Tag: 2023 Masters Tournament

Want to keep the Augusta party going? Check out these 14 Masters-themed items

Keep the Augusta vibes going with our list of best Masters-themed items in 2023.

The 87th playing of The Masters was absolutely incredible.

Sam Bennett’s showing, Phil Mickelson’s runner-up finish and of course Jon Rahm claiming his first green jacket were all storylines we loved watching over the course of the week.

As always, Augusta National Golf Club leaves us too quickly. However, we’ve brought together some of the best items to help keep the vibes from Augusta flowing.

From apparel worn by players throughout the week to t-shirts and accessories, this list features top of the line items centered around the best week of the golfing calendar.

Be sure to check out our lists that feature Masters-themed accessories, shoes and other spring time golf must haves.

Dressed for Success: Jon Rahm at the 2023 Masters

See how Jon Rahm dressed for success at the 2023 Masters in TravisMatthew apparel.

Jon Rahm finally has his green jacket.

Rahm overcame a four-shot deficit at the start of Sunday’s play, and defeated Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson by three shots to win the 2023 Masters.

Rahm’s special-edition painted golf shoes said “VAMOS”, and that’s exactly what the Spaniard did.

In addition to his second major title, Rahm takes home $3.24M, the largest-ever prize for a Masters winner.

We’ve already taken a look into Rahm’s winning equipment, so let’s dive into the champion’s closet and see how Jon dressed for success in TravisMathew apparel at the 2023 Masters.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

Winner’s Bag: Jon Rahm, 2023 Masters at Augusta National

Check out the clubs that got the job done in Augusta.

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A complete list of the golf equipment Jon Rahm used to win the 2023 Masters at Augusta National:

DRIVER: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees), with Aldila Tour Green 75 TX shaft

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FAIRWAY WOOD: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (16, 18 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8X shafts

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IRONS: Callaway Apex TCB (4-PW), with Project X 6.5 shafts

WEDGES: Callaway JAWS Raw (52, 56, 60 degrees), with Project X 6.5 shafts

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PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie S

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Jon Rahm’s putter” link=”https://globalgolf.pxf.io/P01rQj”]

BALL: Callaway Chrome Soft X

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GRIPS: Golf Pride MCC

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After Tiger Woods’ WDs from the Masters, fans respond with an outpouring of love and concern

For a second straight year, Tiger Woods won’t finish a major he started in. This concerned fans.

For a second straight year, Tiger Woods won’t finish a major he started in.

After miraculously making the cut at the 2023 Masters, he struggled on a rainy Saturday, getting him to 9-over for the tournament. Videos captured by fans that circulated on social media appeared to show Woods wincing in pain or moving slowly at certain moments while playing in the major, and on Sunday morning, he withdrew from Augusta, citing injury.

After he did the same for the 2022 PGA Championship, golf fans were worried on Sunday about the legendary golfer and his health. Here’s a sampling of the reaction from Twitter:

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14 new Masters-themed golf shoes that dropped in time for Augusta

Stay up to date with all the new golf shoes that dropped just in time for the year’s first major.

The 87th Masters Tournament is officially underway.

Just a weekend separates one man from donning a green jacket, giving his closet a boost for life. While you may not be able to add the coveted green jacket to your wardrobe, you may be able to upgrade your shoe game with some of the best shoes released this week in honor of the year’s first major.

We’ve brought together some of the best shoe drops from brands like Adidas, Nike, FootJoy and more as they all celebrate the start of the major season.

Whether you like spikes or molded spikes, sneaker silhouettes or more classical looks, we’ve got you covered.

For more Masters shoes, check out seven of our favorite golf shoes worn during Thursday’s opening round.

If you’re in the market for more than just shoes, check out our lists of Masters-themed apparel and accessories.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

Lynch: Rory McIlroy’s early Masters exit owes to the burden of expectations — his own

Accomplishing the career grand slam is an enormous weight on McIlroy, ratcheting up through every spring.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s the inherent nature of golf that even its finest exponents move inexplicably between the roles of pigeon and statue. Corey Conners won the Valero Texas Open five days ago and Kurt Kitayama claimed the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month. Neither will see weekend action at the 87th Masters. The list of the fallen includes those who might have been expected to survive the cut based on form (Min Woo Lee, who contended recently at the Players Championship) or formula (Tom Hoge, who leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Approach but underperformed on a course known as the ultimate test of iron play).

But no exit is more surprising than that of Rory McIlroy.

The world No. 2 has missed only two cuts since the 2022 Masters. One came at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August, and he went on to win the PGA Tour’s $18 million playoff prize two weeks later. The other was last month at the Players Championship, which he followed with a strong third-place showing at the WGC-Match Play. He won’t yet care what will follow this Masters disappointment.

As he heads home to Florida, McIlroy will be burning with fury, though not at others (he ain’t Sergio!). He sets a high standard for himself and at Augusta National, he fell woefully short. His poor play will offer a moment’s sustenance to the drooling slapnuts who populate the replies of LIV’s social media sycophants, but their target will neither notice nor care. The only verdict that matters is his own, and it will be harsh.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

Accomplishing the career grand slam is an enormous weight on McIlroy, ratcheting up through every spring so that by the time he turns down Magnolia Lane it’s rattling around his head like the deafening clank of an MRI machine. He then waits a few days in the echo chamber, politely answering questions on the subject, before it comes time to try anew. And that’s when the difficulties really arise.

McIlroy understands the challenges he creates for himself in the early going. He knows that getting off to a good start is key, but hasn’t broken par in the opening round in his last five attempts. He knows that on average winners miss only 20 greens for the week; he missed 16 in two days. He knows that eventual champions don’t come from the deeper recesses of the Day One leaderboard, that Augusta National isn’t favorable to chasers (unless they’re chasing Greg Norman). He knows that the Masters is the easiest cut to make all year when you discount the elderly and amateurs, but that one doesn’t have to be off by much to start feeling impatient, anxious and embarrassed.

“It’s been tentative starts, not putting my foot on the gas early enough,” he said on Tuesday, as if by way of prophecy.

His is a tough and volatile pursuit. Days and weeks get away quickly. Disappointment is constant, since even banner seasons involve much more losing than winning. But for McIlroy, worse than losing is not even putting himself in a position to win. He’ll struggle to draw positives from his truncated stay in Georgia, instead relying on the sanguine view he expressed before play began.

“Not every experience is going to be a good experience. I think that would lead to a pretty boring life,” he said. “You have to learn from those challenges and learn from some of that scar tissue that’s built.”

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Scar tissue is the mind’s fibrous legacy of unfulfilled dreams, which are often what gives meaning and definition to sporting careers. At age 33, McIlroy may have other incomplete ambitions, but winning the Masters is the one every golf fan knows about. He’s now at the age when Phil Mickelson won his first major championship, which was his first of three green jackets. It’s futile to tell someone wired like McIlroy to care less. That acute desire is what earned him four majors, and what has Brooks Koepka on the cusp of his fifth. But he does need to understand that there’s time — not infinite time, but enough. There just needs to be more patience.

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Brooks Koepka-Gary Woodland Masters rules violation through other caddies’ eyes: ‘They’re both guilty’

Several veteran caddies said it was a clear violation of Rule 10-2a, and should’ve resulted in a two-stroke penalty.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland were shown video after their round on Friday by the Masters Tournament Committee. It marked the second time that a review of a potential rules violation on the 15th hole at Augusta National during Thursday’s first round was necessary.

Originally, the investigation focused on whether Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, had verbally given advice, which isn’t allowed in the Rules of Golf, pertaining to what club Koepka had used on his second shot at the par 5 to Woodland’s caddie, Brennan “Butchy” Little. On the second occasion, the focus was on whether Koepka had made a hand signal.

“Today was just about my, I guess, my hand and my glove,” said Koepka, who shot 67 to take the clubhouse lead at 12-under 132. “I don’t know if you’re supposed to take your glove off with your fist closed or what now.”

It had become enough of a point of contention on social media that Woodland said that Masters officials told them at scoring that “it was taking a big life.”

After the round Friday, Woodland gave his version of what happened on Thursday.

“At the end of the day, Brooks hit his shot on 15. I asked Butchy if he saw what he hit. He said no. Luckily for us because Brooks ended up hitting 5-iron. I hit 5-iron. I asked Butchy what the club was, and he said it’s a choked-up perfect 5,” Woodland said. “I hit my shot. When we were walking down, I asked Brooks what he hit, and he said 5. If I would have known that, I probably would have hit 6-iron, and I would have hit 6-iron in the middle of the water. Luckily for me, I didn’t know what he hit. That’s the end of it.”

Brooks Koepka and his caddie, Ricky Elliot, walk the 16th hole during the first round of The Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on April 6, 2023.

Pga Masters Tournament First Round

When Koepka was asked what his caddie told the committee, he said, “I think what they said was they were signaling to somebody else or he was signaling to somebody of what it was. It wasn’t Butchy. Because they asked us what we hit walking down the fairway, so they had no idea.”

He added: “I’m taking my glove off. The last thing I’m going to do is give it to Gary Woodland, the U.S. Open champ. And the funny part about it is I think if he would have known we were hitting five, he would have hit six because I don’t think Gary is that short and he’s 10 in front of me, 12 in front of me.”

On the par-5 15th hole during the first round, Koepka and Woodland hit their tee shots to the same general area with Koepka about 10 yards shorter. Video of the hole showed Koepka hit his second and hand his club back to Elliot. As he stuck the club back in the bag and grabbed Koepka’s putter, Elliot appeared to mouth “five” in the direction of Woodland’s caddie – Brennan Little – not once but twice before Woodland hit his second shot.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

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“Wow, so that’s what professional golf has gotten into now, lip reading?” said caddie Andy Martinez, who has caddied on the PGA Tour for more than 50 years, most notably for Johnny Miller and most recently a couple PGA Tour Champions events this season for Michael Allen. “One of my rules is I don’t look in another guy’s bag. My thinking is if you have all the right numbers and you’ve got your player out there and you need help from the other guy, that’s pathetic. I’ve seen guys like that over the year. They almost expect you to tip them off but not from me.”

Several veteran caddies, who asked for anonymity because they still have to potentially walk with Koepka and Woodland, said it was a clear violation of Rule 10-2a, and should’ve resulted in a two-stroke penalty.

“It seemed pretty blatant. I think all they had to do was ask Brooks one question: What club did you hit? And that would’ve said all that needs to be said,” said a caddie for a current exempt Tour pro. “That stuff happens but it doesn’t happen vocally. You can go look in the bag and not touch anything and get a pretty good idea. Sometimes, the guys flash fingers to the TV people and you just watch for that. It happens. When he’s vocal like that, that’s a no-no, that’s a violation. I think they both should get dinged. They’re both guilty.”

Another longtime caddie who has been on the bag for more than 10 victories on the Tour said, “I love Ricky to death, I’m struggling with how to put this but it looked awfully suspicious to me … It’s common but you don’t do it like that. Typically, you stand back from the bag and let a caddie look or while you’re cleaning the bottom of the club you hold the club so they get a look. It’s just an unfortunate situation what happened yesterday and what it could mean.”

The longtime caddie said that he spoke to a PGA Tour rules official about Elliott and Koepka’s actions on 15 on Thursday evening, and said the official was incensed and thought Koepka should be penalized, but his hands are tied as the Masters doesn’t fall under its jurisdiction.

The Masters Tournament Committee released the following notice after the completion of play on Thursday: “Following the completion of Brooks Koepka’s round, the committee questioned his caddie and others in the group about a possible incident on No. 15. All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the committee determined that there was no breach of the rules.”

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Lynch: Three weeks into a war for golf’s future, Augusta National’s Fred Ridley ended it with one shot

Twenty-two days after the governing bodies sounded the bugle in a battle for the future of golf, the cavalry arrived at Augusta.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Twenty-two days after the governing bodies sounded the bugle in a battle for the future of golf, the cavalry arrived on Wednesday at Augusta National.

It was March 14 when the USGA and R&A proposed a modified local rule that, if adopted, would introduce a limited-distance ball at the elite level. The timing wasn’t accidental. It accommodated three weeks of predictable histrionics, warnings, bluster and social media carping from every constituency: Tour players, architecture nerds, equipment manufacturers, invested observers, armchair analysts, media partners and influential shills. Which was just enough time for the smoke to begin clearing before what will likely prove the decisive contribution in a long-smoldering and sulfurous debate:

“We have been consistent in our support of the governing bodies, and we restate our desire to see distance addressed.”

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Thus spake Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National and the Masters. He added that while the club will respect the feedback period established by the governing bodies (it runs through August 14), he left no doubt as to what position his powerful entities will adopt.

“I’ve stated that we believe distance needs to be addressed,” Ridley said. “I think the natural conclusion is, yes, we will be supportive.”

So when theory becomes practice — on Jan. 1, 2026, when the proposed change would take effect — the 90th Masters will be the first major championship contested with a modified ball. It will be followed that same year by the Opens, U.S. and British, since the governing bodies who run those events have made clear they will exercise their own option. What odds the PGA Championship — ever mindful of being perceived as the runt of the major litter — will diminish itself by choosing to separate itself further on the ball issue? Your move, Mr. Waugh.

Having every major conducted with a modified ball will test the willingness of Tour players to switch equipment from their weekly money games for events that actually define legacies. When the whining is exhausted — admittedly, this might take until Dec. 31, 2025 — the professional proletariat will reconcile itself to the new reality. Without Wednesday’s unambiguous signal from Ridley, the future landscape would look a lot more uncertain. His words lend support to the governing bodies, clarity to the future, and no succor to the smash bros.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

Chairman’s press conferences at Augusta National are usually divided into two fields: housekeeping and legacy. For Ridley, the legacy aspect concerned an investment in municipal golf to create pathways into the game in the city of Augusta, of which his famed club is a part while being apart.

Housekeeping matters included announcing that the NCAA champion will receive an invitation to compete in the Masters and explaining why an invitation to attend was not extended to Greg Norman, the commissar of LIV Golf. It was akin to asking grandpa why his Thanksgiving guest list is missing a former friend who promised to break the furniture, insulted the decor and announced plans for his friends to hold a celebratory kegger on your lawn.

Ridley replied that he wanted the focus to be on the Masters, not on the Saudi-financed civil war roiling golf (which is considerably less deadly than the one they’re funding in Yemen). He added that Norman has only been here twice in the past decade, including once while working as an announcer. What of Norman’s recent grouse that he might never be invited back to Augusta National?

“It’s hard to answer that question because, you know, I don’t know where the world is going to be next year or two years from now,” Ridley said, the kind of equivocation that constitutes a drive-by in the parlance of Augusta National. “I would never say never. But I told you why he had not been invited this year.”

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Crude translation for the flaxen-haired finger puppet: faff around and find out.

Nor would the Chairman be drawn on whether changes will be made to Masters invitation criteria that would make it tougher for LIV players to qualify — unsurprising since LIV is dispensing subpoenas in a failing effort to prove golf’s bodies are conspiring against it.

“I’m sure there will be changes in the future, but none beyond what I announced this morning,” he finally offered.

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Augusta National’s reverence for past Masters champions makes exclusion of LIV golfers impossible. Six attended the Champions Dinner on Tuesday. The other twelve competing this week will find future access tougher as their world ranking slips, a trend likely to accelerate due to an imminent – and unappealable – decision by a sports arbitration panel in the UK that will effectively lock LIV players out of DP World Tour events. That means LIV guys who want to earn ranking points will need to familiarize themselves with the Asian Tour schedule, where even wins yield paltry ranking points given the shallow talent pool participating.

As clearly as Ridley endorsed the governing bodies’ authority to regulate distance, he was equally direct in defending the Official World Golf Ranking system, which has been under a sustained assault by Norman and his mealy-mouthed marionettes, who insist LIV tournaments must be awarded points despite meeting almost none of the established criteria to be recognized.

“It’s an objective criteria based on data-driven analytics, and it’s consistently applied,” Ridley said. “I think most would agree it’s a good system.”

Ridley is a traditionalist’s idea of a company man, the type of chap who, in the words of E.B. White, winds the clock daily in a contribution toward order and steadfastness. His fealty to golf’s established order and to the values of the game in which he has spent a lifetime are unshakeable. It’s accepted that he’s the unchallenged authority within the walls of Augusta National. The intent he signaled Wednesday will go some way to proving that the influence of his position extends over a much greater realm.

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Trying to pick a Masters champion? These statistics at Augusta National have led to a green jacket most often

History tells us the champion will have an elite week on approach shots and around the greens. He’ll do most of his scoring on the par 5s.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Here are the skills a golfer must possess to win the Masters Tournament: poise and patience, power and precision, toughness and touch.

Each spring, Augusta National Golf Club measures, examines and challenges a golfer from head-to-foot, driver-to-putter, consistently ranking as the most difficult test in professional golf. Winning the green jacket requires endurance and excellence.

A good break or two is also helpful.

What can we learn from the form and performance of recent Masters champions to help project this year’s winner?

History tells us the champion will have an elite week on approach shots and around the greens. He’ll do most of his scoring on the par 5s. There will be past major success on the resume and his previous Masters experience likely includes promising finishes.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

The golfer’s recent tournament play has been solid if not spectacular, featuring consistent ballstriking. It’s been said many ways, but a golfer who is searching for his game when he drives down Magnolia Lane can’t expect to discover the secret on these grounds.

There are other factors on a course known for exposing weaknesses in a swing or soul.

Above average driving distance is necessary on a course measuring more than 7,500 yards and certain to play even longer this week based on the weather forecast – rain, stiff wind, and temperatures ranging from the 40s to the 80s. Golf’s inherent variable on steroids for the first major championship of the year.

So, with a hat tip for research provided by golf data experts and handicappers Ron Klos of Betsperts Golf, Dave Tindall of Betfair Golf and Justin Ray of Twenty First Group, plus our own digging, here’s the info required to win an office pool or fantasy group, maybe a wager or two.

Trends and course history are more important at Augusta National than most places. For myriad reasons. Most important, it’s the only major championship played at the same course from year to year. Players play the tournament in different conditions. They’re constantly learning and taking notes. Once they become comfortable, confidence grows. Some figure it out faster than others. Others never do.

Cam Smith has. He leads the Masters field over the last three years in Strokes Gained: Approach, cumulative scoring and rounds in the 60s.

Rory McIlroy has too. He’s third in Masters scoring over the last 10 years and has 17 top-10s in major championships since his last win in 2015.

But neither is invited to the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night. Neither are past contestants like Ernie Els, Davis Love III, Greg Norman and David Duval, who all seemed certain to earn a green jacket.

OK, onward to the metrics. The LIV Golfers won’t be well represented here. We’re not picking on them. The stats just aren’t available.

2023 Masters: Fred Ridley, Augusta National hint support for USGA and R&A’s golf ball rollback

Could Augusta National also be on board for golf ball rollback?

Around the hollowed grounds of Augusta National Golf Club, with its blooming flowers, manicured turf and pearly-white bunkers, members of the media and other dignitaries at the Masters Tournament refer to the man in charge as “Chairman Ridley.”

In Liberty Corners, New Jersey, they call him something less formal.

“Oh, we just call him Fred,” a well-positioned United States Golf Association staffer recently said.

For those who may not know, Ridley won the 1975 U.S. Amateur, the USGA’s most prestigious amateur tournament for men. He is the last winner of that event not to turn professional, but he served on the USGA’s executive board from 1994 until 2005 and was the USGA’s president in 2004 and 2005.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

With the bond between Ridley — who became a member of Augusta National in 2000 and its seventh chairman 17 years later — and the USGA running deep, it came as no surprise on Wednesday morning that Ridley hinted at support for the USGA and R&A’s proposal for the creation of a new Model Local Rule that could require elite male golfers to start using a distance-reducing golf ball in 2026.

“As the comment period remains open, we will be respectful of the process as the USGA and the R&A consider this important issue,” Ridley said in his opening comments. “We have been consistent in our support of the governing bodies and we re-state our desire to see distance addressed.”

Moments later, when asked by a reporter for more detail and his personal thoughts on distance and the potential use of distance-reducing golf balls, Ridley added, “I think, in a general sense, we do support the proposal, but because it’s in the middle of a comment period, it could change. The whole purpose of the comment period is to take the input from the industry. So we will look at the final product and make a decision. But generally, we have always been supportive of the governing bodies. I’ve stated that we believe distance needs to be addressed. I think the natural conclusion is, yes, we will be supportive.”

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This has been a fantastic week for the USGA and R&A’s proposed Model Local Rule because, with the addition of Ridley and, by extension, the Masters Tournament, three massively-influential voices have come forward in support of the idea of a golf ball rollback.

“I think this should have happened long ago, ” Tiger Woods said Tuesday. “That’s what Jack [Nicklaus] was saying, the [Titleist 384 ball] was going too far. This is back in the ’80s. But still, that was my take on it. The amateurs should be able to have fun and still hit the golf ball far, but we can be regulated about how far we hit it.”

Rory McIlroy also reiterated his support by saying Tuesday, “It’s a big deal, and you know, it could dramatically change the landscape of our game going forward. I’m certainly in the camp that I believe that it’s the right thing to do,” said Rory McIlroy on Tuesday.”

We already know that if the proposed Model Local Rule is passed, it will be adopted and put into play at the 2026 U.S. Open and British Opens. Now we have reason to believe the Masters would adopt it too, which will put pressure on the PGA of America to adopt it or risk being the only major championship not requiring players to use a distance-reducing ball.

Taken one more hypothetical step further, if the four major championships all announce that they would require golfers to use a distance-reducing ball, it could make it easier for PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to do the same thing.

And if that happens, the folks in Liberty Corners, New Jersey, will be writing ‘Thank You’ notes to their friend Fred.

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