Rose wilts, Zalatoris challenges, Matsuyama hangs on for the win
It was the shortest turnaround for a Masters we’ve ever seen, but it just felt right to watch the world’s greatest this weekend on their most prestigious course. Some great headlines heading into the weekend made it more fun than the 2020 watered down COVID version of the tournament. Jordan Spieth captured his 12th tournament victory the weekend prior in San Antonio, after a nearly 4 year absence from the winner’s circle. Heading into Masters week, many were left wondering if Spieth was finally back. Sadly, this tournament did not include golf’s greatest icon, Tiger Woods, as he is recovering from his recent car accident. With numerous others vying for their first green jacket, names like Rose, Thomas, Rahm, Casey, Finau, and Matsuyama, it was nonetheless a very entertaining weekend of golf.
Justin Rose jumped out in front after Thursday with an incredible -7, among the lowest opening rounds in the tournament’s history. Sadly, Justin would scratch and claw the rest of the weekend but not shoot better than par on any of the last three days. After a disastrous triple-bogey on 9 during his opening round on Thursday, Jordan Spieth played his way to the top of the leaderboard, finishing two shots off the lead going into Saturday along with other young phenoms such as Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith, Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama on the heels of Rose.
In these 5 Masters:
2014
2015
2016
2018
2021Spieth had been beaten by a total of SIX players.
And has one green jacket to show for it. Seems impossible.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) April 11, 2021
It was Day three that we saw the cream rise to the top. Through an incredible effort striking the ball to distances within 5 feet of certain pin locations, Hideki Matsuyama played his way into pole position. A thunderous -7 on moving day put Matsuyama several shots ahead of the majority of his competition going into Sunday, while Rose floundered shooting even on the day. We were also graced with the amazing and consistent play from Will Zalatoris, who went into the weekend one shot off the lead and maintained his composure on Saturday shooting a 71. The 24-year-old Zalatoris would finish solo-second at -9 for his first Masters. I expect he will compete in many more to come.
With a commanding four shot lead going into Sunday, Hideki Matsuyama shot a resilient 73, only giving up one stroke as he staved off charges from Will Zalatoris and Xander Schauffele in what was an eventful final 9. A well-deserved green jacket for Japan’s first major champion on the PGA Tour.
History for Hideki! 🏆
Matsuyama wins the Masters and becomes Japan’s first men’s major champion. 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/RDBAU0S3SI
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 11, 2021
