Golfing News & Blog Articles

No winners and losers column should be this long. But for a tradition hopefully unlike any other ever again? What the heck…  

Winners

Dustin Johnson – The best player in the world overcame COVID-19, had to shed his coveted green reading books for the week, and after a few Sunday hiccups validated his consistent excellence. While he played the par-5’s in -11, his brilliance elsewhere differentiated him from everyone else: -4 on the par-3’s and -5 on the par-4’s to break the Masters scoring record. A well-earned Green Jacket in a Hall of Fame career, capped off with a rare smile and red eyes. He’s human!

April – All things considered, Augusta National proved as pleasant as ever to see in November. But the springtime vibes and inability to present a firmer, faster course served as a reminder that everything about the place is geared toward springtime. Hopefully this never happens again.  

PGA and U.S. Open – The first two rescheduled majors felt like championship examinations with most demands you’d expect at a Grand Slam event. Augusta National, while prepared as well as can be in November with tough growing conditions leading up to the event, did not present the intense test we have come to know at majors.

Tiger Woods made his worst score on a hole in his professional career on Sunday, taking 10 strokes at the par-3 12th after hitting his ball into Rae's Creek three times during the final round of the Masters.

A year ago, Rae's Creek at the par 3, 12th hole at Augusta National helped Woods win the 2019 Masters. This year, not so much. Woods notched the highest score of his career and golf fans felt Tiger's pain.

It’s not a shocking statement in one sense: we’ve known a Masters without fans would be different and might benefit players not used to the pressures of a huge gallery.

After three days and a four-stroke Dustin Johnson lead, Justin Thomas said the Sunday morning task—up early boys and girls, the NFL apparently matters more!—is tougher for chasers.

From Rex Hoggard’s GolfChannel.com story:

“I think it's a really big deal there's no patrons here,” said Justin Thomas, who pulled to within two strokes of front-runner Dustin Johnson before making four bogeys over his last seven holes. “That would have really played to my advantage or other guys trying to chase DJ.”

Another perk of the early start to accommodate the NFL: the leader will not have all day to ponder the possibilities. Normally, Masters leaders tee off around 2 pm when they’ll be finishing this Sunday’s. That’s four-and-a-half hours not to think of everything that might go wrong.

He was on top of the golf world. Then self-isolating in a Las Vegas hotel room. Now, Dustin Johnson stands 18 holes from a green jacket.

Tiger Woods' even-par 72 in the third round at the Masters knocked him out of contention, as a 4-shot deficit turned to 11 shots and the five-time Masters champion was simply unable to make much happen.

Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, looked every bit the part on Saturday at the Masters. He takes a four-shot lead into the final round.

Here is the full rundown of tee times for the final round of the 2020 Masters.

Dustin Johnson has a sizable lead, but he also has a history of not being able to finish things off at a major. Can he close? Who might push him -- or pass him? We break down the final round.

He started the third round just four shots off the lead and in the mix. Then his game stalled and his body began to give out. Here's how his third round, and hopes of another Masters title, fell away.

Bryson DeChambeau, whose COVID-19 test came back negative after he was feeling "dizzy," is at even par after 36 holes to make the Masters cut on the number.

Tiger Woods played the eight holes he had remaining at 1 under par to complete 36 holes at 5-under 139. He is in a tie for 17th place, four strokes behind the five leaders tied at 135.

Besides being looking unbecoming of the elegance that is Augusta National and totally contradicting the philosophy of the course designers, 2020’s new higher cut has turned out to be a sanctuary. From mudballs.

Longtime Masters watchers know of the mudball’s recent rise after the club started mowing fairways longer and toward tees to offset modern distances. Bubba Watson popularized the term by making sure to let us know his ball was covered in mud clumps.

Alan Shipnuck quotes players following round two about the new tall stuff and both Rickie Fowler* and Adam Scott noted the preference of rough—”in some situations”—over the fairways (mudball!).

The second cut was introduced as a low-key penalty for errant drives; it makes it a little harder to impart spin, and that is significant when playing to precise spots on the ultimate second-shot golf course. But the rain taketh and the rain giveth. Adam Scott has been largely unbothered by the vagaries of the rough because the saturated greens are still so soft that even spinless shots from the second cut are stopping dead. “Normally, you’re just losing that little bit of control,” Scott says, “and on a firmer green, you’ve got some difficult decisions to make on how you’re going to manage to get it on the green or keep it on the green. It’s a little more straightforward out there at the moment.”

And because it’s 2020, there are times when hitting it into the rough can actually feel advantageous. Fowler estimates he’s getting half-a-dozen mudballs per round on the closely-cropped fairways. “Actually, I mentioned it to [playing partner Willett] yesterday when we were on 11. He had just missed the fairway right, into the first cut, and chipped a 6- or 7-iron down there to the middle of the green. I was in the middle of the fairway with a mud ball and had to aim over at 12 tee, and I still almost hit it in the water. So I feel like it’s almost harder to pick up mud balls in that first cut. In some situations, you’d almost rather that, or you wouldn’t mind it.”

Without those sulfourous green reading books sidelined this week and with a tightly bunched leaderboard where the slightest mistake could lose a green jacket, caddies take on extra meaning at The Masters.

Ward Clayton filed a definitive piece for Masters.com this week on the art of charting Augusta National compared to normal weeks where more of the charting is already done for players and caddies. How we got here is pretty incredible and there remains so much local knowledge to Augusta National.

Just a sampling from the piece related to the shining star that is 2020:

Yardages are important, especially this week when a landmark such as grandstands are absent and another marker must be documented. But at Augusta National, it’s the greens that are the final exam. Putts that look to break one way do the exact opposite or roll out much more than expected, resulting in head scratching and insecurity.

Willie Lee “Pappy” Stokes, the godfather of Augusta National caddies and a five-time winner as a caddie, quickly figured out a secret that Augusta National caddies carried for decades. In the caddie facilities adjacent to the Tournament Practice Facility, simple framed maps of green complexes hang on the walls. On every drawing, there is a distinct red dot, showing the direction of Rae’s Creek from that green – and the tendency for putts to break to the lowest point on the property when it’s not evident to the naked eye. Many caddies over the years have denoted that red dot in their personal Augusta National yardage books.

There was no disputing that Adam Scott had the unluckiest break at the Masters on Friday, a wretched piece of poor fortune that fully tested the Australian's famous sense of equanimity.

Ariya Jutanugarn announced she has tested positive for the coronavirus and has pulled out of next week's LPGA Pelican Women's Championship in Florida.

Close your eyes. Look at the jam-packed leaderboard. Notice all the big names. You would this is just like every other Masters, loaded with drama and possibilities heading into the weekend.

Tiger Woods remained at 4 under with Masters play suspended due to darkness and will be just off the fairway with his drive at No. 11 when second-round action resumes Saturday.

Bernhard Langer will become the oldest player to make the 36-hole cut at the Masters, topping the record by Tommy Aaron in 2000 by 33 days.

There are some big names -- that's you, Bryson -- who will wake up with work to do on what will be a long and busy Saturday at Augusta National.