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Photo Credit: The New York Times
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The 89th version of the Masters tournament might go down as one of the best in history. It all started with the Par-3 contest, followed by the champions dinner picked by 2024 champion Scottie Scheffler. On Thursday morning, the patrons began to funnel in and take their spot on a certain hole or follow their favorite player. They all huddled around the first hole to watch the Masters open with three legends in Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson. Each of those gentlemen has won the Masters multiple times, with Watson winning twice, Player winning three times, and Nicklaus winning the tournament six times. Several big stories were coming into this week.
The first one was whether Scottie Scheffler would win back-to-back Masters championships. Was this finally the year for Rory McIlroy to win the Masters and complete the career grand slam? Would a LIV player finally win this tournament? One of the biggest draws to the tournament is the absolutely beautiful views that the golf course has to offer. The azalea is always beautiful, most of the pink in color and with the green of the course. There are many of these flowers on the course, hole 13, which is named Azalea, has 1,600 of those flowers on it. Hole 13 is the final hole of what is called “Amen Corner.” The first round went off great after some of the practice rounds were cancelled due to weather. One of the biggest surprises was first first-round leader, Justin Rose. Rose lost in a playoff in 2017 to Sergio Garcia.
The field of 95 players was down to 53 by the time round two ended. The purse for the tournament was $21 million, with the winner getting $4.2 million. To answer the stories from earlier, Scheffler struggled, but in the final round showed why he is one of the best players in the world. The closest LIV tour player was in the final group, and that was Bryson DeChambeau. DeChambeau has drawn some criticism from fans but has since become a fan favorite in some eyes. He was paired in the final group with Rory McIlroy. McIlroy was chasing the career grand slam; the Masters was the only major he had not won.
As the final round started, there was a two-shot swing as McIlroy double bogeyed the first hole and DeChambeau was tied for the lead. By the time they finished the second hole, Bryson had taken the outright lead. That would be the last bright spot for DeChambeau as he struggled the rest of the round. McIlroy did not have a perfect final round either, as he made two big mistakes, one on hole 13 and one on hole 18. Both were chip shots that cost him shots. After the mistake he made on 18, it caused a playoff with Justin Rose. Rose played a good final round that put him in a playoff. One of the interesting closing stories was where the hole 16 pin placement was in the final round. Normally, it’s in the front of the green, which has seen many great shots.
In the final round, it was placed where it was 75 years ago when Jack Nicklaus won the last of his six green jackets. The players did not let it bother them in any way, just a different look as the players came to the end of their final rounds. The playoff started and finished after one hole on the 18th. Rose and McIlroy both hit great tee shots, and then they followed that up by hitting great approach shots. Rose was further away than McIlroy and tried to make his putt for birdie, but he missed. That gave the stage to McIlroy, and as he hit his putt and made it, he immediately burst into tears. It was finally his time to don the green jacket, and the career grand slam was complete.
What is your opinion on Rory McIlroy on winning the Masters? Leave a comment below.
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Author Profile
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Director of Operations for NGSC Sports
Covers USF Athletics in Football, Baseball, Lacrosse, and Softball.
Also covered both major and minor league baseball in the Tampa Bay Rays and Clearwater Threshers.
He also covers college football bowl and conference championship games.
It might seem like just covers team sports he also covers both the PGA & LIV Tours and writes and announces for the Pinellas Park High School Patriots in football and basketball.
He also has two sports podcasts in the P&W Sports Report and The Walker Report.
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