What a week at the Masters!

Hi everyone,

Who watched the Masters?! As always it was a historic week that won't be forgotten for a long time! There was so much phenomenal golf played! 

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Throughout the week there were a few players I had my eye on and some that maybe we didn't expect to see atop the Masters' leaderboard on a Sunday afternoon!

Justin Rose shot an amazing opening round 65 to hold a four-shot lead at seven-under-par overnight! After an even-par round, of 72, on Friday, he maintained the lead but only by one. After a solid round of 72 on Saturday he stuck at that seven-under-par number but people started to catch him. After a final round two-over par, 74, he ended up in seventh, which is still a great finish at such a historic event. 

Marc Leishman headed into Sunday also at a tie for second sitting at seven-under-par. Marc played a solid round which ended up as a one-over par, 73, to finish tied for fifth with new father Jon Rahm. In a stellar final round of 66, six-under-par Jon played his way into a top-5 finish! 

Xander Schauffele had a great week and was also at that seven-under-par number, which was tied for second, headed into Sunday! Xander played in the final group yesterday and we all thought he had a shot at catching the leader! The 16th hole proved difficult where he, unfortunately, came up short left, ending up in the water. After a difficult 9-iron from the drop zone he was over the green and had to chip up, then just barely missed the putt to save double and ended up walking away with a triple-bogey taking him essentially out of the mix. In comments after the round, Xander said he knew he was chasing and had to take the risk if he wanted a shot at the green jacket, going at it and coming up short was the risk. Even though he fell into a Top-3 finish, he played great and proved that he can do well at Augusta. Hopefully, some April Sunday to come he will be the one wearing the historic green jacket!

Will Zalatoris had an unbelievably fantastic week at his first-ever Masters! Will was one of a small group of players to finish runner-up in his first appearance at the Masters. Just a few years ago Will was roughly 2,000th in the world rankings and has since climbed to 45th! This year Will is not a full-time member of the PGA Tour and will need a win to become one and to be eligible for FedEx Cup points. Despite only getting into events via sponsors exemptions he has proved that he belongs. I have a feeling this won't be the last that we see of Will Zaltitoris at Augusta National and around the PGA Tour!

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Other great players played phenomenally this week but one of them outplayed the field! Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese man to win a major! Hideki had a four-shot lead headed into his final round yesterday and stayed focused to finish it off with a one-stroke victory over Zalatoris! Hideki's win is huge for the game of golf and huge for Japan! Hideki has been such a consistent player for so long and it was only a matter of time before he took home a major victory. Hideki's win also made the events at Augusta National even more special because another great Japanese player, Tsubasa Kajitani, took home the title at the second playing of the Augusta National Women's Amateur! 

Just 5 months after the 2020 Masters in November the tournament returned to April for an unforgettable week! Already the whole golf world is counting down until next year's event! 

~NH Golfer Gal