Tag: 2021 Masters

Masters: Wanna play Augusta National? Here are your options

Here are a few ways you can pull off the seemingly impossible (but it certainly won’t be easy).

Watching golf inherently makes you want to play golf, which makes Masters week equal parts pleasure and pain.

From the sounds of birds chirping and Jim Nantz on the call to the breathtaking drone aerials of the undulating fairways, golf viewers spend all week drooling over the mere thought of driving down Magnolia Lane for a round at Augusta National Golf Club, ranked No. 3 among Golfweek’s Best classic courses.

So how does one go about scoring a round on one of golf’s most famous courses? Here are a few ways you can pull off the seemingly impossible (but it certainly won’t be easy).

Masters Leaderboard: Live leaderboard, schedule, tee times

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Olympics: Hideki Matsuyama shoots for a gold medal to go with his green jacket

Matsuyama’s star power went next level in April when he won the Masters. But winning Olympic gold at home? That would be legendary.

Does gold go with green? Reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama sure hopes so.

With Naomi Osaka bounced from women’s tennis in the third round of the Olympics, Matsuyama will take center stage as the most prominent Japanese athlete in the Tokyo Games. During his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday, Matsuyama noted that he’d been watching his fellow Japanese athletes compete in the Olympics via his cell phone and it’s been very inspiring.

“Some of them are winning the medals as well. Last night I watched one of them win the table tennis gold medal too, which was also inspiring as well,” he said. “So, I think I want to join them and do my best and convert the inspiration into how I play well on the golf course.”

Tee times: Olympic men’s golf competition

Matsuyama’s star power went next level in April when he became the first male Japanese golfer to win a major and sent his golf-mad country into a frenzy. Winning gold at home? That would be sporting immortality.

But it won’t be easy.

Matsuyama hasn’t been the same golfer since his victory at the Masters. His best result since is a tie for 23rd at the PGA Championship. Last month, he was forced to withdraw from the Rocket Mortgage Classic after the first round when he tested positive for COVID-19. He also missed the British Open and hasn’t completed an event in six weeks.

“When I was initially diagnosed with COVID 19, the number was very high,” Matsuyama said. “I tested positive for COVID for about 10 days in duration, so in that time I was staying home and did my best to recover from the symptoms. During that time I was unable to practice, but once I got back to Japan I started practicing. So in terms of preparation, it started a little bit with a delay but hopefully I’ll be able to be in the best form possible for the event this week.”

Matsuyama, World No. 20, didn’t sugarcoat the fact that his recent results haven’t been up to his high standards.

“Since my Masters win I haven’t had the best results so far this summer, so I’m a little bit nervous, but I’m really looking forward to it, I think it’s going to be really fun and I’m going to try to do my best to play well,” he said.

Working in Matsuyama’s favor is local course knowledge. He won the 2009 Japan Junior at Kasumigaseki Country Club’s East Course and the 2010 Asia-Pacific Amateur at the club’s West Course to earn his first Masters invitation.

“In a way Kasumigaseki has been a place and catalyst for me to progress and grow, so hopefully I could do the same this week and move on to the another level,” he said.

The pressure to succeed and win a medal at home is immense for Matsuyama, but he delivered with flying colors at Augusta National in April, so there’s no reason to believe this moment will prove to be to big for him

“This is the first time playing the Olympics, so I’m not sure how I’m going to feel,” he said, “but I’m going to do my best and try to get myself to the best position possible.”

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With thoughts of sushi on his Masters Champions Dinner menu, Hideki Matsuyama returns to action with a confidence boost

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama celebrated his victory at the Masters back home in his native land and brought the Green Jacket along for the party.

At the 2019 Zozo Championship, the PGA Tour’s first official tournament in Japan, Jordan Spieth was paired in the first two rounds with Australian Adam Scott and Japan’s favorite son, Hideki Matsuyama. It gave Spieth a first-hand taste of what the life of a rock star must be like.

“I remember walking off the first tee talking to Adam and being like, I remember him saying, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this.’ I mean, it was six deep the entire first fairway,” Spieth recalled. “It was probably the biggest Thursday crowd and most like, maybe most exciting, most nerve-wracking crowd I had ever played in front of on like a Thursday and Friday. It was bizarre. And then I can only imagine, obviously, what this Masters impact has had over there.”

As Spieth, the 2015 Masters champ noted, he didn’t have an entire country living and dying with his every swing. If Matsuyama had rock-star treatment then, his popularity has soared since he became the first male Japanese golfer to win one of the four majors, capturing the Masters on April 11 by one stroke over Will Zalatoris.

When last spotted in the US, Matsuyama, 29, was strolling through a Chicago airport carrying the winner’s Green Jacket en route to a commercial flight to Japan, where he enjoyed showing off his new prized possession to his parents and friends. He also wore the Green Jacket on two other occasions – first for a press conference and then to receive the Prime Minister’s award from Japan’s Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo.

“I realize now the responsibility that goes with a major championship, especially the Masters,” Matsuyama said, “I’m honored. I’m flattered by the added attention, but at the same time, sometimes it’s difficult to say no. But it goes with the territory and, again, grateful that I have this opportunity and I’ll try my best to prepare well for what’s to come.”

Matsuyama hardly touched a club while he was in his native land, and he said he planned to use this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch “to try to find my game again and prepare for the PGA Championship next week.”

Byron Nelson: Fantasy rankings | Betting odds

Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama poses with a framed, autographed Masters flag that he gave to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on April 30, 2021. Matsuyama received the Prime Minister’s Award in Tokyo on Friday for winning the Masters. (Photo: Masanori Takei/Kyodo News via AP)

If anyone can avoid a Masters hangover, it’s Matsuyama, who has never shied away from hard work. As a matter of fact, Zalatoris, the Masters runner-up, identified Matsuyama’s work ethic as the trait he most admires in the Japanese star.

“The guy just absolutely grinds his tail off,” said Zalatoris, who stopped to congratulate Matsuyama in the parking lot on Tuesday, and noted he’s a constant club tinkerer. “It’s just kind of cool to see a guy try to find the tiny intricacies in different clubs and his golf swing. It’s really admirable to see someone who is that passionate about excelling at this game.”

Matsuyama has been so busy since his life-changing triumph that he hasn’t watched the Sunday broadcast of the Masters yet, but seeing the highlights brought back a flood of emotions.

“I got nervous again, just like I was playing, and it was, at some points, difficult to watch because I was so nervous,” he said.

Matsuyama described winning the Masters as both a sense of relief after previous close calls at the majors and a confidence booster, one that he hopes can spur him to even greater heights.

“It had been awhile and now moving forward and looking forward I still have the drive to want to win more on the PGA Tour and hopefully the confidence or the relief,” he explained. “It’s kind of an unusual combination of the two feelings of how I look at myself and hopefully I’ll be successful in the future.”

While he has time to select his menu for the Champions Dinner held on the Tuesday of Masters week, Matsuyama said he’s leaning towards serving sushi.

“I’m a little worried,” he said. “I don’t know if everyone will really like sushi or not, but I’m going to check with some people and get their advice and what they think. There’s a lot of really good food from Japan, a lot of, some of the best beef in the world, so I’m thinking about that and looking forward to it next year.”

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Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama receives Prime Minister’s Award in Japan

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama received the Prime Minister’s Award in Japan following his major victory earlier this month.

When Hideki Matsuyama won the 2021 Masters earlier this month, he left Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia with a fancy green jacket, a sterling silver replica of the Masters Trophy, a gold medal and a whopping $2.07 million.

On Friday, the 29-year-old earned another esteemed honor.

Matsuyama received the Prime Minister’s Award from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo after becoming the country’s first male major champion.

“Due to the influence of the coronavirus, both worldwide and across Japan, we are all living different lives, but even in these times, if this win can provide a sliver of hope to people, and inspire more kids, or even just one kid to want to try and play golf in the future, that makes me extremely happy,” said Matsuyama. “I am very happy to receive the Prime Minister’s Award for winning the Masters.”

Matsuyama, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour – including two World Golf Championship titles – is the 34th individual recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award.

“If by me winning the Masters inspires little children to think that they too can now win the Masters, then that makes me extremely happy. I’d be thrilled if other athletes and kids look at golf and want to get better. I will continue to do my best,” Matsuyama added, while noting his work this year is just beginning.

“This just makes me want to work even harder and do even better, and I thank you all for your continued support. I will work hard to win a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics.”

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‘Best day of my life:’ Will Zalatoris announces engagement on Instagram

Will Zalatoris finished runner-up at the Masters earlier this month, but the “best day” of his life was announcing his engagement.

It’s really cool to be Will Zalatoris these days.

The 24-year-old has been wildly successful on the golf course this season, finishing runner-up in his first Masters appearance at Augusta National Golf Club earlier this month to go along with six top-10 finishes in 16 starts on the PGA Tour this season.

The former Wake Forest star and 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur champion is enjoying life off the golf course, as well. On Monday he announced his engagement to girlfriend Caitlin Sellers, also a Demon Deacon, with a series of pictures on Instagram with the caption, “Best day of my life. I love you.”

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Billy Horschel was blue at the 2021 Masters, but he meant to be

Take a look at what Billy Horschel, Ralph Lauren ambassador, wore from the company during his entire week at the 2021 Masters.

PGA Tour professional Billy Horschel has been a Ralph Lauren ambassador since 2011, and the 2014 FedEx Cup champion sported the brand’s navy blue tones at this year’s Masters. 

For Thursday’s first round at Augusta National, Horschel wore a camouflage navy polo, a navy quarter-zip pullover and white pants. The Paneled Stretch Pullover features moisture-wicking materials nylon, polyester and elastane. There is a flap at the top of the mock neck that prevents chafing.

2021 Masters Tournament - First Round
Billy Horschel during the first round of the Masters wearing came polo and white pants. (Gregory Bull/Associated Press)

In the second round, he carded his lowest round of the tournament, a 71, in a navy blue paisley polo, a bastille blue half-zip pullover and navy pants. The Classic Fit Jersey Polo Shirt in French Navy Paisley had Horschel standing out from other players with its pattern. The polo fabric is crafted from a breathable, sustainable cotton.

Billy Horschel during the second round of the Masters wearing Printed Pima Jersey Polo in French Navy Printed Paisley and Tailored Fit 5-Pocket Performance pant in French Navy. (Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)

On Saturday, Horschel wore a lightweight printed navy polo, a navy long-sleeve jacket and white pants. The Performance Twill Pant comes in a variety of fits and colors. The lightweight and stretchy pant is made of a moisture-wicking cotton, polyester and elastane blend.

Billy Horschel during the third round of the Masters wearing Printed Lightweight Airflow polo in Navy Deco and Tailored Fit Featherweight Cypress pant in white. (Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports)

For Masters Sunday, Horschel went with a white polo, a fall-blue long sleeve full-zip and navy pineapple printed pants. Horschel’s pineapple pants also come in a 9-Inch Classic Fit Water- Repellant Short as well. The polyester shorts have a total of five pockets and have Ralph Lauren’s signature rivet.

Billy Horschel’s 2021 Masters looks by Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren)

Stats say don’t expect more success from Hideki Matsuyama in 2021

Does winning the Masters typically lead to more success for the golfer who puts on the green jacket? The answer is surprising.

There are four stages to an angler’s career, with the first being that you just want to catch a fish. After that, you want to catch a lot of fish, and then you want to catch a big fish. The last stage is when you want to catch a lot of big fish.

Professional golfers go through similar stages of development, from wanting to win a tournament, to wanting to win lots of tournaments, winning a major and finally winning several majors. By capturing the title at Augusta National two weeks ago, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama has achieved the third stage. At 29, he now has six PGA Tour wins and eight international wins. Those titles now include the WGC-Bridgestone Championship, the WGC-HSBC Champions and the Masters.

Matsuyama’s breakout season on the PGA Tour came in 2017 when he won three times and rose as high as No. 2 in the world. He finished that year ranked fifth.

Winning a major championship is great, but winning the Masters is unique because it is the first of the four, so players who win at Augusta still have a significant portion of the season in front of them. If they were good enough to win at Augusta National, conventional wisdom would think they should be able to win more in the months that follow.

But does winning the Masters typically lead to more success for the golfer who slips into the green jacket? Is a win at Augusta National predictive of more success later in that season? Based on the numbers in the table below, the answer is clear: Winning the Masters does not typically lead to more wins later in the season.

The 2020 Masters was postponed until November, so Dustin Johnson’s Masters is not included here, but as you can see, six of the 11 players listed in the table above failed to win another tournament after they won their Masters. As a group, they won just nine tournaments in the seasons after their Masters victories and averaged just over four more top-10 finishes.

Adam Scott, in 2013, was the only player to make the cut in all of his remaining tournaments after winning his Masters. Scott, who won in 2013, and Jordan Spieth, the winner in 2015, are also the only players to win multiple times since 2009 during the same season after they won the Masters.

As he does in most statistical matters, Tiger Woods dominates in post-Masters performances. He has won five times at Augusta, and while he typically played fewer total events than most players, he won at least one tournament every year after winning a Masters. He also averaged four more top-10 finishes.

After taking two more weeks off, Matsuyama is expected to play the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. His best performance there is a T-11, although he did tie for fifth when it hosted the 2017 PGA Championship. He has stated that his next goal is to win a gold medal at the 2021 Olympics, which will be hosted by Japan in August.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, only people living in Japan will be spectators at the Olympics this summer, so Matsuyama should get most of the cheers at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, where the Olympic golf events will be played.

Local support and experience on the course could help to propel Matsuyama to Olympic golf, but if history is a guide, we will not see much more success from Matsuyama in 2021.

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World No. 1 Dustin Johnson playing well, scoring poorly at RBC Heritage

Dustin Johnson is coming off missing the Masters cut at the 2021 RBC Heritage.

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – World No. 1 Dustin Johnson’s funk continued Thursday in the first round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.

The reigning FedEx Cup champion hit more than enough good shots to post a low round but instead made a couple mistakes and had a few bad breaks that led to another ho-hum round.

Johnson made six birdies but drove his tee shot into a penalty hazard on the 18th, had one three-putt and caught a gust of wind that led to a double-bogey 5 on the par-3 4th and he signed for a 1-under-par 70 – seven shots behind pace-setting and two-time RBC Heritage champion Stewart Cink.

“I felt like I played pretty well,” Johnson said. “Just like on 4 I hit a good shot. Just got a little gust of wind (and the ball went into the water). On 18, I just chipped a driver. Didn’t think it was going to get anywhere close to (the penalty area), but obviously rolled out a long way. The 3-putt was bad, but I felt like I played pretty well. Drove it good. Hit a lot of the good shots. I need to just clean it up a little bit tomorrow.”

RBC Heritage: Tee times, TV info | Yardage book | Fantasy picks

It’s been that way for Johnson for a while now. She he won the Saudi International in February, he has just one top-10 in five starts and three finishes outside the top 25. He also missed the weekend as the defending champion in last week’s Masters when he had six three-putts to miss the cut by two strokes.

He worked hard on his putting ahead of the RBC Heritage, but the results were more of the same.

“Felt like I rolled it really good. Even the couple short ones that I missed I hit them where I wanted to; just misread them a little bit,” he said. “The greens are tricky. They’re hard to read. I was happy with the way I rolled it. Happy with the way I’ve been swinging it. Just need to clean up a little bit more tomorrow.

“Just a couple of mistakes, but just nothing really that I did too wrong.”

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Stewart Cink settles into RBC Heritage lead amidst soothing vibe of Hilton Head Island

Stewart Cink hasn’t missed a chance to tee it up at Harbour Town Golf Links for 22 consecutive years.

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Stewart Cink has long treasured his journeys to this little spot in the world that hugs the Atlantic Ocean, an island paradise featuring a legendary lighthouse, charming ambiance, peaceful streets lined with an assortment of trees and miles of inviting beaches and bike trails.

All of which surrounds the gem named Harbour Town Golf Links, a challenging Pete Dye layout that tests one and all golfers without brutalizing them. The first time Cink toured Harbour Town, he won the 2000 MCI Classic, now known as the RBC Heritage. Added another win in 2004 and hasn’t missed a chance to tee it up here for 22 consecutive years.

“I feel so relaxed here,” Cink said. “I think it’s the vibe. Is it the week after the Masters vibe or is it the Hilton Head Island vibe? Maybe a little bit both. Coming after the grindhouse that Augusta National can be – especially this year, conditions were pretty tough – it’s nice to come here and relax a little bit, exhale.”

Well, he relaxed a bit too much ahead of his opening tee shot Thursday in the first round of the RBC Heritage, sending his golf ball deep into a lake guarding the 10th hole and making bogey. From there, however, Cink didn’t have another blemish on his card full of seven birdies and an eagle and grabbed the first-round lead with an 8-under-par 63 — his career low at Harbour Town.

RBC Heritage: Tee times, TV info | Yardage book | Fantasy picks

“It really was a very smooth round once I got past the obstacle of the first hole. It was probably one of the worst opening drives I ever hit in my life,” he said. “You’d think that’s a bad way to start, but in a way it’s a wake-up call. After playing in the Masters and being super focused and intense, to come here and be lazy on the first shot was kind of like a slap in the face and it got my attention.

“I was just so relaxed and lackadaisical on the shot that I just kind of didn’t really go through my normal preparation on the shot. Just completely went to sleep at the wheel. Then I really played very, very well the rest of the way.”

Quite a few players played well under overcast skies. Matt Wallace, who finished third in the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago and tied for 34th in last week’s Masters, shot a bogey-free 65 to stand in second among the early finishers.

Billy Horschel, Charles Howell III and Harold Varner III were at 66.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson finished with a 70.

“This week’s so much more relaxed than last,” Horschel said. “You’re just so excited to get to Augusta, can’t wait to play, and by maybe the middle of the week or after the first round, gosh, this place just drives me insane. It’s just one of those weeks where it drives you a little insane with the way the wind can be; the way they set it up. It just requires a lot from you as a golfer.

“So, it’s always nice to come over here after a stressful challenging week like it would be at any major.”

Hilton Head’s casual atmosphere even made an angry golfer smile. Wallace was one of several European Tour stars to take part in a hilarious video released earlier this year where they gathered together to attend an anger management therapy group to discuss their issues (Wallace has had problems with caddies).

Wallace had few issues in the first round and loves Hilton Head.

“I do like it here,” said Wallace, who added that the angry golfer video was brilliant, and the outtakes are even better. “My girlfriend has been coming here with her family for a really long time and it’s a special place. Really nice and chilled and we enjoy it.

“Tournament golf is not decompression (golf) for me. I am fully focused out there. But I like the vibe, the chilled vibe, and I like the trees. I mean, it’s pretty cool that you’ve got all the roads in between the trees and the shrubs, the dense growth.

“The golf course itself is nice as well. I like playing here. I’ve got a good handle of what I want to do on the golf course, and it showed today.”

‘It’s a crazy wild ride’: Will Zalatoris remains grounded as his golf stock rockets skyward

“It’s definitely different, going and picking up some food and people asking for autographs or pictures,” the 24-year-old rookie said.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – He got a shoutout from a Hollywood star.

His galleries and interview requests are growing by the week and he’s banked $3 million this year. And he’s coming off a runner-up finish in the Masters.

How are you rolling, Will Zalatoris?

“I think none of that will really sink in until I get home. It’s definitely different, going and picking up some food and people asking for autographs or pictures,” the 24-year-old rookie said on Wednesday at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. “I kind of humble myself and say, ‘I didn’t win, I finished second.’ It’s like, I’ve felt like I’ve been getting some treatment like I won, but to me it’s funny.

“I enjoy it, interacting with the fans. They’re the ones that we play for.”

Despite all the heady stuff going on in his world, Zalatoris remains level-headed. His meteoric rise – he was ranked 1,514th in the Official World Golf Ranking in April of 2019, was 483rd in April of 2020 and now rests at 27th after nearly becoming the first rookie to win the Masters in 42 years – hasn’t changed his good nature and calm demeanor.

RBC Heritage: Tee times, TV info | Yardage book | Fantasy picks

He’s still the same guy who was Monday qualifying for Korn Ferry Tour events two years ago, the same guy who won his lone pro title at the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes on the Korn Ferry Tour last July.

Then again, he’s not the same guy inside the ropes and he might just be on the USA Ryder Cup team. Since winning in Colorado, he’s made 22 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour and finished in the top-10 10 times and the top-25 18 times. He tied for sixth in the U.S. Open and fell one shot shy of Hideki Matsuyama in the Masters – the only two majors he’s played as a pro.

Last week, fulfilling a nearly lifelong dream, he was on cloud nine playing Augusta National but didn’t let the moment go to his head, a nod to the strong support system around him, including his parents and golf mentor, David Price.

At Augusta, Zalatoris became a huge storyline early on and revered swing coach Butch Harmon said Zalatoris looked like a 1-iron without a grip.

And then movie star Adam Sandler, aka Happy Gilmore, noted in a tweet that Zalatoris looked like one of his caddies in the 1990s comedy and wrote: “Have fun today young man. Mr. Gilmore is watching you and very proud.”

Zalatoris responded with his own tweet – “If you’re ever in need of a caddie again let me know. I’ll be better this time. I’m always available for you, Mr. Gilmore.” – and then went out and almost won a green jacket.

When he left Augusta National, there were 852 text messages on his phone.

“I still wish I could put into words how much fun I actually had,” Zalatoris said. “I was able to appreciate playing in my first Masters because, of course, like I’ve said, I really haven’t taken anything for granted over the last two years.

“It’s a crazy wild ride that I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it. To be in contention on a Sunday at Augusta was obviously a dream come true. Obviously to come up one short will sting forever, but I know that I can contend against the best players in the world, and I know I’m capable of getting those two shots somewhere pretty soon.”

Pretty soon could be this week as he makes his tournament debut. The tight, treelined Harbour Town with smallish greens seems right up Zalatoris’ alley because of his ball-striking talents.

“I love the golf course,” he said. “It’s in phenomenal shape. I think it will be a really good place for me. It’s very tight off the tee, overhanging trees. Obviously really got to work the golf ball into some of these greens just because of kind of the tight corners.

“But I’m looking forward to it. This was a tournament that even though a lot of people on paper did say, well, you hit it far, this place kind of handcuffs your advantage, but obviously my iron play I think is the best part of my game, and so this is an event that I’ve really been looking forward to.

“This golf course actually suits me pretty well.”

Lately, most every course has suited him well.

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