World’s No. 1, Dustin Johnson, Masterful with record -20
Finally, we got to see the long awaited 2020 Masters. I have to say, it just wasn’t the same. I don’t know if it was the fact the tournament was played in November, or that after Saturday there wasn’t much of a competition. The greatest moment of this year’s tournament happened after it had been played. Dustin Johnson, the top-ranked golfer in the world and long-time Masters contender finally clinched a green jacket. Normally calm, cool and collected from tee to green, he was anything but during his post-tournament interview this past Sunday. He struggled mightily to answer the questions he was asked, choking back tears of joy.
“Still kind of think it’s a dream, but hopefully, it’s not.”#themasters
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 16, 2020
DJ truly mastered the Masters over the weekend, shooting three rounds below 70 on his way to a new Masters record of 268 for the weekend. Shooting 20 strokes under par, he bested the former record of 270 set by Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods by two shots. In typical DJ fashion, he did his best work off the tee, sending long, booming fades into the heart of many fairways he faced. Needing only a wedge to approach most par 4s, he was towards the top of the field in greens in regulation for the tournament. Even his putter was a cut above. It was his best performance on a golf course in his career; it seems DJ has finally achieved his potential as one of the game’s best.
Tiger Woods, the 2019 Masters champion, did not fare as well this past weekend. He raised the hopes of his countless and loyal fan base by shooting 4 under on the first day but would only have one more round under par for the tournament. Despite shooting 4 over par on Sunday, Tiger displayed perhaps the most astonishing back-nine performance of the weekend. On the par 3 12th, he found the water on three separate occasions, taking a 10 on the hole. He didn’t pack it in and call it a weekend. He pushed on, scoring 5 birdies in his last 6 holes showing the world class grit and fortitude we saw in last year’s historic Masters win.
Here’s a supercut of Tiger Woods’ 10 on the par-3 12th today. https://t.co/OaZFTSdOiE pic.twitter.com/Ezk92HHBid
— dhm (@dhm) November 15, 2020
The last major storyline of the weekend was the incredible performance of South Korea’s Sungjae Im. In his first ever Masters appearance, Im shot -15 good for a second place tie with Australia’s Cameron Smith. Im, having won his first tournament in 2020 on the PGA tour, is a relative newcomer to the tour, having won rookie of the year in 2019 and Web.com player of the year in 2018. With his steady shot-making, he seems to have supplanted Hideki Matsuyama as Asia’s brightest star on the PGA tour.
All in all it was a great weekend for the game of golf. In a year that has given us little to look forward to, we got to see the tremendous athlete, the determined competitor, and the proud father that is Dustin Johnson capture the pinnacle of his sport. In the same glimpse, we saw the young boy from South Carolina fulfilling his long-time childhood dream. A perfect ending to what has been a most bizarre year on the PGA tour and the world of sports.
