Birds may be chirping, the sun may be shining, but it not truly spring until we reach the second Thursday in April. For four glorious days we get to watch the best players in the world attack the world’s most beautiful golf course in hopes of attaining the elusive green jacket. It is a tradition unlike any other, the Masters. And then just like that, as sudden as it arrived, it’s over, but not without plenty of highlights from four phenomenal days of golf.
As is usually the case at a major golf tournament, most of the talk revolved around a golfer who hasn’t won a major since the Bush administration. That’s right, Tiger Woods. A tournament that used to basically be the Tiger invitational has not seen a Woods victory in a decade, but he remains the center of attention. Woods came into this years masters having just returned from a lengthy tour absence, and expectations were low. Tiger played well the first two days and exploded on Saturday, leaving him -6 and paired with world #1 and fellow Nike ambassador Rory Mcilroy. However, his game faltered on Sunday, and in classic Tiger fashion, the excuse train began to rev its engines. On the 10th hole, after a bad shot into the pine, Tiger came up with a mysterious wrist injury, and was in evident pain throughout the rest of the round, in an effort to portray himself as some sort of “hero”. There is no other explanation for someone to injure themselves more playing the game of golf. Tiger’s game, along with his hopes for a 15th major, faded more and more as the day went on, and Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors only gets more out of reach.
Speaking of the world’s best golfer, McIlroy came into 2015 playing the best golf of his career. Following back to back major wins at the British Open and PGA championship, Rory was the heavy favorite at Augusta. But as he so often does early in the season, he started slowly. At the turn on Friday, he was +3, in serious danger of missing the cut. Finally the Rory magic came to life, as he finished the remaining 45 holes at -15, good for fourth. The Masters is still the one Rory needs to complete the career grand slam, and the more years go by, the more he may be haunted by his 2011 collapse. The quicker he wins one, which seems inevitable, the better. However, his game seems to be back and he should be fun to watch dominate the rest of the year’s majors.
Pick any year, any tournament, and the odds are good you will find Phil Mickelson near the top of the leaderboard. One of the most consistent players on tour proved it once again, with a finish that was tied for second. It was his 10th second place finish in his career, not quite good enough to top our run away winner for 2015…
…Jordan Spieth. What can you really say about Spieth that hasn’t been said? At 21 years old he just tied the all time low score at a major, and he seems to be getting better and better. At no point during the entire week did he seem even a bit caught up in the moment, ridiculous for a kid who should be a college senior. One of the cool stories surrounding Spieth is his caddy, a former middle school teacher, now caddying for a PGA champion. In the big picture, golf has found its rivalry for years to come. Spieth vs. McIlroy. American vs European. Both age 25 or younger. With Phil and Tiger passing the torch, I can’t wait for a future Masters, with Jordan and Rory going shot for shot on the back nine. A new era of golf is upon us.
The Beantown Buzz 