Tag: Jordan Spieth

It’s Masters weekend, and a leaderboard with Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth and an amateur sure is enticing

AUGUSTA, Ga. – It’s beginning to look like Brooks Koepka’s Masters Tournament to win this weekend. The way he’s playing, it’s hard not to like his chances, though others will have a say. It could be a matter of when, since the tournament is in a …

AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s beginning to look like Brooks Koepka’s Masters Tournament to win this weekend. The way he’s playing, it’s hard not to like his chances, though others will have a say. It could be a matter of when, since the tournament is in a holding pattern and could be headed to its first Monday finish since 1983.

It’s advantage Koepka. The first-round co-leader is among the 47 players, out of 86 starters, to finish 36 holes before Friday’s inclement weather shut down the 87th Masters, with Koepka holding a four-shot clubhouse lead over college golfer Sam Bennett.

The leaderboard could change, since 39 players have yet to complete their rounds, including Jon Rahm, a first-round co-leader. Rahm and the rest hope to do so Saturday morning, starting at 8, weather permitting.

Rahm is coming off back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 and sits three behind Koepka. Next comes another first-round co-leader, Viktor Hovland, who is 1-over for his round and six shots behind Koepka, along with Collin Morikawa, who has completed his round.

There is a question of how many holes the players will complete on Saturday. The forecast is for all-day rain, including a 95 percent chance at 7 a.m. when temperatures will be in the low 50s.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta
Sounded like a grandstand blew over’: Three trees fall during 2023 Masters

Koepka, a major championship specialist who thrives in the spotlight, continued his torrid play on Friday.

Koepka, who on Thursday opened with his career-low in the Masters, 65, followed that with 67 on Friday is now at 12-under 132. It’s the lowest 36-hole score since Jordan Spieth set the record at 130 in 2015. The record had been 131 by Raymond Floyd in 1976. Both Floyd and Spieth rolled to victories, Floyd by eight shots and Spieth by four.

Of course, Rahm still has nine holes to play in the third round. He shot 4-under 32 on the back nine on Thursday and, if he does that in second round, he’d be at 131.

Bryson DeChambeau caught some grief before the 2020 Masters when he said Augusta National was a par-67 layout for him because of his length off the tee.

Koepka has been besting that boast, averaging 66.5 per round. He has cleaned up on the par 5s, playing the eight holes in 7 under through two rounds. He has birdied Nos. 2 and 15 both days. On No. 8, he’s gone birdie-eagle and on No. 13, he has a bogey and a birdie. It is Koepka’s lone bogey of the tournament.

“You’ve got to make birdies on these par 5s, take advantage of them. And did a good job of that, playing them 5-under (on Friday),” Koepka said.

Sam Bennett hits from the first fairway during the second round of The Masters golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Network

Bennett, 23, a fifth-year senior at Texas A&M, has been one of the biggest stories of the week. In the first two rounds, he outplayed playing partners – defending champion Scottie Scheffler (68-75–143) and No. 5 in the world Max Homa (71-74–144), who have combined for 12 PGA Tour victories.

On the other end of the spectrum was the disappointing play of World No. 2 Rory McIlroy. It seemed the stars were lining up for this to be the year he completed the career Grand Slam. But he shot 72-77–149 and will miss the cut, which is projected to be at 2-over 146. He had just seven birdies against 10 bogeys (seven of them on Friday) and a double bogey. He needed 62 putts over the two days.

Five-time champion Tiger Woods is on the cutline with seven holes to play. He opened with 74 and is at even par for his second round.

Koepka is going after a third leg of the career Grand Slam; he has two U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships. His best finish in the Masters is a tie for second in 2019.

“Yeah, the whole goal is to win the Grand Slam,” Koepka said. “I feel like all the greats have won here and they have all won British Opens as well. Look, I guess it’s one more box for me to tick to truly feel like I’ve done what I should have accomplished in this game.”

Injuries, especially to his right knee, derailed Koepka’s major championship run. He won his four between 2017-2019. His last major was the 2019 PGA Championship. His last win on the PGA Tour was in 2021 in Phoenix. Koepka now plays the LIV Golf tour, and won Sunday near Orlando, Fla.

2023 Masters
Jordan Spieth acknowledges the crowd after a putt on the third green during the second round of The Masters golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Network

“You can control what you can control,” said Spieth, who shot 70 on Friday and is seven behind Kopeka. “Ideally (the leader) would be somebody who would care more and potentially be feeling different than maybe Brooks will be. But at the same time, it’s been a little while for him, too.

“He did win last week,” Spieth said. “I don’t know kind of the way that feels on the LIV Tour, but he did win there against really good players, and comes in playing in great control of his game and has dealt with pushing a lead already out here. Yeah, ideally it would be if you were chasing, you don’t want to be chasing Tiger Woods, you want to be chasing somebody who’s never been there, but it doesn’t matter because you control what you can control, you and the golf course.”

Being here for the weekend is an unusual spot for Koepka. Battling his right knee injury, he missed the cut each of the past two years, shooting a combined 11-over for the four rounds. Last year was particularly frustrating. After two rounds of 75, he attempted to take out his frustration on a Mercedes-Benz courtesy car provided for the players.

“I don’t even know if I should be saying this, but pretty sure I tried to break the back window with my fist of the car, I tried to put it through the back window, not once but twice,” Koepka said. “First time didn’t go, so figured try it again. Yeah, apparently not strong enough. The ride home was pretty silent. I think just a lot of frustration. But yeah, I guess Mercedes makes a pretty good back window.”

He played in the 2021 Masters just two weeks after surgery on his knee. Even when his doctors advised against it. He shot 74-75.

“I just didn’t want to miss this,” Koepka said of the 2021 Masters. “I’ve missed enough majors. I missed like three or four through that whole stretch of 2016 to 2020. I missed a good bit of them, and I wasn’t – I don’t know, just tired of it. I felt like glass was always breaking. It’s not fun. But I feel a lot better now. To be here is special. It’s a special event.”

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Can Jordan Spieth imitate fellow Texan Jack Burke Jr. and come back from seven down at Augusta? The weather might help

Jack Burke Jr. holds the record for the largest comeback after 36 holes at eight strokes in 1956.

AUGUSTA, Ga. ­– Thirty years ago, The Masters began giving its champions a sterling silver replica trophy of the Augusta National clubhouse. The original, made in England in 1961, consists of over 900 pieces of silver. Jordan Spieth keeps his replica in his home office, but mostly only goes in there when his 1-year-old son Sammy wanders in unaccompanied. Spieth said he probably goes in there once every five months.

“It’s one of those things I don’t – I see myself caring more towards 25 years from now,” said Spieth of the trophy. “But until then, I want to pretend I haven’t won anything.”

Heading into the weekend at the 87th Masters, Spieth trails Brooks Koepka by seven strokes. The weekend weather forecast calls for a 100 percent chance of rain with gusts up to 30 mph and significantly cooler temperatures. Jack Burke Jr. holds the record for the largest comeback after 36 holes at eight strokes in 1956.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta
Sounded like a grandstand blew over’: Three trees fall during 2023 Masters

“The benefit we have, those of us chasing,” said Spieth, “is that it’s going to be incredibly difficult conditions, so that makes it hard on all of us. It means a few under goes a long way.”

Play was suspended for the day at 4:22 p.m. ET Friday during the second round, not long after Spieth concluded his 2-under 70. The 2015 Masters champion is 5 under for the tournament.

Spieth made nine straight pars on the back nine, hitting 11 greens in each of the first two rounds.

“The one thing I have not done well at all this week is greens in regulation,” he said, “and it’s one of the most important stats out here, and that will be as important as anything this weekend.

“Picking a plan to put the ball in the fat part of the green and trusting speed control and knocking in putts inside 5 feet. So not very aggressive with those conditions. You don’t have to be to make up shots when the conditions are bad. You’ve just got to look at the par 5s as your opportunities, and the rest of them, if you steal one or two, great.”

In his last four starts, Spieth said he has gained strokes on the field in every category: driving, approach, chipping and putting. Most of his issues this week, he noted, have been mental errors.

Spieth has finished in the top 3 of the Masters on five occasions, hitting at least 72 percent of the greens each time. This week he’s hitting 61 percent.

When he won in 2015, Spieth led by five after 36 holes, matching the tournament record. Koepka, who holds the clubhouse lead at 12 under, is currently three shots ahead of Jon Rahm, who has nine holes left to play and four shots in from of amateur Sam Bennett, who shot a second consecutive 68.

When asked to recall what it felt like to sleep on such a large margin Friday night, Spieth noted that he was much younger than Koepka.

“I think for me, I was 21 and hadn’t won a major yet,” said Spieth. “Brooks is 32 or 33 and he’s won four of them. He hasn’t won this one, which means a little bit more, I think, but it’s a different scenario for him. He’s slept on these leads way more often than I had at the time.”

Koepka, who won last week at LIV Golf Orlando, last won a major in 2019.

“I don’t know,” said Koepka, when asked to compare himself now to then. “I’m, what, three years older? So that makes a big difference.

“I don’t know, I feel the same, man.”

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It wouldn’t be Masters week without a few prop bets. Here are 5 of our favorites including a Jordan Spieth/Max Homa/Jason Day parlay

Let’s hammer a few props.

After months of build-up, after months of anticipation, the opening round of the 2023 Masters is less than 24 hours away. The gates of Magnolia Lane are open, and the best players in the world have migrated to Augusta, Georgia, where they’ll battle for the most coveted prize in all of golf: the green jacket.

World No. 1 and defending champion at Augusta National Golf Club, Scottie Scheffler, is the betting favorite at +650. Rory McIlroy is +750 while third-ranked Jon Rahm is next in line at +850.

One of the best parts of Masters week is the lengthy list of prop bets available at most sportsbooks, including DraftKings.

Let’s go over some of our favorites and cover why they would make great additions to your betting card.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

2023 Masters: Could there be more Easter Sunday magic for Jordan Spieth?

When told that the final round of the Masters is on Easter, he said, “That’s good vibes.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth’s last two PGA Tour victories have been on Easter Sunday. When told that the final round of the 87th Masters will be played on Easter this week, he said, “That’s good vibes.”

Spieth, who is making his 10th Masters appearance, has a dazzling record at Augusta National. In addition to winning the title in 2015, Spieth has five top-3 finishes, a record matched only by Arnold Palmer through the first nine starts. But Spieth is also coming off his first missed cut at the Masters last year.

He left disappointed but nine days later he slipped into a Tartan winner’s jacket on Easter after winning the RBC Heritage, his 13th Tour title.

This year has been a mixed bag for Spieth, 29, who held the first-round lead in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii only to miss the cut. He also had legitimate chances to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Valspar Championship in March but fell short.

More: Jordan Spieth’s history at Augusta National and current odds to win in 2023

“I feel good about the form I’m in,” Spieth said Tuesday during his pre-Masters press conference. “Hopefully we get a firmer, faster Augusta; like it that way. I’ve played better when it is that way. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be that way. But, you know, if it forces a lot more kind of wedges into the par 5s and some angles because of the cooler temperatures and the moisture in the ground, I can certainly look at that as advantageous to me, too. I’ll just spin it positively however I can.”

Spieth, who enters the week ranked 16th in the world, has rejuvenated his career after a lull in which he went winless for 83 starts; it was a span of 1,351 days between winning the 2017 British Open, his third major, and the 2021 Valero Texas Open on Easter Sunday, ahead of the Masters that year. During that stretch, Spieth conceded he searched for a fix but ended up digging an even bigger hole. He was stubborn but eventually began reengineering his swing from impact backward.

“It’s exciting because when I go to the range, I’m confident by the end of the day I know what to improve. That seems like it would be standard every day for a golfer, but there were a lot of years in a row where I would go to the course and I would be uncertain if I would come out that day feeling better or worse,” he said.

Spieth looked at the calluses on his hand and observed, “I’ve got the scars to show the hours.”

2023 Masters
Jordan Spieth practices ahead of the 2023 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Network)

Spieth has recorded three top-6 finishes in his last five stroke-play events, and said his game is close but the swing changes he’s made remain a work in progress.

“I don’t feel I have all the weapons right now. But I have enough, and I’m continuing to work on the ones that I don’t have, and I get a little better each day with them,” Spieth said.

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Was last year’s missed Masters cut an outlier? Can Spieth float under the radar and win a second green jacket on Easter Sunday? He has scar tissue from failing to close in 2014 and blowing a five-stroke lead on the second nine in 2016 and feeling as if “I should’ve, could’ve won in 2018” when he bogeyed the last and closed in 64.

“I’d love to get in the mix because I feel like right now, I feel better about my game than I’ve felt since probably 2017,” Spieth said.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

He also noted that the sleeves of his green jacket didn’t fit when he won the Masters in 2015, but he declined to have a tailor adjust it.

“I just wanted to keep it in my possession,” he said. “I just had it with me everywhere, and I never got it fixed, and I think they have done it since here because the arms certainly fit a lot better. I left a little room just in case I put on a few pounds over the years. … I’d love to have another one, maybe a little bigger and fit it to my size.”

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Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.

Masters 2023: Every winner’s golf equipment since 2010

From Phil Mickelson to Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods, see all the gear used to win the last 10 Masters tournaments.

The 2023 Masters will bring together the game’s best golfers on what might be called the most iconic course in golf, Augusta National Golf Club.

While the azaleas or dogwoods blooming alongside the fairways and behind the greens are beautiful, and the Sunday charges on the back-nine have become as synonymous with the tournament as the pimento cheese sandwiches, Augusta National has plenty of card-wrecking holes and demands precision.

Over the years, certain clubs and pieces of equipment have contributed to the lore of the Masters: the Callaway 6-iron Phil Mickeson used to hit between two pine trees on the 13th hole in 2010, Bubba Watson’s Ping wedge from the trees on the right of the 10th fairway in a 2012 playoff against Louis Oosthuizen and Tiger Woods’ putter, to name just a few.

Below is a list of every Masters-winning piece of equipment since 2010. Enjoy the memories.

Coincidence or fate? Jordan Spieth has won on Easter Sunday for two straight years and guess what falls on the final round of the Masters

Spieth fans are going to like this.

Jordan Spieth is back. Well, he has been back.

After a four-year drought, Spieth won the 2021 Valero Texas Open. A year later, he won the 2022 RBC Heritage.

So far this season, the 29-year-old Texan has five top-25 finishes in 10 starts including a T-4 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a T-3 at the Valspar Championship.

Spieth’s heading into the year’s first major in good form and returns to a golf course in Augusta National where he has seen his fair share of success.

On top of earning a green jacket in 2015, Spieth has four other top-3 finishes. To put it bluntly, Spieth loves him som ANGC.

Well, for all you Spieth fans out there, you’re gonna love what day falls on the final round of the Masters.

Easter Sunday.

Why does that matter?

Because Easter Sunday fell on the final round of both the ’21 Valero and ’22 RBC Heritage.

Is it coincidence? Is it fate?

Too early to know for sure, but if you’re a believer in stars aligning at the right time, Spieth is 18/1 to win next Sunday.

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Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.

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2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play: 5 best matches to watch on Friday

Check out the best matches to watch on Friday as pool play comes to a close.

We’ve all heard the adage that “anything can happen in match play,” especially at a course designed by Pete Dye.

The world’s best players are in Texas as Austin Country Club plays host to the 2023 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play for the final time this week, where 64 of the world’s top 77 players are on hand to play the Tour’s last match-play event for the foreseeable future.

Friday’s slate of matches features some head-scratching scenarios, a clash between a pair of unbeaten players and a handful of top seeds fighting for their place in the knockout stage.

Check out the top five matches to watch from the third and final round of pool play in Austin.

Masters survey 2023: What hole (No. 12 aside) scares you the most at Augusta National?

We polled a handful of players and past champions about the scariest hole at Augusta National.

We eliminated the obvious choice – Golden Bell, the slender par-3 that has been a watery grave for many Green Jacket hopes – though Collin Morikawa was quick to point out he never said that hole was scary.

Jon Rahm cleverly asked, “Does the walk to 12 count?” and Jim Furyk voted for the dreaded third shot at 12. Sorry, Collin, 12 is take-your-par-and-run scary and that’s a fact.

The votes have been tabulated and Nos. 1, 4, 5, 7, 11, 15 and 18 all have been tabbed as “scary.” Our favorite answer has to be Jack Nicklaus, who made it clear he wasn’t scared of any of them but then gave a master class on the six scary shots that must be handled to have success at Augusta National. A scary thought, indeed.

Here’s what the pros had to say about the scariest hole at Augusta National, and why it’s No. 11.

Masters surveys: Least-liked concessions | Champions Dinners | Traditions

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Looking ahead: Here are the 5 betting favorites for the 2023 Masters at Augusta National

Who’s your pick?

Temperatures are on the rise, the snow is melting away and the golf season is in full swing. That only means one thing: It’s almost time for the Masters.

Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia will once again welcome patrons for the first round of the year’s first men’s major championship in 15 days.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion and betting favorite. The Texan repeated at the WM Phoenix Open earlier this season and claimed the Players Championship a few weeks ago.

We will have several updates as the tournament draws closer, but as it stands now, here are the top 5 betting favorites for the 2023 Masters.

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Four years after suffering a collapsed lung, Taylor Moore wins first PGA Tour title at the Valspar Championship

Moore was 64-for-64 inside 7 feet: “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything close to that..that was pretty sick to see.”

In the spring of 2019, Taylor Moore was headed to the airport to fly to yet another golf tournament when he had a choice to make at a traffic light. He turned right and detoured to an urgent-care facility, where he learned his right lung was 50 percent collapsed, potentially saving his life. Four years after his dream of winning on the PGA Tour was temporarily halted, Moore made four birdies in his final 10 holes to earn his first Tour title at the Valspar Championship.

“I think if I would have taken a left (to the airport), I might not be here in front of you guys tonight,” Moore said during his winner’s press conference. “So, I mean, that was God’s will just to tell me to take a right and go to the hospital and check out what was going on.”

Moore, 29, erased a two-stroke overnight deficit by shooting 4-under 67 on Sunday at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course at Palm Harbor, Florida. Moore finished with a 72-hole total of 10-under 274, a stroke better than Adam Schenk, who bogeyed 18, and two better than Jordan Spieth, who bogeyed two of the last three holes, and Tommy Fleetwood.

“Really solid player that’s been knocking on the door,” Spieth said of Moore, a fellow Dallas resident.

And yet Moore hadn’t recorded a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour this season. Entering the week ranked No. 103 in the world, he joined the trophy hunt by canning an 18-foot birdie putt at nine and stuck his approach shot inside 5 feet at the 12th to climb a stroke closer. For the week, he was 64-for-64 inside 7 feet.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything close to that,” Moore said. “Just a testament to the work I’ve put in with my coach and my team and that was pretty sick to see.”

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Moore made back-to-back birdies – a 6-footer at 15 and a 27-footer at 16 – to tie Schenk for the lead at 10 under. He said he didn’t see a scoreboard until he reached the 17th green, then parred in by making a 6-foot putt at the last for 67, the second-lowest score among the field of 72 on a windy day, and had to sweat out waiting at the practice tee to see if anyone could match his total and force extra holes.

For much of the day it seemed as if Schenk, 31, playing in his 10th straight tournament as he attempted to grab as many FedEx Cup points as he could before the birth of his first child, would be the one lifting a trophy for the first time. Wife Kourtney, who is eight months pregnant, flew in on Sunday morning and walked the entire round in his gallery.

She witnessed her hubby, the 54-hole leader, chip in for birdie at the first and build a two-stroke lead before stumbling with bogeys at Nos. 6 and 8. But he bounced back with birdies at Nos. 7 and 9, where he drained a 23-foot birdie putt. That was his longest putt of the tournament to that point but that figure didn’t last long. Schenk sank a 71-foot birdie at the 12th, the longest made putt of his career, to claim the lead at 10 under and lifted his right arm to the sky.

He strung together five straight pars and shared the lead standing on the tee of the 72nd hole. Then he hooked his drive near a tree at 18 and had to play his next shot left-handed. Ramming his 41-foot par putt to remain tied with Moore and force a playoff, Schenk watched as it tracked for the hole, hitting the flagstick but had too much pace and wouldn’t go down.

“It stinks,” Schenk said, despite signing for 70 and recording the best finish of his career. “I hit a really bad drive on the last hole. I toed it. Wish I could have lightly hit somebody and stayed where I had a chance to get to the green, but it did not, and I didn’t deserve it.”

Spieth, 29, won this tournament in 2015 and was seeking his 14th Tour title. He canned a 10-foot birdie putt at 14 to join the party at 10 under. All tournament, Spieth worked wonders from the sand, getting up and down 12 of 14 times overall, including at the difficult par-3 15th.

“It was the boring round I was looking for,” said Spieth, who stayed bogey-free for the day to that point.

But he fanned his 3-wood off the tee at the dogleg par-4 16th into the water guarding the right side of the hole and had to scramble to save bogey. He responded by hitting his tee shot at the par-3 17th the closest to the hole of anyone in the final round, but failed to convert a 7-foot birdie putt and couldn’t get a 48-foot birdie putt to drop at the last. He missed the par comebacker and closed in 70 to slip into a tie for third with Fleetwood.

The 32-year-old Englishman has six DP World Tour victories and ranked as high as No. 9 in the world in 2019, but he still hasn’t won on the PGA Tour. He had a share of the lead until he made a bogey at the par-5 14th hole. He closed in 70. Despite remaining winless, Fleetwood’s career earnings on the PGA Tour alone surpassed $15 million.

Two-time defending champion Sam Burns fell short of a three-peat but made a valiant effort with a final-round 67 to finish sixth.

Once asked to name the most interesting fact about him that golf fans should know, Moore, the son of a Juco-college baseball coach, said, “Well, grew up a baseball guy, so I was a pretty high-level baseball player until I was about 15 years old and actually had a scholarship from Arkansas for baseball before golf and ended up deciding to play this.

“Kind of fell in love with golf as I got older and just being in control of a little bit of everything instead of relying on teammates and umpires and things. I was either going to win by myself or lose.”

On Sunday, Moore, whose personal motto is “own what you do,” did just that and painted a masterpiece at the Valspar Championship to become a champion on the PGA Tour.

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