) 

Lowest score: 2 (Jeff Maggert, 1994) 

Quick fact: Tsuneyuki “Tommy” 

Nakajami took a 13 on this hole in 1978. 

Hole 16 

REDBUD 


Requires anything 

from a short to medium iron. The 

green is this hole’s main defense; 

being below the hole is a must. 

Other hazards: a bunker and pond. 

Avg. strokes: 3.15 2017 avg.: 

3.11 


Highest score: 11 (Herman 

Barron, 1950) 

Lowest score: 1 (19 times) 

Quick fact: Matt Kuchar aced 

this hole in the final round in 

2017. 

Hole 14 

CHINESE FIR 

(PAR 4, 

440 YARDS) 

It’s the only hole without a 

bunker, but it has a severe 

green. The sloping fairway 

can cause problems, and large 

undulations on this green make 

it the trickiest to putt. 



Highest score: 8 (Nick Price, 1993) 

Lowest score: 2 (20 times) 

Quick fact: Phil Mickelson’s 

eagle in the third round was 

part of his 2010 charge. 

Hole 17 

NANDINA 


The Eisenhower 

Tree is gone, but players must 

still find the fairway off the tee 

to set up the second shot into a 

rock-hard green. 





Quick fact: Tsuneyuki “Tommy” 

Nakajami is one of three players 

to make eagle on this hole. 

Hole 15 

FIRETHORN 


Reaching the hole in 

two shots is a challenge, but expect 

plenty of birdies. A pond guards the 

green in front. Those who lay up 

face a hard shot from a downhill lie. 



Highest score: 11 (3 times) 

Lowest score: 2 (Gene Sarazen, 

1935) 

Quick fact: His 4-wood from 235 

yards put the tournament on the 

map and put Gene Sarazen in a 

playoff, which he won. 

Hole 18 

HOLLY 


An accurate drive is 

a must. An expanded bunker complex 

requires 335 yards to carry. 

Trees to the left prevent a bailout, 

and two bunkers guard the green. 





Quick fact: In 2012, Henrik 

Stenson chopped up the final 

hole after trouble off the tee, 

then needed four shots from 

behind the green.

The Augusta Chronicle • Augusta.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M35



Stenson puts focus on success at Masters 


Staff Writer 

Henrik Stenson is still 

trying to figure out what 

he needs to do to make a 

run at a green jacket. 

“I’ve had a lot of time 

to think about it and 

analyze it,” said the 

42-year-old Swede, 

who had 19 worldwide 

victories, including 

the 2016 British Open 

through the Arnold 


mid-March. 

“You’ve seen the 

record,” he told reporters, 

referring to the 

Masters Tournament. 

“It’s the least successful 

major out of the four. It 

is the major that I have 

performed the least over 

the years in and possibly 

the one I want to perform 

the best going forward.” 

In 12 starts at Augusta 

National, his best finish 

is a tie for 14th in 2014. 

One way Stenson 

knows he can improve 

his Masters record is by 

hitting his drives farther. 

“I just know I need to 

push the ball out there a 

little bit more,” he said. 

Because of the undulating 

greens, there is 

a usually only a small 

landing area to hit it on 

the green in order to have 

a good run at a birdie. 

High iron shots, which 

Henrik Stenson missed the cut in last year’s Masters 

Tournament to add to his frustrations in Augusta. In 12 

starts in the tournament, his best finish is a tie for 14th 

in 2014. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

are Stenson’s specialty, 

make it easier to do that 

– if he can get his drive 

down the fairway far 

enough. 

“He can drop those 

irons from some kind of 

height,” 2013 Masters 

champion Adam Scott 

said . “He muscles it, but 

it’s high muscle. It’s not 

like it’s strong through 

the wind muscle. It’s up 

there and just dropping 

on the green.” 

Then there is a question 

of the accuracy 

of the iron shot into a 

Henrik Stenson 

Age: 41 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 190 

Residence: 

Orlando, Fla. 

World 

Ranking: 15 



2016 British Open 

champion* 





’06: 77-74–151 

’07: 72-76-77-72–297 T17 

’08: 74-72-72-72–290 T17 

’09: 71-70-75-73–289 T38 

’10: 80-75–155 

’11: 83-74–157 

’12: 71-71-70-81–293 T40 

’13: 75-71-73-69–288 T18 

’14: 73-72-74-70–289 T14 

’15: 73-73-70-68–284 T19 

’16: 72-75-78-69–294 T24 

’17: 77-75–152 

green. Stenson said they 

have to be great. 

“There is not really 

any play for a good shot 

or almost good shot or 

poor shot because they 

end up in the same place 

as a poor shot,” he said. 

“You’ve got to be very 

precise and hit those 

small areas on the green. 

That’s obviously the 

thought behind it.” 

Stenson said he might 

have given the course too 

much respect. You have 

to “take it on” if you 

expect to win, he said. 

“There is room to actually 

stiff it on virtually 

every pin position,” he 

said. “You’ve got to be 

aggressive and you’ve 

got to hit a good shot at 

that time. Because it’s a 

difficult golf course, you 

can’t shy away from the 

pins and try to play conservative 

because you’ll 

never get to the score you 

need to get to. You’ve 

just got to take the shots 

on. If it’s not your week 

it’s not going to work out 

anyway, is it? ” 

Before he missed the 

cut last year , Stenson 

had made progress 

at Augusta National 

Golf Club – making it 

to weekend play five 

straight times , with 

top-24 finishes in four . 

But a year after 

Stenson closed the 2016 

Masters with 69 to finish 

tied for 24th despite a 

third-round 78, he had 

a horrendous start in 

last year’s first round . 

He bogeyed four of the 

first five holes and shot 

4-over-par 40 on the 

front nine . He shot 38 on 

the front in the second 

round, finishing 6-over 

for the tournament on 

the side for the two 

rounds. 

He shot 77-75 and 

missed the cut by two . 

The 4-over start 

in five holes last year 

wasn’t Stenson’s worst 

in a major, he said. 

“ One was at Augusta 

when I hit the stand 

on No. 4 and I think 

I ended up taking an 

eight or something on 

that one. And I was sick 

as a dog at Whistling 

Straits in 2010 (at the 

PGA Championship) 

and I think I started 

double, triple. So there 

have actually been some 

worse starts, not that we 

want to really remember 

them too much.” 

Those early bogeys 

doomed Stenson’s 

chances last year . 

“If you’re looking at 

possibly making four or 

five bogeys throughout 

the week for the champion, 

if you waste four 

of those in the first five 

holes, it’s going to be 

a long way back from 

there, right?” he said. 

“I think you need to 

make roughly 20 birdies 

(to win),” he said. “If the 

weather is decent, you’re 

always going to make a 

couple of bogeys. What 

was the winning score 

last year? Nine under. 

That was because of the 

weather the first couple 

of days more than anything. 

Some years it’s 

been 15, 16 under. If you 

don’t make 20 birdies 

and five bogeys, you’re 

not going to get there.” 

Angel Cabrera 

Age: 48 

Height, 

weight: 6-1, 

210 

Residence: 

Cordoba, 

Argentina 







Earnings: $3,508,357 

’00: 74-76–150 

’01: 66-71-70-73–280 T10 

’02: 68-71-73-73–285 T9 

’03: 76-71-71-72–290 T15 

’04: 74-77–151 

’05: 77-73–150 

’06: 73-74-70-68–285 T8 

’07: 77-75-79-71–302 T37 

’08: 73-72-73-74–292 T25 

’09: 68-68-69-71–276 WIN 

’10: 73-74-69-71–287 T18 

’11: 71-70-67-71–279 7 

’12: 71-78-71-71–291 T32 

’13: 71-69-69-70–279 2 

’14: 78-74–152 

’15: 72-69-73-72–286 T22 

’16: 73-73-73-75–294 T24 

’17: 79-75–154 

Francesco Molinari 

Age: 35 

Height: 5-8 

Weight: 159 

Residence: 

London, 

England 

College: 

University of Torino 





Championship* 





’10: 70-74-75-72–291 T30 

’11: 75-71–146 

’12: 69-75-70-74–288 T19 

’13: 74-81–155 

’14: 71-76-76-76–299 50 

’17: 78-72-71-72–293 T33 

Brendan Steele 

Age: 34 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 175 

Residence: 

Irvine, CA 

College: 

University of 

California-Riverside 










’12: 76-80–156 

’17: 74-73-75-69–291 T27 

Martin Kaymer 

Age: 33 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

Mettmann, 

Germany 

World 

Ranking: 87 








’08: 76-72–148 

’09: 71-76–147 

’10: 76-73–149 

’11: 78-72–150 

’12: 72-75-75-72–294 T44 

’13: 72-75-74-70–291 T35 

’14: 75-72-73-73–293 T31 

’15: 76-75–151 

’16: 74-75-79-72–300 T49 

’17: 78-68-74-68–288 T16 

Satoshi Kodaira 

Age: 28 

Height: 5-7 

Weight: 150 

Residence: 

Tokyo, Japan 

World 

Ranking: 46 


Top 50 on World Golf 

Ranking one week before 

Masters* 



Best finish: first 

appearance 

Charley Hoffman 

Age: 41 

Height, 

weight: 6-0, 

200 

Residence: 

Las Vegas, 

Nev. 


Nevada-Las Vegas 





Championship* 





’11: 74-69-72-72–287 T27 

’15: 67-68-71-74–280 T9 

’16: 71-77-73-74–295 T29 

’17: 65-75-72-78–290 T22 

More online 

Adam Hadwin 

Age: 30 

Height, 

weight: 5-8, 

165 

Residence: 

Abbotsford, 

British 

Columbia, Canada 


Louisville 





Championship* 





’17: 75-74-75-70–294 T36 

’13: 76-73–149 

Ted Potter Jr. 

Age: 34 

Height,: 5-11 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Silver 

Springs, Fla. 

World 

Ranking: 80 









Billy Horschel 

Age: 31 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 175 

Residence: 

Ponte Vedra, 

Fla. 

College: 

University of Florida 










’14: 75-72-75-73–295 T37 

’15: 70-78–148 

’16: 70-77-73-72–292 T17 

Get updates from the course during Masters 

Week at augusta.com. 

Stay up to date on all the action this week at Augusta 

National Golf Club and read past stories about the 

Masters Tournament at augusta.com. 

Find photos, stories, videos and more from previous 

Masters Tournaments at augusta.com. 

Shubhankar Sharma 

Age: 21 

World 

Ranking: 68 

Career 

victories: 2 

Tournament 

invitation: 

International player not 

otherwise qualified.* 




Vijay Singh 

Age: 55 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 208 

Residence: 

Ponte Vedra 

Beach, Fla. 

Career 

victories: 51 






Earnings: $2,559,205 

’94: 70-75-74-75–294 T27 

’95: 77-71–148 

’96: 69-71-74-82–296 T39 

’97: 75-74-69-70–288 T17 

’98: 76-80–156 

’99: 72-76-71-72–291 T24 

’00: 72-67-70-69–278 WIN 

’01: 69-71-73-69–282 T18 

’02: 70-65-72-76–283 7 

’03: 73-71-70-73–287 T6 

’04: 75-73-69-69–286 T6 

’05: 68-73-71-72–284 T5 

’06: 67-74-73-71–285 T8 

’07: 73-71-79-73–296 T13 

’08: 72-71-72-74–289 T14 

’09: 71-70-72-74–287 T30 

’10: 76-78–154 

’11: 76-78–154 

’12: 70-72-76-72–290 T27 

’13: 72-74-74-72–292 T38 

’14: 75-71-74-75–295 T37 

’15: 75-70-79-71–295 54 

’16: 80-73–153 

’17: 78-75–153 

Mike Weir 

Age: 47 

Height: 5-9 

Weight: 155 

Residence: 

Sandy, Utah 

College: 

Brigham 

Young University 







Earnings: $1,934,337 

’00: 75-70-70-78–293 T28 

’01: 74-69-72-72–287 T27 

’02: 72-71-71-76–290 T24 

’03: 70-68-75-68–281 WIN 

’04: 79-70–149 

’05: 74-71-68-71–284 T5 

’06: 71-73-73-70–287 T11 

’07: 75-72-80-71–298 T20 

’08: 73-68-75-74–290 T17 

’09: 68-75-79-72–294 T46 

’10: 71-72-76-77–296 T43 

’11: 76-79–155 

’12: 72-79–151 

’13: 72-79–151 

’14: 73-72-79-73–297 T44 

’15: 82-81–163 

’16: 76-78–154 

’17: 76-79–155 

Noren returns with 

stronger credentials 


Staff Writer 

The thrill of playing in 


for the first time has worn 

off, which should improve 

Alex Noren’s chances of 

contending this year at 


Club. 

“Last year maybe I was 

just too happy just to be 

able to see it,” said the 

Swede, who shot 74-78 

and missed the cut by two 

shots. 

There is another reason 

why the 35-year-old 

should improve his scores . 

Already a proven winner 

on the European Tour 

(nine career wins ), he has 

been one of the best players 

on the PGA Tour this 

season. 

“Obviously a different 

start this year than last 

year to the season,” he 

said. “I’m looking forward 

to it. My expectations are 

obviously higher than last 

year.” 

Noren has been knocking 

on the door for his first 

PGA Tour win in the pre- 

Masters run-up. He lost in 

a six-hole playoff to Jason 

Day at Torrey Pines in 

late January and finished 

third in the Honda Classic 

a month later. 

“It’s great being able 

to play against the best 

players in the world, and 

that’s always been my 

goal,” Noren said. “All the 

majors are like that, when 

you play a major, everybody 

is coming. Obviously 

Augusta is a smaller field, 

but the world’s best players 

are there. 

“That was my goal 

coming into the season, 

just to be able to play 

with these guys on these 

courses, and prove to 

myself that I can do it and 

I’m just going to try to get 

that win.” 

Asked when he thinks 

Noren will win on the PGA 

Tour, Tommy Fleetwood 

said, “It’s got to be a 

matter of time, doesn’t 

it?” 

Fleetwood, Europe’s top 

player last season, is one of 

Noren’s best friends in golf 

and knows the progress he 

has made and isn’t surprised 

to see him residing 

’17: 74-78–152 

Alex Noren 

Age: 35 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

Monte Carlo, 

Monaco 

College: 

Oklahoma State 

University 





Golf Ranking* 





inside the top 20 in the 

world ranking. 

“He’s been doing great,” 

Fleetwood said. “He’s one 

of our best players from 

the European side. I played 

with him at Honda when 

we both came close. He’s 

close. He’s very close.” 

Noren said missing out 

on wins at Torrey Pines 

and the Honda could have 

been looked at as frustrating, 

but the experiences 

were “mostly positive. 

It’s a lot better start to the 

season than I could have 

imagined. ” 

“I would have loved 

to have won, but those 

were two good finishes. 

Just playing a bit more in 

America gets you more 

equipped for Augusta .” 

Because of the weather 

in the practice rounds and 

the windy first two rounds 

of last year’s Masters, 

Noren found that “the golf 

course was such a tough 

one to learn. I definitely 

needed more experience, 

maybe around the greens. 

I tried to play enough 

practice rounds down 

there, but when they put 

that tournament speed on 

there, you really need to 

know the greens. ” 

Has he thought about 

the possibility of being 

the first Swede to win the 

Masters? 

“Everyone wanted 

to be the first Swede to 

win a major, then Henrik 

(Stenson) did it (at the 

British Open) so that’s out 

of the way,” Noren said. 

“That would be unbelievable 

to win the Masters.”



Oosthuizen eyes 

more than the 

runner-up slam 


Staff Writer 

It’s not the list that 

any golfer aspires to 

qualify for, but Louis 

Oosthuizen joined 

some very select company 

last summer by 

completing the career 

runner-up slam. 

Only seven golfers in 

history have claimed 

a runner-up finish in 

each major championship. 

The six others 

Oosthuizen joined with 

his tie for second in the 

PGA Championship 

at Quail Hollow are all 

enshrined in the World 

Golf Hall of Fame: Craig 

Wood, Arnold Palmer, 

Jack Nicklaus, Tom 

Watson, Greg Norman 

and Phil Mickelson. 

Oosthuizen and 

Watson are the only 

two to also add runner-up 

finishes in The 

Players Championship . 

“A friend texted my 

caddie on the plane, and 

he read the text saying, 

‘Congratulations, you 

finished the career 

grand slam seconds,’” 

said Oosthuizen, who 

won the 2010 British 

Open at St. Andrews 

before his run of seconds 

ever commenced. 

“Which really isn’t 

something I should 

be very proud of. You 

wonder, where are the 

wins?” 

Oosthuizen, however, 

heralded the 

moment by tweeting 

out a lip-sync performance 

to Andra Day’s 

“Rise Up” – a candid 

family moment trying 

to entertain his children 

that went viral before 

he got home on his 

flight from Charlotte, 

N.C. 

“When we landed 

my wife said you won’t 

believe how many likes 

I got already, and the 

next morning it was 

ridiculous,” he said. “I 

didn’t think it was going 

to be that big a thing.” 

There isn’t a lot 

of fanfare for finishing 

runner-up in 

major events, but 

Oosthuizen’s secondplace 

finishes in the 


(2012), U.S. Open 

(2015), British Open 

(2015), PGA (2017), 

Players (2017) and WGC 

Match Play (2016) certainly 

paint a picture of 

consistent competence 

on the biggest stages. 

“It feels like you can 

play every one and 

you’ve got a chance of 

winning every one,” 

Oosthuizen said. “I take 

a lot from that to have 

done it. But at the end of 

the day, they are going 

to remember the guys 

that won the majors 

and not who finished 

second.” 

Some of his close 

calls are more disappointing 

than others. 

At Chambers Bay 

and Quail Hollow, 

Oosthuizen made 

massive rallies just to 

get onto the podium 

at the end. His playoff 

losses at Augusta and 

St. Andrews, however, 

had a little more sting. 

“Part of it is frustrating,” 

he admitted. 

“Players, I didn’t feel 

I played great the last 

round, which was frustrating. 

PGA, I felt I was 

too far back so finishing 

second at the end was 

really good. Very frustrating 

with the Open 

at St. Andrews in ’15. 

That one I felt like no 

one was really going to 

catch me. I just had that 

attitude the whole week 

Louis Oosthuizen made 

a rare double eagle on 

the second hole during 

the final round of the 

2012 Masters. He is 

one of seven golfers 

in history to finish 

runner-up in each major 

championship. [MICHAEL 


CHRONICLE] 

Louis Oosthuizen 

Age: 35 

Height, 

weight: 5-10, 

180 

Residence: 

Pinnacle 

Point, South 

Africa 





Championship* 




Earnings: $1,339,400 

’09: 73-77–150 

’10: 75-77–152 

’11: 75-74–149 

’12: 68-72-69-69–278 2 

’13: 74-76–150 

’14: 69-75-75-72–291 25 

’15: 72-69-71-72–284 T19 

’16: 72-77-71-71–291 T15 

’17: 77-71-76-71–295 T41 

and it was a tough finish 

for me when the wind 

changed on the last four 

and I did brilliant to 

even get into the playoff 

(with eventual winner 

Zach Johnson and Marc 

Leishman). I felt like I 

had all the momentum 

and should have done a 

better job on the 17th in 

the playoff.” 

As far as the Masters 

in 2012, when Bubba 

Watson carved a massive 

hook from deep in 

the trees on the 10th 

hole to save par and 

win on the second playoff 

hole, Oosthuizen 

doesn’t beat himself up. 

“If someone hits that 

type of shot against 

you, there’s not much 

you can do,” he said. “If 

he’d hit an average shot 

out of there, I probably 

would have hit a better 

chip. All of the sudden I 

have to be very aggressive 

on my shot and 

didn’t pull it off. You 

get beat on a shot like 

that, you’ve just got to 

take it.” 

Oosthuizen will make 

his 10th Masters start, 

and he comes back carrying 

relatively good 

form having played five 

weeks in a row to build 

momentum before 

taking a week’s rest 

before Augusta. 

“I feel like I’m playing 

good and everything is 

working,” he said. “It’s 

just a matter of getting 

everything really 

sharp before Augusta. 

Augusta is obviously a 

very special place, and 

I think the more you 

play it, the more comfortable 

you get around 

that golf course. It’s one 

I love and I really enjoy 

it. I just need to get the 

game right.” 

Should he avoid 

another near miss and 

rise up to win a green 

jacket, Oosthuizen 

doesn’t plan to reprise 

his lip-syncing in Butler 

Cabin. 

“I don’t think they’ll 

like that, so probably 

not,” he said. 

Schwartzel found magic 

again on back nine 


Staff Writer 

After making birdies 

on the final four holes 

to win the 2011 Masters 

Tournament in just his 

second appearance at 


Club, it was thought that 

Charl Schwartzel, then 

age 26, would be a factor 

for years to come. 

It didn’t work out that 

way. 

It wasn’t until six 

years later – at last 

year’s Masters – that 

Schwartzel worked his 

way back into contention, 

finishing solo third. 

In between his victory 

and last year’s spirited 

run, Schwartzel tied for 

50th in his title defense, 

tied for 25th in 2013, 

missed the cut in 2014, 

tied for 38th in 2015 and 

missed the cut in 2016. 

Schwartzel said the 

nature of Augusta 

National Golf Club had 

something to do with 

how long it took him to 

contend again. 

“It’s a difficult golf 

course,” he said. “If you 

get on the wrong side of 

it, you’re just not going 

to perform around it. 

You need all parts of your 

game to be good.” 

As much as golfers try 

to peak for the Masters 

through preparation and 

scheduling, it doesn’t 

always work out. 

“The golf course is 

really a second shot golf 

course,” Schwartzel said. 

“Everybody talks about 

the greens being difficult 

to putt on. But it’s where 

you hit your second shot. 

It’s one thing knowing 

where you have to hit it, 

but doing it is a different 

thing. Some years you’re 

going to swing well and 

play well and other years 

you’re just not going to 

do it.” 

It all came together for 

him last year, especially 

on the weekend when 

the brisk winds that sent 

scores soaring in the first 

two rounds disappeared. 

After opening with 

74-72, Schwartzel closed 

with a pair of 68s to 

finish three shots out of 

the Sergio Garcia-Justin 

Rose playoff. 

“It was brilliant,” 

Schwartzel said of getting 

back in hunt. “That 

course has been good to 

Dylan Frittelli 

Age: 27 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 179 

Residence: 

Johan nesburg, 

South 

Africa 


Texas 





Masters* 


Best finish: first 

appearance 

Branden Grace 

Age: 29 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 171 

Residence: 

George, 

South Africa 

World 

Ranking: 31 




Golf Ranking* 





’13: 78-70-71-69–288 T18 

’14: 84-69–153 

’15: 75-73–148 

’16: 75-77–152 

’17: 76-74-71-70–291 T27 

Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, found 

himself in contention on the final day of last year’s 

Masters after years of struggles at Augusta since 

his victory, including two missed cuts. [JON-MICHAEL 

SULLIVAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

me. Whenever you can 

get a chance to win a golf 

tournament, or get the 

feeling of it, that’s what 

we play for. I was fortunate 

last year, I played 

well again. ” 

After making birdies on 

Nos. 9, 10 and 13 in the 

final round, Schwartzel 

was closing the gap on 

Rose, who was leading at 

the time. 

“I really thought 

towards the end there, 

especially standing on 

the 14th fairway, if I could 

make another few birdies, 

I would have had a really 

good chance,” he said. 

Schwartzel hit a perfect 

tee shot on the par-4 

No. 14 . But he missed the 

green to the left and failed 

to save par . 

“I should have birdied 

14 after my tee shot,” he 

said. “That was a killer 

blow for me because I 

knew if I birdied 14 I’d 

be in with a very good 

chance of winning.” 

Schwartzel, who 

started the day four shots 

behind 54-hole co-leaders 

Garcia and Rose and 

was three groups in front 

of them, wanted to get 

in the clubhouse with a 

strong 72-hole score. 

“You post a score and 

you never know what’s 

going to happen,” he said. 

He did make birdies 

on Nos. 15 and 18, 

but it wasn’t enough 

because eventual winner 

Garcia and Rose weren’t 

faltering. 

“I was thinking, obviously, 

bringing all those 

memories back (from 

2011) and trying to make 

that happen again,” 

Schwartzel said. “But it’s 

hard to come back from 

way behind. And I played 

well and Sergio and Justin, 

they were going very well 

coming in.” 

Charl Schwartzel 

Age: 33 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 160 

Residence: 

Vereeniging, 

South Africa 

World 

Ranking: 58 







Earnings: $2,369,563 

’10: 69-76-72-74–291 T30 

’11: 69-71-68-66–274 WIN 

’12: 72-75-75-74–296 T50 

’13: 71-71-75-73–290 T25 

’14: 73-76–149 

’15: 71-70-73-75–289 T38 

’16: 76-76–152 

’17: 74-72-68-68–282 3 

Trevor Immelman 

Age: 38 

Height: 5-9 

Weight: 178 

Residence: 

Windermere, 

Fla. 

Career 

victories: 8 






Earnings: $2,021,880 

’99: 72-76-78-79–305-a 56 

’04: 77-76–153 

’05: 73-73-65-73–284 T5 

’06: 75-76–151 

’07: 74-77-81-77–309 T55 

’08: 68-68-69-75–280 WIN 

’09: 71-74-72-69–286 T20 

’10: 69-73-72-72–286 T14 

’11: 69-73-73-69–284 T15 

’12: 78-71-76-76–301 60 

’13: 68-75-78-74–295 T50 

’14: 79-74–153 

’15: 76-77–153 

’16: 77-74–151 

’17: 79-76–155 

More online 

Find photos, stories, 

videos and more from 

previous Masters 


augusta.com.

M38 Sunday, April 1, 2018 The Augusta Chronicle • augusta.com 


Jhonattan Vegas 

Age: 33 

Height: 6-3 

Weight: 230 

Residence: 

Houston, 

Texas 

College: 

University of Texas 










’11: 72-76–148 

’17: 78-76–154 

Thomas Pieters 

Age: 26 

Height: 6-5 

Weight: 187 

Residence: 

Antwerp, 

Belgium 

College: 

University of Illinois 





Masters* 





’17: 72-68-75-68–283 T4 

Bernd Wiesberger 

Age: 32 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 189 

Residence: 

Oberwart, 

Austria 

World 

Ranking: 55 




Golf Ranking* 





’15: 75-70-70-71–286 T22 

’16: 73-72-79-72–296 T34 

’17: 77-72-76-71–296 T43 

Rahm back as solid contender 


Staff Writer 

After the third round 

of last year’s Masters 

Tournament, Jon Rahm 

knew his chances of slipping 

on a green jacket in 

his first appearance were 

gone. 

The 1-over-par 73 

dropped him six shots off 

the lead. 

Then just 22 but with 

a PGA Tour win already 

under his belt, Rahm had 

been hoping to become 

the fourth player to win 

the Masters in his first 

appearance. 

When it didn’t happen, 

he understood why. 

“The way I like to think 

about it, Tiger (Woods) 

played two Masters 

before he won in his 

third,” Rahm said. “A 

lot of other players, Phil 

(Mickelson) played in 12 

before he ended up winning. 

There’s exceptions 

like Jordan Spieth, that he 

played one, he almost won 

it and then the next one he 

won. That happened.” 

It would hardly be a 

surprise if Rahm, whose 

ranking has jumped 

from 26th leading into 

the Masters last year 

to as high as second in 

February, joined Spieth in 

the small group of players 

to win at Augusta on their 

second try. 

Rahm tied for 27th in 

his Masters debut, in part 

because of his mindset 

going into the final round 

when he knew there was 

much ground to make up. 

“I have nothing to lose, 

so probably go a little bit 

more aggressive and see if 

it happens,” he said after 

the third round. 

It didn’t – the result 

was his highest round of 

the week, a 75. He opened 

with 73-70. 

Jon Rahm tied for 27th in his Masters debut after 

choosing to go aggressive in the final round. Earlier 

this season, he missed a chance to move to No. 1 in the 

world. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

The Spaniard admits 

he falls into the aggressive 

school of course 

management that was 

a hallmark of his countryman 

and idol, Seve 

Ballesteros, a two-time 

Masters champion. 

“I believe it’s a Spanish 

mindset,” Rahm said. “I 

feel like we are all pretty 

aggressive, right? I feel 

like we’ve all been pretty 

aggressive, I think that’s 

the mindset probably 

thanks to Seve, right?” 

Fellow Spaniard Jose 

Maria Olazabal also won 

the Masters twice, but 

there was never a year 

when Spain ruled two 

years in a row. That could 

happen this year if Rahm 

follows Sergio Garcia as 

the champion or Garcia 

repeats. 

Like the Spanish 

Masters champions, 

Rahm likes to use his 

imagination when it 

comes to hitting different 

shots at Augusta 

National, especially 

around the greens, which 

have shaved fringes and 

devilish breaks. 

“It certainly suits my 

eye,” Rahm said. “I usually 

like putting on places 

like this where you know 

that you have a lot of 

break and it just makes it 

a lot more fun and gets the 

creative side out of me. 

“It’s a course that 

it’s proven that it fits 

any kind of player,” 

Rahm said . “You’ve had 

Jon Rahm 

Age: 23 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 220 

Residence: 

Scottsdale, 

Ariz. 

College: 






Championship* 





’17: 73-70-73-75–291 T27 

right-handers, lefthanders, 

drawers, faders, 

short hitters win.” 

In his short time as a 

pro – he officially went 

professional in October 

2016 – Rahm has made 

quite a mark. He has two 

wins on both the PGA and 

European tours. 

“All I can say is I would 

have never foreseen the 

way I played, maybe 

the way I played but not 

what I’ve accomplished. 

I would have never foreseen 

it,” Rahm said. “So 

it’s just been two years, 

but I’ve accomplished 

a lot more than I set my 

mind to.” 

Earlier this season, he 

had a chance to move to 

No. 1 in the world if he had 

won that week, which he 

didn’t. 

“Well, if it was something 

easy, I would be 

a lot more relaxed than 

what I have been,” he said 

about overtaking Dustin 

Johnson at the top spot. 

“I’m looking forward to 

it, if it ever happens. But 

at the end of the day it’s a 

consequence of the good 

play on the golf course.” 

Rafa Cabrera-Bello 

Age: 33 

Height, 

weight: 6-2, 

179 

Residence: 

Maspalomas, 

Gran Canaria, 

Spain 

College: University of Las 

Palmas 





Golf Ranking* 





’16: 74-73-75-70–292 T17 

’17: 75-77–152 

Jose Maria Olazabal 

Age: 52 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 160 

Residence: 

Fuenterrabia, 

Spain 

Career 

victories: 29 


1994, 1999 Masters 

champion* 




Earnings: $2,551,883 

’85: 81-76–157-a 

’87: 79-75–154 

’89: 77-73-70-68–288 T8 

’90: 72-73-68-74–287 13 

’91: 68-70-69-70–277 2 

’92: 76-69-72-70–287 T42 

’93: 70-72-74-68–284 T7 

’94: 74-67-69-69–279 WIN 

’95: 66-74-72-72–284 T14 

’97: 71-70-74-72–287 T12 

’98: 70-73-71-72–286 T12 

’99: 70-66-73-71–280 WIN 

’00: 72-77–149 

’01: 70-68-71-72–281 T15 

’02: 70-69-71-71–281 4 

’03: 73-71-71-73–288 T8 

’04: 71-69-79-75–294 30 

’05: 77-76–153 

’06: 76-71-71-66–284 T3 

’07: 74-75-78-77–304 T44 

’08: 76-75–151 

’09: 71-75–146 

’11: 73-77–150 

’12: 75-76–151 

’13: 74-72-74-75–295 T50 

’14: 74-74-73-73–294 T34 

’15: 79-71–150 

’17: 77-76–153

The Augusta Chronicle • augusta.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M39 


Jason Day 

Age: 30 

Height, 

weight: 6-0, 

195 

Residence: 

Forest Lake, 

Australia; 

Columbus, Ohio 





winner* 




Earnings: $1,762,760 

’11: 72-64-72-68–276 T2 

’12: 76-28–104 WD 

’13: 70-68-73-70–281 3 

’14: 75-73-70-72–290 T20 

’15: 67-74-71-75–287 T28 

’16: 72-73-71-73–289 T10 

’17: 74-76-69-71–290 T22 

Adam Scott 

Age: 37 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Cranssur-Sierre, 

Switzerland 


Nevada-Las Vegas 








Earnings: $3,425,614 

’02: 71-72-72-70–285 T9 

’03: 77-72-74-70–293 T23 

’04: 80-73–153 

’05: 71-76-72-75–294 T33 

’06: 72-74-75-71–292 T27 

’07: 74-78-76-72–300 T27 

’08: 75-71-70-76–292 T25 

’09: 71-75–146 

’10: 69-75-72-71–287 T18 

’11: 72-70-67-67–276 T2 

’12: 75-70-73-66–284 T8 

’13: 69-72-69-69–279 WIN 

’14: 69-72-76-72–289 T14 

’15: 72-69-74-74–289 T38 

’16: 76-72-75-76–299 T42 

’17: 75-69-69-73–286 T9 

Cameron Smith 

Age: 24 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 172 

Residence: 

Jacksonville, 

Fla. 

World 

Ranking: 44 





Masters* 





’16: 74-73-82-74 - 303 T55 

More online 

Get Facebook updates. 

Follow Augusta.com 

Masters News for updates 

and photos from the 

course. 

Day is back on top of his game 


Staff Writer 

Jason Day is back on 

the short list of Masters 

Tournament contenders 

after a year he’d rather 

forget, both on and off the 

golf course. 

The 30-year-old Day, a 

former world No. 1, went 

winless last year. 

He’d lost confidence in 

his game even before last 

year’s Masters and the 

result was a tie for 22nd . It 

did include a strong 69-71 

weekend after he opened 

with 74-76 and made the 

cut on the number. 

“It’s almost like you got 

your tail between your 

legs, you’re kind of sneaking 

inside (of Augusta 

National),” Day said. 

“But it’s something that, 

I had played some pretty 

good golf over the last 

few years, except for last 

year, and you just kind of 

get used to it. And then 

you don’t get talked about 

and you’re like, hold on, 

there’s something wrong 

here. It’s a good kick in the 

butt because you know 

that you need to get back 

there. If people aren’t 

Leishman eases his way back to Augusta 


Staff Writer 

Marc Leishman was 

enjoying the ultimate 

luxury of a golfer standing 

on a driving range in 

Florida practicing and 

envisioning shots he’ll 

need to play at Augusta 

National. 

“It’s great to be able to 

plan for things a bit better, 

just certain shots that you 

need on certain courses or 

holes and knowing that 

you’re going to be there,” 

he said in March. “It was 

hard last year practicing 

those shots not even 

knowing if I was going to 

be at Augusta.” 

A year ago, Leishman 

wasn’t qualified for the 


until he snapped a fiveyear 

winless streak at the 

Arnold Palmer Invitational 

to book his spot less than a 

month before. 

“I guess there was that 

extra determination for 

me early last year because I 

wasn’t in Augusta, and it’s 

a course that I felt like that 

if I play well around there 

I have a chance to win it,” 

Leishman said when he 

returned to Bay Hill. “I’ve 

coming up to you, you’re 

doing something wrong. 

And to be able to get back 

in the winner’s circle this 

year is a good step in the 

right direction.” 

It happened in his first 

PGA Tour start of 2018 at 

Torrey Pines, where he 

beat Alex Noren in a sixhole 

playoff that ended 

with one hole on Monday. 

The victory, Day’s first 

since the 2016 Players 

Championship, has given 

Marc Leishman 

Age: 34 

Height: 6-2 

Weight: 200 

Residence: 

Virginia 

Beach, Va. 

World 

Ranking: 16 









’10: 72-79–151 

’13: 66-73-72-72–283 T4 

’14: 70-79–149 

’16: 74-77–151 

’17: 73-74-78-71–296 T43 

contended (at Augusta) 

before, and that was not 

one that I wanted to miss 

out on. It was very timely 

that I played well here.” 

The victory at Bay Hill 

not only accomplished 

that goal but also proved 

to him that he belonged 

among the top 50 players 

in the world. He added a 

victory in September in 

the PGA Tour playoffs 

for his first multiple-win 

season, moving him for 

the first time inside the top 

After a 

winless 

2017 in 

which he 

also had 

to cope 

with his 

mother’s 

health 

battles, 

Jason Day 

opened the 

year with 

a playoff 

victory 

at Torrey 

Pines. 

[MICHAEL 

HOLAHAN/ 

THE AUGUSTA 

CHRONICLE] 

him the momentum he 

lacked last year. 

“You definitely can feel 

it, like I felt it at the start 

of this year, I felt like I was 

going to come out and 

play well and I did which 

was great,” he said. “So 

I just got to kind of bear 

down right now and just 

keep pushing and grinding 

away because I don’t 

want to, I don’t want this 

to stop, I want the success 

to keep moving forward.” 

20, where he’s remained 

comfortably since. 

“It had been five years 

since I won, so of course 

you’re trying to win every 

week, but I think winning 

here made me really realize 

I could win against 

the best players in the 

world,” he said. “Turning 

up to tournaments, I was 

just thinking about winning, 

really. I wanted to 

win more tournaments, 

because that was a really 

cool feeling to win here 

and I wanted to do it more 

often. So managed to do 

it one more time and be 

nice to do it a lot more 

frequently this year.” 

It would be even nicer 

to do it in a major, where 

the 34-year-old Aussie 

has already proved he can 

contend. He’s finished 

sixth or better in three 

Day made his normal 

20 starts on the PGA Tour 

last year despite worries 

off the course. 

He revealed in late 

March that his mother, 

Dening, had a cancerous 

mass removed from 

her left lung. Day was 

so overwhelmed with 

worry that he withdrew 

after six holes of 

his match with Pat Perez 

in the Dell Match Play 

Championship that week. 

Jason’s father, Alvin, died 

when he was 12. 

“Last year was pretty 

long,” said Day, who had 

only five top-10 finishes 

after being in double 

digits in that category in 

both 2015 and 2016. “I 

was burnt out at the start 

of the year, and then what 

happened to my mom 

made that even longer. I 

felt mentally stressed and 

it was hard for me to be on 

the golf course. And then I 

lost some confidence and 

then it was – it’s pretty 

quick downward spiral 

from there. ” 

Day’s mother did not 

need chemotherapy 

after her surgery and is 

recovering. 

of the past four British 

Opens, including runner-up 

in a playoff at St. 

Andrews in 2015. 

At the Masters, he was 

in the hunt in 2013 before 

finishing fourth playing 

on Sunday with eventual 

champion Adam Scott. 

“I feel like I’ve got the 

tools, I’ve just got to get 

a course that suits me and 

play well on that week,” 

he said. 

It’s hard to judge his 

Augusta record since 

2013 because he had to 

withdraw on the eve of the 

Masters in 2015 because of 

a medical emergency that 

nearly killed his wife, and 

he missed the cut in an 

emotional return in 2016. 

He tied for 43rd last year 

after a Saturday 78 when 

a triple bogey on No. 15 

wrecked his chances. 

Day drew on the support 

from his extended 

family and fellow players, 

including Tiger 

Woods, after revealing 

his mother was sick. He 

said he got just as many 

text messages in support 

as he gets when he wins a 

tournament. 

“Jase has shown this 

year already that his 

head’s probably in a better 

spot and with winning 

in San Diego, I think,” 

said fellow Australian 

and close friend Marc 

Leishman, who said Day’s 

mother was doing better 

health-wise. 

Day, who spent most 

of 2016 and the early part 

of 2017 as the No. 1 player 

of the world, was ranked 

13th at the end of 2017. He 

moved up to 10th after his 

victory in late January and 

moved to eighth after a 

tie for second two weeks 

later at Pebble Beach. 

“This year my whole 

mindset’s different, I’m 

very motivated to get 

back to the No. 1 spot, 

and I know that the only 

way to get back to the No. 

1 spot is win, and that’s 

what I’ve just got to do.” 

Leishman admits he 

wishes he’d been able to 

build more momentum 

at Augusta from his 2013 

experience. 

“Yeah, I’m disappointed, 

I’ve had spells 

of good play and I’ve had 

stretches of holes that 

have put me out of the 

tournament in five or 

six holes,” he said. “So 

I need to stop that. But 

I think every year I go 

there I feel like, if I play 

well and things go right, I 

have a chance. But again, 

you got the best players in 

the world and of the best 

players you got the guys 

who are playing the best 

at the top of the leaderboard. 

So it’s tough to 

contend there, but, yeah, 

it definitely is somewhere 

I would like to be this year 

is contending in that.” 

Bernhard Langer 

Ian Woosnam 

Sandy Lyle 

Age: 60 

Height: 5-9 

Weight: 160 

Residence: 

Boca Raton, 

Fla. 

Career 

victories: 90 


1985, 1993 Masters 

champion* 




Earnings: $1,863,818 

’82: 77-78–155 

’84: 73-70-74-72–289 T31 

’85: 72-74-68-68–282 WIN 

’86: 74-68-69-75–286 T16 

’87: 71-72-70-76–289 T7 

’88: 71-72-71-73–287 T9 

’89: 74-75-71-73–293 T26 

’90: 70-73-69-74–286 T7 

’91: 70-68-74-74–286 T29 

’92: 69-73-69-74–285 T32 

’93: 68-70-69-70–277 WIN 

’94: 74-74-72-73–293 T25 

’95: 71-69-73-75–288 T31 

’96: 75-70-72-78–295 T36 

’97: 72-72-74-68–286 T7 

’98: 75-73-74-74–296 T39 

’99: 76-66-72-73–287 T11 

’00: 71-71-75-76–293 T28 

’01: 73-69-68-69–279 T6 

’02: 73-72-73-74–292 T32 

’03: 79-76–155 

’04: 71-73-69-72–285 T4 

’05: 74-74-70-71–289 T20 

’06: 79-74–153 

’07: 78-77–155 

’08: 74-77–151 

’09: 70-80–150 

’10: 71-78–149 

’12: 72-80–152 

’13: 71-71-72-76–290 T25 

’14: 72-74-73-69–288 T8 

’15: 73-74–147 

’16: 72-73-70-79–294 T24 

’17: 75-78–153 

Age: 60 

Height: 5-5 

Weight: 168 

Residence: 

Jersey, 

Channel 

Islands 








’88: 81-74–155 

’89: 74-76-71-69–290 T14 

’90: 72-75-70-76–293 T30 

’91: 71-66-67-72–276 WIN 

’92: 69-66-73-75–283 T19 

’93: 73-74-74-69–290 T29 

’94: 76-73-77-75–301 T46 

’95: 69-72-71-73–285 T17 

’96: 72-69-73-80–294 T29 

’97: 77-68-75-79–299 T39 

’98: 74-71-72-70–287 T16 

’99: 71-74-71-72–288 T14 

’00: 74-70-76-75–295 T40 

’01: 71-77–148 

’02: 77-78–155 

’03: 80-74–154 

’04: 76-75–151 

’05: 78-78–156 

’06: 77-72–149 

’08: 75-71-76-78–300 44 

’09: 74-75–149 

’10: 81-83–164 

’11: 78-77–155 

’12: 77-77–154 

’13: 80-78–158 

’14: 77-73–150 

’15: 75-74–149 

’16: 82-81–163 

’17: 76-78–154 

Age: 60 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 187 

Residence: 

Balquihidder, 

Perthshire, 

Scotland; 

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. 








’80: 76-70-70-78–294 48 

’81: 73-70-76-73–292 T28 

’83: 74-74–148 

’85: 78-65-76-73–292 T25 

’86: 76-70-68-71–285 T11 

’87: 77-74-68-72–291 T17 

’88: 71-67-72-71–281 WIN 

’89: 77-76–153 

’90: 77-74–151 

’91: 77-76–153 

’92: 72-69-70-75–286 T38 

’93: 73-71-71-73–288 T20 

’94: 75-73-78-73–299 T38 

’95: 75-71–146 

’96: 75-74–149 

’97: 73-73-74-75–295 T34 

’98: 74-77–151 

’99: 71-77-70-80–298 T48 

’00: 79-72–151 

’01: 74-73–147 

’02: 73-81–154 

’03: 82-73–155 

’04: 72-74-75-76–297 T37 

’05: 74-78–152 

’06: 80-81–161 

’07: 79-73-80-71–303 43 

’08: 72-75-78-77–302 45 

’09: 72-70-73-71–286 T20 

’10: 69-86–155 

’11: 73-80–153 

’12: 86-78–164 

’13: 73-72-81-71–297 T54 

’14: 76-72-76-73–297 T44 

’15: 74-76–150 

’16: 76-81–157 

’17: 77-83–160





Sports Editor 

Ball go far. 

That advertising campaign 

for a golf ball manufacturer 

could sum up the state of golf 

now. 

Professionals are hitting 

the ball farther than ever. 

Recreational players are taking 

advantage of the benefits of 

technology to increase their 

enjoyment of the game. 

Take Fred Ridley, for example. 

The new chairman of 


and the Masters Tournament, 

now 65, admits he is hitting the 

ball longer than he did decades 

ago when he was one of the top 

amateurs in the game. 

For nearly two decades, 

gains in driving distance 

have been a much-debated 

topic. The USGA and R&A, 

the game’s governing bodies, 

began issuing an annual “distance 

report” in 2015 and 

found that increases in driving 

distance since 2003 were “a 

slow creep of around 0.2 yards 

per year.” 

In early March, the 2017 

report showed “the average 

distance gain across the seven 

worldwide tours was more 

than three yards since 2016.” 

That, the USGA and R&A 

said, “is unusual and concerning.” 

Any further significant 

increases would be undesirable, 

they said, but no 

timetable for action has been 

set. 

The Masters follows the 

guidelines set by the governing 

bodies, but the idea of 

requiring participants to play a 

“Masters ball” has been floated 

before. 

“I think it would be difficult, 

frankly, to have a golf 

ball for one tournament, but I 

wouldn’t rule anything out,” 

Ridley said. “We’re always 

going to do what we think 

is in the best interest of the 

tournament.” 

Teeing off from ‘downtown’ 

Six-time Masters winner Jack 

Nicklaus has long been outspoken 

about how far the ball goes 

and how the game’s governing 

bodies need to take action. 

In 2001, after Hootie Johnson 

announced that nine holes 

would be lengthened in time 

for the 2002 Masters, Nicklaus 

quipped that “pretty soon we’ll 

be teeing off from downtown 

somewhere. It’s absurd.” 

When he came to Augusta the 

following year to check out the 

changes, Johnson had a surprise 

waiting for him: A brass marker 

on the new tee box at No. 18 was 

marked “Downtown.” 

Nicklaus dominated Augusta 

National in 1965 on his way to 

tying the 18-hole scoring record 

of 64 and shattering the 72-hole 

record with a 271 total. 

That prompted the famous 

quote from Bobby Jones about 

Nicklaus: “He plays a game with 

which I am not familiar.” 

“I still say that was the easiest 

golf tournament I ever played 

Big hits, 

big problem? 

Driving distance report 'concerning' to governing bodies 

Average driving distances 

for Masters champions 

2017: Sergio Garcia, 291.5 

2016: Danny Willett, 278.13 

2015: Jordan Spieth, 282.63 


2013: Adam Scott, 293.75 


2011: Charl Schwartzel, 288.5 


2009: Angel Cabrera, 284.5 

2008: Trevor Immelman, 287.5 

2007: Zach Johnson, 265 


2005: Tiger Woods, 292.38 


2003: Mike Weir, 271.25 

2002: Tiger Woods, 293.75 

2001: Tiger Woods, 305.5 

2000: Vijay Singh, 273 

1999: Jose Maria Olazabal, 239.75 

1998: Mark O’Meara, 266.63 

1997: Tiger Woods, 323.13 

from the standpoint of ease on 

me because it was just driver, 

wedge; driver, 9-iron; kind of 

stuff that Tiger (Woods) does 

today,” Nicklaus said in 2002. 

After Woods broke the 

72-hole scoring mark in his 

1997 victory, Augusta National 

fought back with changes in the 

next decade that were called 

“Tiger-proofing.” The second 

cut increased in 1999, and holes 

were lengthened in 2002 and 

again in 2006. 

“I think that if you are going 

to continue to let the golf ball 

do what it’s doing, you’ve got 

to keep lengthening the golf 

course,” Nicklaus said in 2001. 

His tune hasn’t changed. 

Before the USGA and R&A 

unveiled their latest report, 

Nicklaus said he had spoken 

with USGA executive director 

Mike Davis in late February. 

“Mike’s been very optimistic 

about wanting to get something 

done but hasn’t been able to get 

there yet,” Nicklaus said. 

Nicklaus said a longer golf ball 

means longer courses, and that 

leads to longer rounds. 

“So, if the golf ball came 

back, it would solve I think a 

lot of those issues,” Nicklaus 

said. “I think we only have one 

golf course in this country, 

my opinion, that’s not obsolete 

to the golf ball, and that’s 

Augusta National. They are the 

only people that have enough 

money that have been able to 

keep the golf course and do the 

things you had to. They are even 

buying up parts of country clubs 

and roads and everything else to 

get that done. 

“Not that other people 

couldn’t do that, but it’s just 

unpractical. Why, every time 

we have an event, do we have to 

keep buying more land and then 

making things longer? It just 

doesn’t make any sense to me.” 

Fifth hole changes 

Augusta National hasn’t 

pushed the tees to downtown, 

as Nicklaus suggested, but 

they might be moved across a 

road. 

Preliminary site plans filed 

earlier this year show that the 

tee box for the fifth hole, a 455- 

yard par-4, could be pushed 

back across Old Berckmans 

Road. The new tee would alleviate 

congestion at the fourth 

green and the current fifth 

Driving data for seven tours 

Tour 2003 2016 2017 

European Tour 286.3 288.1 291.7 

PGA Tour 285.9 290 292.5 

Japan Golf Tour 279 276.7 282.6 

Web.com Tour 292.3 296 302.9 

Champions Tour 269.9 274.7 275.4 

Ladies European Tour (2004) 245.3 239.7 246.1 

LPGA 249.6 253.4 252.6 

How drives are measured 

According to the report, driving distance data are typically collected on two holes that are selected 

based on three criteria: 

1. The holes should be oriented in opposing directions (to minimize the impact of the wind on the 

average distance). 

2. The holes should preferably both be selected such that the landing area for the drives is flat. Where 

this is not feasible, the holes would preferably have opposing topography to minimize the effect of 

slopes on the average driving distance. 

3. The holes should be selected to maximize the potential that the golfers will choose to hit their driver 

(ensuring that the data most closely reflects the distance hit by players using drivers). 

tee, which are just a few yards 

apart. 

Old Berckmans Road has 

been closed to through traffic 

since 2015, but the plans call 

for the road to curve around 

the area that will be used as a 

tee box. 

Ridley, who took over as 

chairman last summer, is a 

former U.S. Amateur champion 

and three-time Masters 

competitor who is expected to 

address course changes. 

“Old Berckmans Road 

certainly gives us some opportunities 

and options, and we 

are looking at those,” Ridley 

said in the fall. 

The hole was revamped in 

2003 by moving the tees back 

20 yards and extending the two 

fairway bunkers by 80 yards to 

put them in play. The hole now 

takes a 315-yard drive to carry 

the left-side bunkers, meaning 

most golfers could no longer 

shorten the hole by playing to 

the left. 

In the 2002 and 2006 renovations, 

which lengthened 

the course to more than 7,400 

yards, Augusta National 

sought to restore shot values 

by making players use longer 

clubs for their approach to 

holes and have them play as 

they did when course designers 

Alister MacKenzie and Bobby 

Jones laid out the course in the 

early 1930s. 

Ridley said that Jones 

“believed that strategy and 

skill were equal components 

in how the golf course should 

be played.” 

“What I think we should 

do, and what we have done 

over the years, is to go back 

to that philosophy and think 

about what do we need to do 

to make sure that we are true 

to the principles that Jones and 

MacKenzie established at the 

beginning,” Ridley said. 

13th hole next? 

A land deal with neighboring 

Augusta Country Club has 

opened up the possibility of 

Augusta National lengthening 

its par-5 13th hole. 

The acquisition for an undisclosed 

sum last summer gives 

the Masters flexibility to push 

back the tees on the 510-yard 

hole that bends to the left. For 

some players, the second shot 

has been a short iron depending 

on how much of the dogleg 

they choose to bite off. 

The 13th hole is one of the 

most iconic holes in golf but 

consistently ranks as one of 

the easiest holes on the course. 

With the newly acquired land, 

Augusta National could stretch 

the tee back as it did in 2002 

after a previous land deal with 

Augusta Country Club. 

Counterpoint 

Acushnet, maker of the popular 

Titleist Pro V1 ball, issued 

its own take on the distance 

report. 

The manufacturer said its 

analysis of the data shows 

that equipment regulations 

are working. 

“There were several contributing 

variables in 2017, 

including course selection 

and set up, agronomical conditions 

and weather, which 

need to be considered when 

assessing the data,” said David 

Maher, the CEO and president 

of Acushnet. 

Their findings included: 

The 2017 Masters average 

driving distance declined 0.4 

yards. 

The major championships 

conducted at new venues 

represented one-third of the 

total average driving distance 

gained in 2017: U.S. Open (Erin 

Hills, 20.4 yards), British Open 

(Royal Birkdale, 8.1 yards) and 

PGA Championship (Quail 

Hollow, 7.0 yards). 

At the 33 PGA Tour events 

conducted at the same venue in 

2016 and 2017, where data was 

collected, the average driving 


At the eight events held at new 

venues in 2017, the average 





Paul Casey tees off on No. 7 during the 2016 Masters Tournament. [ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]



After Mid-Amateur win, firefighter set to tee it up 


Staff Writer 

The professions of noncollegiate 

amateurs who 

have played in the Masters 

Tournament mainly run 

along the lines of those in 

the business world. 

No records have been 

kept of the jobs the amateurs 

have held, but for 

those who will return to 

the working world after 

playing in the Masters, no 

one can remember a fulltime 

firefighter teeing it 

up . 

Until this year. 

Matt Parziale has 

worked for the Brockton 

(Mass.) Fire Department 

for the past five years, now 

on ladder 1. 

“I would say he’s the 

only one (firefighter to 

play in the Masters),” said 

Parziale’s father Vic . 

Parziale, 30, doesn’t 

like to talk about any of 

the harrowing experiences 

he’s had as a firefighter. He 

will say one of the highlights 

of his career came in 

2015 when he fought a fire 

with his father, who was 

the captain of Brockton’s 

ladder 1 for many years 

and retired three months 

ago. The father and son 

always worked in different 

groups, but on this day 

Matt was taking someone’s 

place in his dad’s 

group when the fire call 

came in . 

“I got to fight a fire 

with my dad,” Matt said. 

“ That’s probably the 

one thing I wanted to do 

before he retired and I was 

fortunate to do that. We 

had a great time doing it 

together.” 

Matt Parziale (second from left) has been a firefighter 

in Brockton, Mass., for five years. His father, also 

a firefighter, will be his caddie in Augusta. [MARC 

VASCONCELLOS/THE (BROCKTON, MASS.) ENTERPRISE] 

“It was a great experience,” 

said Vic Parziale, 

who was able to see his 

son in action for the first 

time. “He was a good 

worker.” 

Matt Parziale said the 

pressure of fighting a fire 

and that of coming down 

the stretch with a golf 

tournament on the line 

are not the same. 

“When you’re fighting 

a fire, it’s chaos, uncontrolled, 

nothing is the 

same and you’re part of a 

team you rely on,” he said. 

“Playing a tournament, 

you’re out there by yourself 

and it’s controlled. 

It’s you. Two separate 

things. I love doing both 

and I’m very fortunate to 

be able to do both.” 

Vic Parziale said there 

is a correlation – but 

only when a tournament 

round and a fire fight are 

successful. 

“There’s the satisfaction 

of completing 

something and getting it 

done,” he said. 

Parziale has been 

swamped with media 

requests and attention 

since he qualified by 

winning the U.S. Mid- 

Amateur in October. In 

mid-March, he was given 

a Masters sendoff at his 

home club, Thorny Lea 

Golf Club in Brockton. 

More than 200 people 

turned out. 

“I’ve enjoyed it,” he 

said of the attention. “I’ve 

embraced it and had fun 

with it. It’s been a lot. A 

lot of media requests and 

all that. I’ve enjoyed the 

whole process.” 

“He’s been calm; he’s 

handled it a lot better 

than I could have,” said 

his father. 

Vic Parziale said 

there are 225 firefighters 

at the Brockton Fire 

Department, but only 16 

play golf. For that reason, 

Matt Parziale said there 

hasn’t been much talk 

among his fellow workers 

about him playing in 

the Masters. 

“I think there are guys 

who are interested and 

those who just aren’t,” 

Matt Parziale said. “In 

the golf world, we think 

everybody knows about 

golf, but that’s not the 

case. People have other 

interests in life, so there 

are a lot of interests in that 

career.” 

Parziale’s father caddies 

for him in state and 

major events and will be 

on the bag in the Masters. 

“It’s going to be pretty 

cool, being out there with 

him inside the ropes,” Vic 

Parziale said. “It’s going 

to be a great experience 

with my son out there. I 

never thought I’d see the 

place and now I’m caddying 

in the tournament.” 

He also got a chance 

to play Augusta National 

with his son during a visit 

in mid-March. It was the 

fourth trip Parziale had 

taken in an effort to learn 

the course. 

“The biggest thing is 

learning the spots around 

the greens where you 

can’t play from,” Matt 

said. “Because there are 

some spots you can’t 

play from. I’ve had a 

great (Augusta National) 

caddie; he’s been awesome. 

He’s shown me 

all the areas. It’s great to 

just take it all in. I’ve really 

enjoyed the time preparing, 

getting ready for it.” 

The timing of Parziale’s 

Mid-Amateur victory 

and Masters appearance 

have been uncanny 

for a number of reasons, 

including the fact that 

Parziale’s idol, Tiger 

Woods, is healthy and 

playing for the first time 

since 2015. 

Parziale didn’t know 

Woods, but he received 

a congratulatory letter 

from the 14-time major 

champion after he won 

the Mid-Amateur. 

“I thought it was 

incredible,” Parziale said. 

Then, in February, 

Parziale was invited by 

fellow Massachusetts 

native and friend James 

Driscoll, a Web.com Tour 

player the previous three 

years, to play at Medalist 

Club, his home course in 

Hobe Sound, Fla. Woods 

often plays there, and he 

was there that day. 

“I said hello to him and 

he was great to talk to. He 

was kind. We talked for 

three or four minutes.” 

Did he try to set up 

a practice round with 

the four-time Masters 

champion? 

“I thought I’d reach out 

up there ,” Parziale said. 

“He’s a busy guy. I understand 

all the requests he 

gets. If it happens, great. 

If it doesn’t, I understand 

it.” 

Another reason why 

it was a good year to win 

the Mid-Amateur was 

because for the first time, 

the champion earned an 

exemption into the U.S. 

Open, which will be played 

in June at Shinnecock 

Hills. The Mid-Am victory 

always earns the winner a 

spot in the U.S. Amateur, 

which is at Pebble Beach 

this year. 

“I just live to play competitive 

golf and I love to 

prepare,” Parziale said. 

“I’m very fortunate to be 

able to prepare for one of 

the biggest – or the biggest 

– tournament in 

the world (the Masters) 

and compete against the 

best players in the world. 

That’s what I’m looking 

forward to. I’m fortunate 

to be able to do that twice 

this year. 

“It’s been a lot of fun 

these last few months, 

preparing and playing in 

events I don’t normally 

play in or wouldn’t play. 

And taking trips I normally 

wouldn’t take. It’s 

what I love to do.” 

In preparation for the 

Masters , Parziale took a 

leave of absence from the 

fire department starting 

in late October. 

“I’ve been playing 

well,” he said. “I put 

some work in last year. I 

made some more time to 

work on my game and I 

really benefited from that. 

Making it one of the best 

weeks of my life at the 

Mid-Am.” 

At the Mid-Amateur, 

which was played at 

Atlanta’s Capital City 

Golf Club, Parziale had 10 

birdies in 30 holes of the 

scheduled 36-hole final, 

winning 8 and 6 over Josh 

Nichols. 

“I’ve worked hard this 

past year,” Parziale said. 

“But it’s golf. You can 

work hard and play bad, 

and not work hard and 

play good. I was playing a 

lot of competitive rounds 

going in. I put a lot of work 

just for this reason, to be 

more competitive on the 

national level. It’s a long 

way. Thirty-six holes 

every day. You get done 

and it starts over. It takes 

a lot out of you. But I’m 

pretty proud I was able 

to show up and play well 

every day.” 

Matt Parziale 

Harry Ellis 

Doc Redman 

Doug Ghim 

Joaquin Niemann 

Yuxin Lin 

Age: 30 

Residence: 

Brockton, 

Mass. 

Career 

victories: 

Amateur 


U.S. Mid-Amateur 

champion* 




Age: 22 

Residence: 

Tallahassee, 

Fla. 

College: 

Florida State 

University 

Career victories: Amateur 


British Amateur 

champion* 




Age: 20 

Height: 5-11 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

Raleigh, N.C. 

College: 

Clemson 

University 



U.S. Amateur champion* 




Age: 21 

Residence: 

Arlington 

Heights, Ill. 

College: 

University of 

Texas 



Runner-up to U.S. 

Amateur champion* 




Age: 19 

Weight: 154 

Tournament 

invitation: 

Latin America 

Amateur 

champion* 




Age: 17 

Career 

victories: 

Amateur 

Tournament 

invitation: 

Asia-Pacific 

Amateur champion* 




Kevin Chappell 

Age: 27 

Height: 6-0 

Weight: 180 

Residence: 

Fresno, CA 

College: 

UCLA 





Masters* 





’12: 71-76-71-76–294 T44 

’17: 71-76-70-68–285 T7 

Chez Reavie 

Age: 36 

Height: 5-9 

Weight: 160 

Residence: 

Scottsdale, 

Ariz. 

College: 







Masters* 




’02: 74-86 - 160-a 85 

’09: 75-76 - 151 T79 

’12: 79-74 - 153 T76 

Online 

Stay up to date on 

all the action this 






Ryan Moore 

Age: 35 

Height: 5-9 

Weight: 170 

Residence: 

Las Vegas, 

Nev. 

College: 

University of Nevada-Las 

Vegas 





Masters* 





’03: 73-74-75-79–301-a T45 

’05: 71-71-75-70–287-a T13 

’10: 72-73-73-68–286 T14 

’11: 70-73-72-73–288 T35 

’13: 71-72-81-68–292 T38 

’14: 77-72–149 

’15: 74-66-73-69–282 T12 

’16: 80-75–155 

’17: 74-69-69-74–286 T9 

Gary Woodland 

Age: 33 

Height: 6-1 

Weight: 195 

Residence: 

Orlanda, Fla. 

College: 

Washburn 

University, University of 

Kansas 










’11: 69-73-74-70–286 T24 

’12: 73-70-85–228 WD 

’14: 70-77-69-76–292 T26 

’15: 71-76–147 

’17: 75-80–155 

Kizzire rides ‘little grooves’ into debut 


Staff Writer 

More than a decade into 

his professional career, 

Patton Kizzire is still 

looking for consistency in 

his golf game. He’d like to 

play what he calls boring 

golf someday but knows 

it probably won’t happen. 

“My golf game is a 

roller coaster,” the former 

Auburn golfer said. “It 

always has been. I’m up 

and down and all around. 

So I’m used to roller 

coasters. That’s what I’ve 

always done, and I’m able 

to handle it, I guess.” 

When he’s up, Kizzire 

is really up. In November, 

he won for the first time 

on the PGA Tour, in the 

OHL Classic at Mayakoba 

in Mexico. Three starts 

later, he won the Sony 

Open in Hawaii. 

“I find little grooves 

here and there and I 

ride them out,” he said . 

Austin Cook 

Age: 27 

Height, 

weight: 5-7, 

160 

Residence: 

Jonesboro, 

Ark. 


Arkansas 








“When I’m not in the 

groove, it’s a battle.” 

Because of all the battles 

he’s fought on the 

course, Kizzire is not 

easily rattled. When he 

won at the Sony , there 

had been a false alarm 

about a ballistic missile 

before the third round 

and Kizzire still went out 

and shot 64. He followed 

it with 68 and beat James 

Hahn on the sixth hole of 

a sudden-death playoff. 

“Amongst all that, I was 

able to focus on playing 

golf, and I was glad to get 

the win,” Kizzire said. 

Kizzire had gone 62 

PGA Tour events without 

a win before breaking 

through in Mexico. The 

fact he’d had two runner-up 

finishes before 

winning didn’t surprise 

him. 

“At every level I’ve 

had a lot of near misses 

and kind of got the scars 

and the experience 

Xander Schauffele 

Age: 24 

Height: 5-10 

Weight: 165 

Residence: 

San Diego, 

Calif. 

College: Long 

Beach State University, 

San Diego State University 









before I was able to break 

through,” he said. “Just 

like on the Web.com 

Tour, I was able to get 

a couple of wins after I 

had those near misses. 

So at every level, I’ve had 

to work my way up. It’s 

pretty similar here (on the 

PGA Tour). There have 

been some close calls. 

I’m glad to finally punch 

my ticket to the Masters,” 

which he did by winning 

at Mayakoba. 

Kizzire, along with 

2017 PGA Tour Player of 

the Year Justin Thomas, 

were the only players 

with multiple PGA Tour 

wins this season through 

the Arnold Palmer 

Invitational in mid- 

March. Thomas won the 

CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in 

October and the Honda 

Classic in February. 

The secret to winning 

twice in four starts, 

Kizzire said, is “you’ve 

just got to ride the wave 

Tony Finau 

Age: 28 

Height, 

weight: 6-4, 

200 

Residence: 

Lehi, Utah 

World 

Ranking: 34 




Championship* 




and keep your confidence 

going. That’s what I did 

for a while.” 

Kizzire vaulted to the 

top of the FedEx Cup 

standings after each of 

those victories . He’s 

topped the standings five 

times this season . 

“ I love playing golf. I 

love trying to get better 

and putting myself in 

uncomfortable spots. 

That’s all I want to do is 

just to be somewhere that 

I’ve never been because 

that gets me uncomfortable. 

That’s when I know 

I’m doing something 

right.” 

Kizzire, who is from 

Tuscaloosa, Ala., said 

he attended the Masters 

Tournament a few times 

with his family . 

“I played it (Augusta 

National Golf Club) about 

two months ago,” he said. 

“I’m looking forward to 

playing it in tournament 

conditions.” 

Patton Kizzire 

Age: 32 

Height: 6-5 

Weight: 215 

Residence: 

Sea Island, 

Ga. 

College: 

Auburn University 








First appearance



2018 Masters Committee Assignments 

CHAIRMAN: Fred S. 

Ridley, Tampa, Fla. 

CHAIRMAN EMERITUS: 

William P. Payne, Atlanta 

VICE-CHAIRMAN: Joe T. 

Ford, Little Rock, Ark. 

COMPETITION 

COMMITTEES: James B. 

Hyler Jr., Asheville, N.C., 

chairman; Geoffrey Y. 

Yang, Menlo Park, Calif. 

RULES COMMITTEE: 

James B. Hyler Jr., 

Asheville, N.C., 

chairman; Mark E. Newell, 

McLean, Va., Honorary 

Chairman, President, 

USGA; Bruce Mitchell, 

Fife, Scotland, Honorary 

Chairman, Captain, Royal 

and Ancient Golf Club; 

Pierre E. Bechmann, 

Chantilly, France; Sir 

Michael F. Bonallack, 

Fife, United Kingdom; 

James C. Davis, Hanover, 

Md.; Walter W. Driver 

Jr., Atlanta; Eugene M. 

Howerdd Jr., Augusta; 

Gordon B.B. Jeffrey, 

Southport, England; 

James E. Reinhart, 

Mequon, Wis.; Dr. John 

D. Reynolds III, Augusta; 

Ian W. L. Webb, Belfast, 

N. Ireland; Geoffrey Y. 

Yang, Menlo Park, Calif.; 

Victor Adames, Ciudad 

de Mexico, Mexico; J. 

Michael Bailey, Sandy, 

Utah; Diane Barabe, 

Ontario, Canada; Thomas 

Barkin, Atlanta; Stephen 

Beebe, La Quinta, Calif.; 

John Bodenhamer, 

Liberty Corner, N.J.; David 

Bonsall, London, England; 

Clive Brown, Conwy, 

United Kingdom; Paul G. 

Brown, Brookeville, Md.; 

Rick Burton, Atlanta; Tom 

Carpus, Kennett Square, 

Pa.; Stephen Cox, Ponte 

Vedra Beach, Fla.; Mike 

Davis, Liberty Corner, N.J.; 

Jim Deaton, Greensboro, 

N.C.; Tyler Dennis, Ponte 

Vedra Beach, Fla.; Jim 

Duncan, Wilmington, 

N.C.; Mark Dusbabek, Las 

Vegas; Clive Edginton, 

Surrey, England; Chip 

Essig, Greenwood, Ind.; 

Stuart Francis, Menlo 

Park, Calif.; Kendra 

Graham, Winter Park, 

Fla.; Ben Groutage, 

Birmingham, England; 

Kerry Haigh, Palm Beach 

Gardens, Fla.; Jeff Hall, 

Liberty Corner, N.J.; Ron 

Hickman, Hattiesburg, 

Miss.; Bryan Jones, East 

Hanover, N.J.; Robert 

Kain, La Quinta, Calif.; 

Martha Lang, Shoal Creek, 

Ala.; Paul Levy, Indian 

Wells, Calif.; Bryan Lewis, 

Pinehurst, N.C.; Peter Lis, 

Wilmington, N.C.; Mark 

Litton, Woburn Sands, 

England; Edward Mate, 

Greenwood Village, Colo.; 

Dave McAtee, Evansville, 

Ind.; Andy McFee, Bucks, 

England; Grant Moir, 

Fife, Scotland; Gregory 

Morrison, Duluth, Ga.; 

John Mutch Jr., Nazareth, 

Pa.; Thomas Pagel, 

Liberty Corner, N.J.; John 

Paramor, Berkshire, 

England; David Podas, Los 

Angeles; Orlando Pope, 

Flower Mound, Texas; 

Nick Price, Hobe Sound, 

Fla.; Mark P. Reinemann, 

Pinehurst, N.C.; James 

Richerson, Phoenix, 

Ariz.; Steve Rintoul, 

Lithia, Fla.; Sharon 

Ritchey, Longboat Key, 

Fla.; Francisco Rivera, 

Bayamon, Puerto Rico; 

Mark Russell, Orlando, 

Fla.; Graeme Scott, 

Sandhurst, Australia; 

Clifford Shahbaz, 

Portland, Ore.; Richard 

Shortz, Pacific Palisades, 

Calif.; William Siart, 

Pacific Palisades, Calif.; 

John Slater, Heathrow, 

Fla.; Martin Slumbers, 

Fife, Scotland; Derek 

Sprague, Ponte Vedra 

Beach, Fla.; Ken Tackett, 

Charleston, W.Va.; Jittisak 

Tamprasert, Sentosa, 

Singapore; Gary Todd, 

Somerset West, South 

Africa; Robby Ware, 

Kingwood, Texas; Suzy 

Whaley, Palm Beach 

Gardens, Fla.; Andy 

Yamanaka, Tokyo, Japan; 

Gary Young, Millbury, 

Mass. 

CUP AND TEE MARKER 

PLACEMENT COMMITTEE: 

James E. Reinhart, 

Mequon, Wis., chairman; 

Jefferson B.A. Knox, 

Augusta; John W. Swigart, 

Maumee, Ohio; P. Daniel 

Yates III, Atlanta; Dirk 

E. Ziff, New York; David 

Graham, Dallas 

GOLF COURSE 

COMMITTEE: Jefferson 

B.A. Knox, Augusta, 

chairman 

PRACTICE ACTIVITIES 

COMMITTEE: David W. 

Dorman, Atlanta, chairman; 

James J. Dunne 

III, New York; William 

R. Howell, Carefree, 

Ariz.; James C. Kennedy, 

Atlanta; David S. Kirkland, 

Palm Beach, Fla.; David C. 

Novak, Louisville, Ky.; Ray 

M. Robinson, Atlanta; Ed 

W. Jones, Atlanta 

STARTERS AND 

ANNOUNCERS 

COMMITTEE: Toby S. 

Wilt, Nashville, Tenn., 

chairman; James H. 

Blanchard, Columbus, 

Ga.; Bradford R. Boss, 

Cranston, R.I.; Virgis W. 

Colbert, Singer Island, 

Fla.; Donald V. Fites, 

Naples, Fla.; Bradford M. 

Freeman, Los Angeles; 

Sir Ronald Hampel, West 

Sussex, England; Phil S. 

Harison Jr., Augusta; J. 

Fleming Norvell, Augusta; 

Donald P. Remey, 

Jupiter, Fla.; David M. 

Roderick, Orlando, Fla.; 

Jack A. Vickers, Castle 

Rock, Colo.; J. Bransford 

Wallace, Nashville, 

Tenn.; William K. Warren 

Jr., Tulsa, Okla.; Scott 

Davenport, Charlotte, N.C. 

ADMISSION CREDENTIALS 

COMMITTEE: Lee J. 

Styslinger III, Birmingham, 

Ala., chairman; Warren A. 

Stephens, Little Rock, Ark. 

CONCESSION 

COMMITTEE: Michael D. 

Thompson, Birmingham, 

Ala., chairman 

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY 

COMMITTEE: Brian L. 

Roberts, Philadelphia, 

chairman; Hugh L. McColl 

III, Charlotte, N.C.; 

Timothy P. Neher, Boston; 

Samuel J. Palmisano, 

Southport, Conn.; Brady L. 

Rackley III, Atlanta 

FINANCE COMMITTEE: 

Hugh L. McColl Jr., 

Charlotte, N.C., chairman; 

S. Taylor Glover, Atlanta; 

Edward D. Herlihy, New 

York; Robert L. Johnston, 

Atlanta 

FIRST AID COMMITTEE: 

Dr. W. Howard Hudson, 

Augusta, chairman; 

Dr. Peter B. H’Doubler 

Jr., Atlanta; Dr. Paul J. 

Herzwurm, Evans; Dr. H. 

Bradford Jones, Augusta; 

Dr. Robert R. Waller, 

Memphis, Tenn. 

GALLERY GUARDS 

COMMITTEE: Thomas M. 

Blanchard Jr., Augusta, 

chairman; Charles G. 

Caye Jr., Augusta; James 

M. Hull, Augusta; William 

S. Morris IV, Augusta; 

J.C. Henry Claussen III, 

Augusta; Alan K. Griffin, 

Evans; Ken Hardy, 

Augusta 

GROUNDS COMMITTEE: 

William D. McKnight, 


Charles R. Yates Jr., 

Atlanta; Joseph R. Burch 

Jr., Coconut Creek, Fla.; 

Lowell Dorn, Augusta; Jay 

Forrester, Augusta; Don 

A. Grantham, Augusta; 

Michael Greene, Evans; 

Steve Hackman, Evans; 

Nick Papadakes, Lake 

Forest, Ill.; Robert L. 

Sutton, Jacksonville, Fla. 

HOSPITALITY 

COMMITTEE: W. Patrick 

Battle, Atlanta, chairman; 

Aneel Bhusri, San 

Francisco; C. William 

Griffin, Pittsburgh, Pa.; 

William B. Harrison 

Jr., Greenwich, Conn.; 

Gregory E. Johnson, San 

Mateo, Calif.; Robert E. 

Long Jr., Greensboro, N.C.; 

Darla D. Moore, Florence, 

S.C.; Dr. Condoleezza 

Rice, Stanford, Calif.; Lynn 

C. Swann, Los Angeles; 

Kevin M. Warsh, New York 

MEDIA COMMITTEE: 

Craig Heatley, Auckland, 

New Zealand, chairman; 

John J. Carr, Dublin, 

Ireland; George H. Davis 

Jr., Los Angeles; Scott T. 

Ford, Little Rock, Ark.; 

Edward D. Herlihy, New 

York; David B. Ingram, 

LaVergne, Tenn.; Robert L. 

Johnston, Atlanta; Mark C. 

McKinley, Dallas; William 

S. Morris III, Augusta; 

Thomas C. Nelson, 

Charlotte, N.C.; Claude B. 

Nielsen, Birmingham, Ala.; 

Samuel A. Nunn, Atlanta; 

Clark E. Perkins, Sydney, 

NSW, Australia; Ronald 

Townsend, Jacksonville, 

Fla. 

PAR 3 CONTEST 

COMMITTEE: Lee J. 

Styslinger III, Birmingham, 

Ala., chairman; Bruce 

A. Lilly, St. Paul, Minn.; 

Donald P. Remey, Jupiter, 

Fla. 

PARKING AND TRAFFIC 

COMMITTEE: Nick W. 

Evans Jr., Augusta, chairman; 

N. Turner Simkins, 

North Augusta; Barry L. 

Storey, Augusta; Thomas 

M. Dozier, Augusta; Paul 

Menk, Augusta; Richard 

Roundtree, Augusta 

PRESENTATIONS 

COMMITTEE: Eugene M. 

Howerdd Jr., Augusta, 

chairman; Craig Heatley, 

Auckland, New Zealand; 

Gordon B.B. Jeffrey, 

Southport, England 

SCORE REPORTING 

SYSTEM COMMITTEE: 

Charles H. Morris, 

Savannah, chairman; 

Thomas W. Dickson, 

Charlotte, N.C.; B. Franklin 

Dolan Jr., Augusta; Louis 

V. Gerstner Jr., Armonk, 

N.Y.; Mark C. Pigott, 

Medina, Wash.; William 

J. Badger, Augusta; 

Stephen W. Brown Jr., 

Evans; Joseph W. Hughes, 

Augusta 

SECURITY COMMITTEE: 

Terence F. McGuirk, 

Atlanta, chairman; 

Daniel C. Breeden Jr., 

Spartanburg, S.C.; Luis 

J. Fernandez, West Palm 

Beach, Fla.; M. James 

Gorrie, Birmingham, 

Ala.; John S. McColl, 

Atlanta; H. Taylor 

Morrissette Jr., Mobile, 

Ala.; Christopher C. Quick, 

Uniondale, N.Y.; Robert H. 

Spilman Jr., Martinsville, 

Va. 

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS 

COMMITTEE: John H. 

Dobbs, Memphis, Tenn.; 

Edwin L. Douglass Jr, 

Augusta; William S. 

Farish, Houston; Dr. Harry 

T. Harper III, Evans; John 

W. Harris, Charlotte, 

N.C.; Clifford M. Kirtland 

Jr., Atlanta; H. Colin 

Maclaine, Lancashire, 

England; J. Haley Roberts 

Jr., Augusta; George 

P. Shultz, Stanford, 

Calif.; Leroy H. Simkins 

Jr., Augusta; Robert 

P. Timmerman, Aiken; 

Francis A. Townsend Jr., 

Aiken; Frank Troutman Jr., 

Atlanta 

TOURNAMENT 

IMPROVEMENTS 

COMMITTEE: James H. 

Armstrong Jr., North 


Robert W. Berry, Tulsa, 

Okla.; Thomas G. Cousins, 

Atlanta; R. Stuart Dickson, 

Charlotte, N.C.; Charles 

F. Knight, St. Louis, 

Mo.; Robert P. O’Block, 

Chestnut Hill, Mass.; Jack 

Burke Jr., Houston; Robert 

Yanker, Atlanta 

TRANSPORTATION 

COMMITTEE: Grey 

B. Murray, Augusta, 

chairman; Clayton P. 

Boardman III, Augusta

M44 Sunday, April 1, 2018 The Augusta Chronicle • Augusta.com The Augusta Chronicle • Augusta.com Sunday, April 1, 2018 M45 


Navigating 

From downtown 

To I-20 

4 

PAR-3 COURSE 

N 

the course 

Washington 

Road 

11 

Getting to the course 

Magnolia 

Magnolia 

Lane 

Drive 

Clubhouse 

10 

14 

12 

13 

Signs will be posted to direct traffic. Patrons should pay attention to signs and 

the officers directing traffic rather than try to use their vehicles’ or smartphones’ 

navigation systems. Officials will close the eastbound ramp from Interstate 20 

to Washington Road from 7:30 to 10 a.m. each day to help direct traffic 

through the proper routes. Berckmans Road connects to Washington 

Road at Alexander Drive. Berckmans has a center turn lane, sidewalks, 

extra lighting and tunnels – two for pedestrians and one for vehicles. 

Parking 

All patrons will enter the course at the North Gate or South 

Gate. There will be no pedestrian crossing from the eastern 

sidewalk allowed on Berckmans Road; all pedestrians 

must cross at the tunnels, which were open for the first 

time in 2016, rather than try to navigate their own way 

through traffic. Pedestrians on the northern side of 

Washington Road can cross at Berckmans Road or 

at Old Berckmans Road crosswalks. For safety purposes, 

pedestrians should not cross Washington 

Road anywhere other than approved crosswalks. 

More than 8,500 free parking spaces are available 

in lots off Berckmans Road. 

When it’s 

time to go 

River Ridge 

Drive 

Water 

tower 

4 

Washington 

Road 

No patron access from 

Washington Road 

Azalea 

Drive 

Practice 

range 

Putting 

green 

1 9 

8 

2 

4 

18 

3 

7 

17 

6 

16 

15 

Course symbols 

Scoreboard 

Restrooms 

Telephones 

Concessions 

First aid 

Berckmans Road will be one way 

heading south from 4 to 9 p.m. 

each day to speed up and simplify 

patrons’ exit from the 

course. During that period, 

there will also be no left 

turns from Berckmans onto 

Washington Road. 

Westbound 

traffic on 

Washington 

Road must 

enter at gate A1 

Washington 

Road 

A1 

Lot 

A 

North 

Gate 

Lot 

B 

Lot 

B 

Public tickets limited 

to 3 entries per day 

5 

South 

Gate 

5 

6 

Berckmans 

Road 

Taxi and shuttle pickup/dropoff 

(permits only) 

No westbound left turn 

onto Berckmans Road 

Alexander 

Drive 

1 

3 

2 

From I-20 

Berckmans 

Road 

Publix 

Lot 

A 

Patrons walking from 

Washington Road should use 

the sidewalk on the west side of 

Berckmans Road to access patron tunnel 

2 

Lot 

A 

3 

Lot 

D 

Temporary 

access road 

Lot 

C 

Map navigation symbols 

2 Vehicle entrance 

routes 

5 

Lot 

D 

6 

Pedestrian routes 

Lot 

C 

Gate access for 

vehicles 

Lot 

D 

Handicap parking - 

first come, first served 

Patrons walking from Ingleside Drive 

must use the sidewalk on the west side 

of Berckmans Road to access 

patron tunnel 

Savannah River 

To Atlanta 

Exit 196 

6 

520 

Masters 

Parking 

Exit 199 

20 

1 2 

Berckmans 

Road 

Ingleside 

Drive 5 

5 

6 

Wheeler Walton 

Road Way 

Wrightsboro Road 

Daniel 

Field 

Deans 

Bridge 

Road 

Exit 200 

6 

5 

Highland 

Avenue 

Augusta 

National 

Golf Club 

Doug Barnard 

Parkway 

3 

Washington 

Road 

4 

4 

4 

Alexander 

Drive 

Exit 1 

20 

River Martintown 

Watch 4 

Road 

Parkway 

John C. 

Calhoun 

Expressway 

Gordon 

Highway 

Bobby Jones 

Expressway 

Broad 

Street 

25 

Exit 5 

1 

Downtown 

Augusta 

Augusta 

Regional Bush 

Field Airport 

4 

520 

Greene 

Street 

Exit 6 

4 

To Columbia 

2 

Vehicle 

entrance 

routes 

Routes to 


Golf Club 

Vehicle exit routes 

Gate access for 

pedestrians 

GRAPHICS: STAFF 

Sources: Augusta National Golf Club; Richmond County 

Sheriff’s Office; Augusta Traffc Engineering Department 

MASTERS PATRON PARKING IN DESIGNATED LOTS 

IS FREE ON FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS



Fan guide: 

Catch the action 

The 

Tips to help you navigate the Masters Tournament 

Junior Patron program allows one child access 

to the Masters Tournament with a badge holder 

[MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Leaderboard. [FILE PHOTOS/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] 

Teeing off on No. 1. 

Course practice green. 

Umbrellas. 

Binoculars. 

Thru board. 

Pairing sheets. 

Merchandise shopping. 

Main scoreboard. 

TICKETS 

2018 TICKETS 

No tickets are sold at the 

gate. Tournament or “series” 

badges have been sold to 

those on the patron list, which 

is full. Augusta National Golf 

Club is the only authorized 

ticket source. No refunds, 

rain checks, exchanges or 

replacements will be made if 

the course is closed because 

of weather or for other safety 

reasons. 

GATE ENTRY POLICY 

A Masters policy that limits the 

number of gate entries per ticket 

or badge went into effect in 2017. 

Each is allowed a maximum 

of three gate entries per day. 

The policy applies to the Drive, 

Chip and Putt National Finals; 

all practice rounds; and all 

tournament days. 

APPLY ONLINE FOR 2019 

Submit applications in advance 

at masters.com for tickets 

to practice rounds and daily 

tournament rounds. Create an 

account for the random selection 

process in preparation for 

2019. Previous applicants and 

new registrants will be notified, 

via email, when the 2019 

ticket application is online. 

JUNIOR TICKETS 

Children ages 8-16 can attend 

free on tournament days when 

accompanied by an accredited 

patron (the person whose 

name is on the series badge 

application). One child per 

patron. The junior program 

doesn’t apply to volunteers, 

employees or business partners 

who receive or purchase 

series badges. Juniors need 

not be related to the patron in 

order to attend. Juniors must 

register at the North Gate, 

and the patron must provide a 

driver’s license. 

THE RULES 

Bring it to the course 

Binoculars: These come in 

handy for watching action 

from a distance. Range finders 

are not allowed. 

Skin protection: A hat or visor 

is advisable. Don’t forget the 

sunscreen. 

Comfortable shoes: Augusta 

National is a hilly course, and 

the ground can get slippery. 

Golf shoes with metal spikes 

are not allowed. 

Rain gear: An umbrella can 

provide protection from the 

elements. A poncho is a good 

alternative. 

Chairs: Only collapsible chairs 

without armrests are allowed; 

one chair per person. 

Cameras: These are allowed 

on the course through 

Wednesday. Cameras are 

prohibited Thursday through 

Sunday. 

Leave it at home 

Cellphones, portable radios 

and televisions, walkie-talkies, 

audible beepers and other 

electronic devices. 

Personal bags, belt bags 

and packages can be no 

larger than 10 inches wide 

by 10 inches high by 12 

inches deep. This rule 

Follow the action 

THE MAIN SCOREBOARD 

Where to find it: On the right 

side of the first fairway 

What it tells you: Lists 

every player, his country 

and his score for each hole 

PAIRINGS SHEETS 

Where to find it: In a green 

box near entrances 

What they tell you: One 

side lists tee times; the 

other side has a map of the 

course 

THE STANDARD 

Where to find it: On the 

first tee 

What it tells you: Which 

group is up; it includes the 

player’s name and the caddie’s 

number 

LEADERBOARDS 

Where to find them: They 

are strate gically located 

throughout the course 

What they tell you: The 

scores of the leaders, along 

with weather warnings or 

other messages 

UNDERSTANDING 

THE SCORE 

Black numbers mean par; 

red is for birdie (one under 

par); bold red for eagle 

(two under par); green 

for bogey (one over par); 

and bold green for double 

bogey or higher. 

THRU BOARDS 

Where to find them: Near 

the green of each hole 

What they tell you: Players 

on the hole and their scores 

in relation to par 

also applies to purses and 

pocket books. 

Coolers and containers. 

Rigid-type chairs or stools, 

flags, banners, ladders, periscopes 

and strollers. 

AMENITIES 

Bathrooms: Expect to wait 

in line. You can minimize 

your wait by avoiding the 

most crowded bathrooms, 

which are at the main 

entrance, Amen Corner and in 

the common area left of the 

No. 17 green. Try the ones just 

off the No. 2 fairway and the 

No. 5 green near the secondary 

entrance. 

Souvenirs: Only those with 

proper credentials are allowed 

in the pro shop. Souvenirs can 

be purchased from shops near 

the main entryway and on the 

course. Cash, personal checks 

and Visa, MasterCard, Discover 

and American Express charge 

cards are accepted. 

Some souvenir prices 

T-shirts: $29.50 and up 

Golf balls: $44 for dozen; $11 

for sleeve of 3 

Polo shirts: $69 and up 

Caps: $20 and up 

Bag towels: $14 and up 

Umbrellas: $45 

AUTOGRAPHS 

Autograph-seeking is 

allowed only on the 

Washington Road side of the 

clubhouse near the practice 

facility. Asking the golfers for 

autographs on the course is 

prohibited. 

CONCESSIONS 

Food and drinks can be purchased 

with cash and with 

Visa, MasterCard, American 

Express and Discover charge 

cards. 

Some prices 

Sandwiches: $1.50-$3 

Soda/Iced tea: $2 

Coffee: $1.50 

Domestic beer: $4 

Craft/Imported beer: $5 

TOURNAMENT 

PRACTICE RANGE 

Offers Masters participants 

a world-class practice facility 

that duplicates conditions 

found on the course. The 

practice range stretches about 

400 yards from the center tee 

to the end. 

Practice tee: The 18-acre facility 

features an arced practice 

tee that can accommodate 

about three dozen players. A 

V-shape formation of pine trees 

about 235 yards out splits the 

fairways and allows players to 

practice a draw or fade from 

any point on the main tee. The 

players are hitting into the prevailing 

wind that comes from 

the southwest. 

Putting green: Similar in size to 

the one behind the No. 1 tee, this 

green is used by players who 

want to practice short putts. It is 

maintained at the same speed as 

the greens on the main course. 

This practice green is intended for 

more intense practice sessions. 

Short game area: Two greens 

and five bunkers allow players 

to practice shots that they 

find around the greens. The 

chipping greens can replicate 

certain shots that require 

finesse, such as the ones in 

front of No. 6 or the back of 

No. 13. 

SEE IT ON TV 

Today 

8 a.m.-1 p.m.: Drive, Chip and 

Putt National Finals (Golf 

Channel) 

Wednesday 

3-5 p.m.: Par-3 Contest (ESPN) 

Thursday 

3-7:30 p.m.: First-round coverage 

(ESPN) 

8-11 p.m.: First-day replay 

(ESPN) 

11:30-11:45 p.m.: Highlights 

(CBS-Ch. 12) 

Friday 

3-7:30 p.m.: Second-round 

coverage (ESPN) 

8-11 p.m.: Second-day replay 

(ESPN) 

11:30-11:45 p.m.: Highlights 

(CBS-Ch. 12) 

Saturday 

3-7 p.m.: Third-round coverage 

(CBS-Ch. 12) 

Sunday 

2-7 p.m.: Final-round coverage 

(CBS-Ch. 12) 

ON THE RADIO 

Get traffic updates on 

WGAC (580 AM/ 95.1 FM) 

throughout the day. 

Masters Radio coverage 

begins at 2 p.m. on 

tournament days at masters. 

com. XM Channel 92 and 

Sirius Channel 208 will have 

coverage starting at 2 p.m. 

each tournament day.



50 years ago, mistake left mark 


Sports Editor 

April 14, 1968, was 

supposed to be a day of 

celebration for Roberto 

De Vicenzo. 

The popular golfer from 

Argentina, who had won 

the British Open the year 

before, was celebrating his 

45th birthday that Sunday 

at Augusta. The galleries 

had serenaded him with 

“Happy Birthday” as he 

made his way around the 

course. 

As the day progressed, 

it became clear that De 

Vicenzo and Bob Goalby 

were battling for the win. 

Goalby’s torrid stretch 

of birdie-birdie-eagle on 

Nos. 13-15 propelled him 

to a final-round 66 and a 

total of 11-under 277. 

De Vicenzo played 

equally well, making 

birdies at Nos. 15 and 17, 

before a bogey on the 18th 

left him with an apparent 

65 and 11-under total. 

Preparations were under 

way for an 18-hole playoff 

on Monday to determine 

the winner. 

With De Vicenzo waiting 

for Goalby to finish up, 

playing partner Tommy 

Aaron noticed that De 

Vicenzo’s scorecard total 

was for 66. He pointed 

out the error to a Masters 

official, and a hasty meeting 

was convened in Bobby 

Jones’ cottage. 

Under the rules of golf, 

a player is responsible for 

the individual score on 

each hole of his card. Once 

a player has signed for his 

score, it must stand. 

It didn’t take Masters 

officials long to make 

their decision. Less than 

30 minutes after Goalby’s 

group had finished, the 

verdict came back in a 

statement from Hord 

Hardin, president of the 

U.S. Golf Association and 

chairman of the Masters 

rules committee: 

“Under the rules of golf, 

he (De Vicenzo) will be 

charged with a 66 which 

does not leave him in a tie 

with Bob Goalby, who is 11 

under par. He is second, 10 

under par.” 

If De Vicenzo had signed 

for a score that was lower 

than what he had actually 

made, the penalty would 

have been disqualification. 

De Vicenzo had to settle 

for second place and the 

silver medal that goes to 

the runner-up. 

What could have been 

a joyous occasion quickly 

turned sour after the error 

was discovered. 

“I play golf all over the 

world for 30 years, and 

now all I can think of is 

what a stupid I am to be 

wrong in this wonderful 

tournament,” De Vicenzo 

said afterward. “Never 

have I ever done such a 

thing.” 

Goalby never got the 

proper credit for winning 

his only major championship, 

while De Vicenzo 

became a sympathetic 

figure for his mistake. 

“I’m very happy I won 

the tournament, and 

I’d be a liar if I told you I 

wasn’t,” Goalby said. “But 

I’m really sorry I won it the 

way I did. I’d much rather 

have done it in a playoff.” 

1938 

Henry Picard didn’t mind 

waiting an extra day to 

earn his first major victory. 

Inclement weather 

pushed the start of the 

tournament back to 

Saturday, and 36 holes 

were played Sunday. 

Picard, a native of 

Charleston, S.C., handled 

the conditions and took 

a one-stroke lead over 

four golfers into Monday’s 

final round. Picard played 

the front nine in 32 in the 

final round en route to 70 

Roberto De Vicenzo signed an incorrect scorecard for 

the last round of the 1968 Masters, robbing himself of a 

shot at the green jacket. [FILE] 

1978 Masters winner Gary Player receives his green 

jacket from Tom Watson. [FILE] 

and his two-shot win over 

Ralph Guldahl and Harry 

Cooper. 

1948 

Which golfer’s only professional 

victory came at the 

Masters? If you guessed 

Claude Harmon, go to the 

head of the class. Harmon 

was best known for being 

the club pro at a pair of 

private clubs, Winged Foot 

and Seminole, but that all 

changed with a recordsetting 


National. Harmon’s total 

of 279 matched the low 

score in the tournament’s 

brief history, and his 

five-stroke win over Cary 

Middlecoff established 

a record for margin of 

victory. 

1958 

Noted golf writer Herbert 

Warren Wind coined the 

phrase “Amen Corner” to 

describe the 11th, 12th 

and 13th holes at Augusta 

National Golf Club. 

Sixty years later, it still 

resonates. Wind came up 

with the term to describe 

the critical action that 

occurred on those holes 

as Arnold Palmer sweated 

out a rules question in 

the final round that year 

to win his first Masters 

Tournament. Palmer’s 

tee shot on the par-3 

12th flew the green and 

plugged into the bank 

behind it. Heavy rain the 

night before had made 

the course very wet and 

muddy. Palmer and the 

rules official on the 12th 

were unsure whether he 

was entitled to a free drop 

from the plugged lie, so 

Palmer played the muddy 

ball and wound up taking 

a double-bogey five. 

Then, he went back and 

dropped a second ball and 

played a smart pitch that 

finished close to the hole. 

He made the short putt 

for par and turned his fate 

over to the Masters committee 

to decide which 

score would count. The 

committee’s decision was 

not instant, so Palmer 

and playing partner Ken 

Venturi proceeded to 

the 13th hole. After a big 

drive, Palmer went for 

the green and made it 

to set up an 18-foot putt 

for eagle. When the putt 

dropped, Palmer flung 

his cap in the air. Two 

holes later, Palmer got 

even better news: The 

committee ruled that U.S. 

Golf Association rules 

were in effect and that 

Palmer was entitled to 

his free drop at the 12th 

hole and a score of three. 

Defending champion Doug 

Ford and Fred Hawkins 

each had chances to tie 

Palmer if they could birdie 

the 18th hole, but neither 

could, and Palmer had 

won his first major. 

1978 

Gary Player’s third and 

final victory at Augusta 

was his most improbable. 

At 42, the South African 

wasn’t expected to challenge 

for another Masters 

title. And with a deficit 

of seven strokes to make 

up, Player definitely faced 

long odds. But Player was 

up to the challenge with 

a round that still stands 

as the lowest final-round 

score by a champion. He 

birdied seven of the final 

10 holes, including the 

18th, on his way to 64 and 

a one-shot win over Rod 

Funseth, Hubert Green 

and Tom Watson. 

1988 

When Sandy Lyle hit his 

tee shot on the final hole 

into the front-left fairway 

bunker, it appeared he 

and Mark Calcavecchia 

were headed for a 

sudden-death playoff. 

Not so fast. The Scottish 

golfer hit his 7-iron 

approach above the pin, 

then watched as it settled 

about 10 feet from the 

hole. He made the birdie 

putt for the win, then 

danced an impromptu jig 

on the 18th green. 

1998 

Mark O’Meara has never 

been known for his brash 

predictions, but he made 

one to his caddie as he 

prepared to play the final 

two holes. Trailing David 

Duval and Fred Couples 

by one shot, O’Meara was 

irked by missing a birdie 

opportunity on the 16th 

hole. “I’ll just birdie the 

last two holes,’” O’Meara 

told Jerry Higgenbotham. 

At No. 17, he made a 

10-foot birdie putt to pull 

into a tie for the lead. On 

No. 18, his approach left 

him with a 20-foot putt. 

Arnold Palmer (hands on waist) had words with 

officials at the 1958 Masters after his ball got stuck in 

a muddy bank on No. 12. He kept playing while waiting 

for the ruling, which came down in his favor, and he 

went on to claim his first Masters victory. [FILE] 

Henry Picard had to play 36 holes on Sunday and the 

final round on Monday to win the 1938 Masters. [FILE] 

True to his word, he sank 

the birdie putt to become 

the first golfer since 

Arnold Palmer in 1960 to 

birdie the final two holes 

and win the Masters. 

2008 


displayed a steady, 

all-around game in 

becoming the first South 

African since Gary Player 

to win the Masters. While 

Player broke the record 

for most Masters starts 

with his 51st appearance, 

Immelman either shared 

or held the lead after 

each round. He led the 

field in driving accuracy, 

Sandy Lyle avoided a 

playoff with a birdie on 

the closing hole in 1988 to 

win the green jacket. [FILE] 

In 1998, Mark O’Meara 

became the first golfer 

since Arnold Palmer in 

1960 to birdie the final 

two holes and win the 

Masters. [FILE] 


flexes for the gallery 

after winning the 2008 

Masters. [FILE/THE AUGUSTA 

CHRONICLE] 

tied for second in greens 

in regulation and tied for 

fourth in putting. A closing 

75 in windy conditions 

didn’t keep him from winning 

by three shots over 

Tiger Woods. Player and 

Immelman were joined by 

Charl Schwartzel in 2011 

as South Africans to win 

in Augusta.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

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