The Masters

The+Masters

Thomas Olenchek, Contributor

The annual Masters golf tournament concluded on Sunday, April 9th. The Masters returned to the historic course, Augusta National. The golf was top level and some of our favorite legendary players were present. The tournament started on Thursday, April 6th and things were already spicy. Since the emergence of the new Liv Golf Saudi Backed golf tour, there has been much turmoil in the professional golf scene. Liv had acquired some of the great professional players such as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Keopka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, and one of the all-time greats Phil Mickelson. The 2023 Masters tournament saw these players once again competing within the PGA field. Another famous name returning for this year’s Masters was Tiger Woods. Tiger has been struggling with injuries over the past few years and has barely participated in any PGA events, but was present for the Masters this year. Below is a recap of the rounds.

Round 1

The first round kicked off with much excitement. The weather was warm and the sun was shining. The leaders after the day were Victor Hovland, Jon Rahm, and Brooks Koepka shooting a record-low of 65. Jon Rahm had one of the more interesting rounds. The Spaniard started off with a four put on hole 1 for a double bogey and was still able to turn it around for a 7 underperformance. The previous year’s champion Scottie Scheffler finished his first round at 4 under.

Round 2

During the second round, the weather played a major role. The golfers were met with heavy rain for the entire day until play was suspended because of it.  The rain and wind were so violent that one of the trees bordering the course fell down almost hitting multiple spectators. When the round was suspended the leader was Brooks who was 5 under. Tiger at this point in the tournament was 2 over par and it was questionable whether or not he would make the cut.

Round 3

On Saturday the morning kicked off by finishing the previous round that was suspended due to rain. Brooks was leading with Jon Rahm close on his tail. As we headed into the third round the weather was much better. It was around 60 degrees and the wind was tame. The players struggled their way through more than 18 holes and we saw some great golf. At the end of the third round, the leader was Brooks Koepka followed by Jon Rahm who was slowly catching back up.

Round 4

Sunday was the final round with all the marbles on the line. Brooks was leading going into the day and Jon Rahm was right behind him. Brooks fell off hard during this round and Rahm took a commanding lead which solidified him as the 2023 Masters champion. Jon Rahm has had an excellent year and definitely deserved a green jacket. Surprisingly, Brooks tied for second place with Phil Mickelson. Phil who has been under much scrutiny for joining the Saudi Backed Liv tour put up a great performance at the Masters securing himself a nice payout and regaining the respect of his peers.

The Masters were as always a very entertaining weekend filled with great golf and lots of drama. It was great to see our favorite golfers from the past and some newer faces dueling it out for fame and glory. Tiger made the cut after round two but withdrew from the competition due to plantar fasciitis. It is unclear if Tiger will continue to play professional golf, but we hope that this will not be the last time we see him at the Masters.