Tag: Masters 2020

Golf on TV: Should low ratings for Masters, U.S. Open prove worrisome?

While most components of the golf world have enjoyed a renaissance through the pandemic – tee sheets are booked, club manufacturers can’t keep shelves stocked, coaches are in high demand – there is one bit of mildly disturbing news when it comes to …

While most components of the golf world have enjoyed a renaissance through the pandemic — tee sheets are booked, club manufacturers can’t keep shelves stocked, coaches are in high demand — there is one bit of mildly disturbing news when it comes to the TV ratings for 2020’s three majors.

The PGA Championship in August saw fairly flat overall numbers and both the U.S. Open and Masters saw dramatic drops in 2020 when it came to TV ratings.

Fluke? Coincidence? Or a worrisome trend?

It’s tough to say for certain, but here are a number of factors that might have contributed to the ratings flop:

U.S. Open
Bryson DeChambeau celebrates with the championship trophy after winning the 120th U.S. Open Championship on Sept. 19, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The jumbled schedule didn’t help

The schedule we’ve all come to know and expect is the schedule for a reason. April is the perfect time to kick off the golf season and the Masters sees little competition in its familiar time slot. The U.S. Open has similarly enjoyed success due to its traditional Father’s Day placement and a fairly free spot on the sports calendar.

Moving into new timeslots, most of which already have established events, means a glut of sports on TV that can simply be too much for the average person to consume. Most fans are not exclusively golf fans and the pileup of events has made it too much to get through.

“Everyone is excited in the spring, like, ‘Oh we’ll have this incredible fall with so much sports to watch,’” Austin Karp, the managing editor/digital at Sports Business Journal who closely tracks ratings and the sports television industry, told USA Today columnist Dan Wolken. “But the problem is there is that tonnage. That’s why we spread this out over the course of the year. People are inundated with, ‘OK, I have football, do I really need to watch the NBA Finals? My mind is trained to watch that in June.’”

Football is still king

When it was announced that times for the Masters would be moved up to ensure there was little or no overlap with major college football games and the late NFL matchups, some golf purists were miffed.

The numbers proved CBS and the Masters made the right decision, however, as the Notre Dame-Boston College football game drew a comparable Saturday rating (3.00) to CBS’ third-round coverage of the Masters (3.05). The LSU vs. Alabama game that was originally scheduled for later that day (it was postponed due to COVID) likely would have drawn a much larger number.

On Sunday, the final round of the Masters averaged a 3.4 rating and 5.59 million viewers on CBS, making it the lowest-rated Sunday round from Augusta since 1957. Meanwhile, the early NFL games on Fox combined for a 10.27 share, even though the schedule included a number of below-.500 teams in games between the Eagles-Giants and Washington-Lions.

Simply put, while golf is shining on many stages, it’s not yet ready to compete with football, which has become the de facto national pastime.

PGA Championship
Collin Morikawa watches after teeing off on the 16th hole during the final round of the 2020 PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park. Photo: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports.

More platforms, more splintering

Although CBS’ numbers for the PGA Championship were down, ESPN’s early coverage of the event saw a 35 percent increase in viewership and the largest average on cable since 2010.

And while network numbers for the Masters were down significantly, the streaming app from Augusta National Golf Club allowed fans more thorough coverage — and more opportunities to check in on the leaderboard — than ever before. Additional coverage options are better for diehard fans, but they also allow casual fans to pop in and out, and that can impact the traditional network broadcast.

And this only becomes a larger issue moving forward.

A new deal will that will start in 2022 will put PGA Tour Live – the subscription video service launched in 2015 – on ESPN+, which has a current reach of 7.6 million subscribers, with projections reaching 12 million by 2022.

PGA Tour LIVE on ESPN+ will air more than 4,000 hours of live streaming coverage annually. It also will feature on-demand replays of PGA Tour events, original golf programming and edited speed round recaps.

Per the arrangement, ESPN+ subscribers will not see an increase in cost with golf’s addition. Current PGA Tour Live subscribers will need to move to ESPN+, where they also will be able to call up 12,000 other live sporting events.

“When we enter into this new deal with ESPN+, there is this element of being inside that sports ecosystem and the reach of that that is going to be as strong a direct-to-consumer model as you are going to find,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said. “For (Disney) to get behind the PGA Tour and our athletes and tournaments going forward is huge. We are going to diversify our audience, reach a younger segment of viewers, and add 52 million uniques to the promotion of our tournaments and our Tour.”

While this is great news for those who have nothing to do all day and a serious PGA Tour watching habit, average fans will likely have to pick their spots, ducking in and out to see players they prefer or tournaments they associate with.

New sports are invading

While movement in the schedule introduced obvious obstacles in college and pro football, other sports are starting to permeate the TV sports landscape.

For example, the English Premier League has seen huge gains as soccer gains traction with young viewers.

The season-opening match between Leeds and Liverpool in September averaged 1.26 million viewers on NBC, the biggest for an opening weekend in history. Granted, Liverpool is a solid draw, one of the few clubs that always pulls a big number, but as more fans turn their attention to soccer, fewer recreational minutes are left over for golf and other sports. Later that day, for example, the Safeway Open managed a .24 rating on Golf Channel.

MMA, esports and other options continue to nibble away at a portion of the rating pie.

Tiger Woods celebrates after making a putt on the 18th green to win The 2019 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo by Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports.

Tough to match? (Not really)

In some cases, it seemed inevitable the numbers would need to dip. In the case of the Masters, which was going up against one of the all-time great stories in Tiger Woods’ resurrection, any circumstance would have made this tough to match up with. Right?

Although Dustin Johnson is a big name, he certainly doesn’t stir the interest of Woods, especially considering the improbability of Tiger’s victory. The 2020 Masters saw a drop of 51 percent in ratings and 48 percent in viewership from Woods’ victory.

But for those making this argument — that numbers were down largely because of Tiger’s historic run the year prior — realize that compared to 2018, ratings were still markedly down.

And now the good news …

Before we wade too deep into a puddle of doom and gloom, realize that PGA Tour ratings have largely been a pandemic success story. For example, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis beat every NBA game it went up against in ratings, aside from a Lakers-Clippers extravaganza. Many small events have seen huge year-over-year ratings increases, and with an even more comprehensive coverage plan coming in the near future, golf appears to be on solid TV footing for the foreseeable future.

If there are a few things to take away from the numbers, it’s this:

• The year 2020 has been an anomaly.

• Golf’s future TV success hinges on nurturing the familiar schedule spots it has long dominated and filling in small holes as they become available and manageable.

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Remembering Weed Hill: The driving range where a young Dustin Johnson honed his game

Dustin Johnson learned the game as a boy at Weed Hill Driving Range in Irmo, South Carolina and now hones his skills at The Grove XXIII.

Golf course architect Bobby Weed still remembers the first time he heard about this teen sensation in his native South Carolina who could hit a golf ball a country mile.

“My buddies were telling me that they were playing in the Columbia (S.C.) Amateur and they were walking off the first green at a 350-yard par 4 and this high school kid hit his tee shot over the green,” Weed said in a phone interview Sunday.

That big bopper was none other than Masters champion Dustin Johnson, and that’s not their only connection. Johnson cut his teeth digging up the sod at the driving range that gave Weed his start in the golf business, Weed Hill. Johnson’s father, the head professional at Mid Carolina Club, would take him there as a young boy. Growing up in Colombia, just over an hour from Augusta National, the Masters was the biggest week of the year and Johnson recalled how every putting contest with brother A.J. was to win the Green Jacket. Here is a where a dream that would one day become fulfilled was born.

“They had lights on the range, and most nights I would shut the lights off when I was leaving,” Johnson said.

Weed has built courses around the world, but none is as near and dear to his heart as the driving range he built in his hometown of Irmo, South Carolina.

It was 40 years ago and Weed, a high-school junior, talked his father into letting him convert some bean fields the family owned into Weed Hill Driving Range, where a bucket of balls cost 75 cents and Grandma called the shots until he got home from school.

“I remember getting off the bus and running up the hill and I’d go in there and ask, ‘Grandma, how’s everything going?’ ‘Oh, Bobby,’ she’d say, ‘these people have been out there tearing up your grass,’ ” Weed recalled.

“She would hand wash every ball,” he added. “She’d treat them like they were eggs in a basket.”

In the seventh grade, Johnson made the Irmo High School varsity golf team and earned all-state honors. He matriculated at Coastal Carolina University, near Myrtle Beach, where he was a three-time Big South Conference Player of the Year. Weed Hill also served as a launching pad for the golf careers of PGA Tour winner Wesley Bryan and LPGA Tour pro Lauren Stephenson.

Weed watched Johnson set a Masters scoring record with a 72-hole aggregate of 20-under 268, and commented that it’s all come full circle for him and Johnson as the Masters champ noted that a putting lesson with Hall of Famer Greg Norman that took place at The Grove XXIII, the Michael Jordan-owned club in Hobe Sound, Florida, is another Bobby Weed design – only the practice facility is no former bean field but what he called arguably the best practice grounds on the planet.

“He learned the game with his father at Weed Hill and now he’s honing his skills at The Grove XXIII,” Weed said. “How about that?”

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Max Homa saw Fred Couples do ‘the most old-guy veteran move’ at the Masters

On his “Get a Grip” podcast with Shane Bacon, Max Homa told a funny story about a veteran move he saw Fred Couples make at the Masters.

While fans never heard anyone on the Masters broadcast utter the term “mud ball” last week — they opted instead to say there was turf, earth, or my personal favorite, “organic matter” on the ball — chances are you heard a few players mention them due to the wet conditions, especially on Thursday and Friday.

Mud on a golf ball can significantly impact its flight and distance. That’s pretty easy to understand. The problem is, you never know just how much of an impact there will be.

On his “Get a Grip” podcast alongside Shane Bacon, 2020 Masters rookie Max Homa recapped his first experience at Augusta National and told a fun story about playing with Fred Couples and witnessing one of his savvy, veteran moves firsthand on No. 15.

“Fred was going before me, I wasn’t really watching, but he hit this lay up and it sounded like really bad contact,” said Homa. “I looked over and the ball was not above my head and it was screaming down the fairway. It was so sick, he was getting the mud off the golf ball on the lay up, he was making sure it rolled and didn’t plug.”

“I went over to him and said ‘that is the most old-guy veteran move I have ever seen,’ and he was laughing.”

If you’re like us and already missing the Masters, listen to the full episode here.

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Golfweek Rewind: Nov. 16, 2020

In this special Master’s edition of Golfweek Rewind, JuliaKate E. Culpepper recaps the 2020 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, where Dustin Johnson won his first green jacket.

In this special Master’s edition of Golfweek Rewind, JuliaKate E. Culpepper recaps the 2020 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, where Dustin Johnson won his first green jacket.

Jon Rahm finishes T-7 at 2020 Masters after more missed opportunities

Jon Rahm completed his third straight top-10 finish at Augusta National, but he’s tired of moral victories.

Jon Rahm completed his third straight top-10 finish at Augusta National, but he’s tired of moral victories.

He sat at 9-under-par after a Friday 66, putting him in a great spot heading into the weekend. Then, little went right for the 26-year-old Spaniard. After struggling on the second nine in the third round, he played even-par through the first nine Sunday.

With a bogey on No. 10 and a double-bogey on No. 12, he rallied to go 4-under over the next six holes to finish with 71. It was another case of not being able to take advantage of the conditions, while others did.

“I don’t even know what to say. Just the whole thing of the week, I couldn’t get anything going. I started poorly, made the good birdie on 2, but after that, every option I had, I just didn’t make it,” he said. “I had good putts on 3 and 8. I thought I made them. None of them went in. Then all the other shots just weren’t quite as precise as they need to be at Augusta. It is what it is.”

Once again, one round put him out of contention at a major. He hopes to put that and the rest of this year behind him as quickly as possible.

MASTERS: Leaderboard | Money | Winner’s bag | Photos

“At least I battled back at the end, not like I did yesterday, but kind of tired with that and kind of tired of having to deal with majors,” he said. “I always have one round that sets me back big time, and I have to somehow make a miracle Sunday to have a chance. So looking forward to hopefully fixing that.

“And almost like a lot of people this year, probably looking forward to putting 2020 behind me and just looking ahead.”

As for what the course looks like when April rolls around, Rahm is crossing his fingers it plays more traditionally.

“You know, I hope they make it as firm as possible, the complete opposite of what we saw this week,” he said. “I was talking, joking with Patrick Reed and Sebastian (Muñoz), kind of walking down the last few holes saying, it’s like you almost have to hit the delete button from what you learned this week because it’s never, ever going to play again.”

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Rahm added that certain shots he made this week, due to the November conditions of the course, will not carry over to future Masters. He also hopes the conditions in April will make the course harder to crack.

“Some of the shots we hit. I landed a 5 iron pin high on 5 and stayed on the back edge. Usually you’re in the bushes trying to figure out what to do, and many other shots like that that usually are just unplayable. My shot into 15, I hit a low 4 iron that landed a yard short and stayed four feet,” he said. “All those shots will never, ever play like that again. So I kind of hope we see the opposite and see a more challenging Masters.“

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Andy Ogletree ends dream Masters with low amateur honors

Andy Ogletree wrapped up his first Masters as low amateur by beating out John Augenstein, the only other amateur to make the cut at Augusta.

Andy Ogletree ended his Masters Tournament just like he started: in a trio with Tiger Woods. Only this time, he was in Butler Cabin, not on the course, and being joined by champion Dustin Johnson.

Ogletree wrapped up his first Masters as low amateur with an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish at 2-under 286 to beat out John Augenstein, the only other amateur to make the cut, by five strokes.

“It was an awesome week. I got to experience everything the amateurs get to experience. I got here early. I came down a few times before the tournament. I stayed in the Crow’s Nest,” Ogletree said.

“So kind of everything you’d want to do as an amateur, I’ve kind of accomplished.”

Ogletree’s first Masters began when he was out on the practice green ahead of Thursday’s first round. Woods, his idol, walked up to him and said, “What’s up, man? Let’s go do this,” Ogletree recalled in his interview in Butler Cabin.

MASTERS: Leaderboard | Money | Winner’s bag | Photos

Playing alongside Woods, Ogletree said he let his nerves get to him early on. His tournament started 4 over through four holes. But he settled down and got back to playing his game, finishing his first round with a 73. He rebounded with rounds of 70-71 to make the cut.

On Sunday, Ogletree bogeyed his first two holes at 10 and 11. Despite the slow start, he recovered before finishing his first nine holes of the round, getting birdies on 15 and 16. He then birdied No. 2 and bogeyed No. 3 before shooting par the rest of the way.

Though it wasn’t a traditional April Masters, Ogletree said he got the full experience. Not just as an amateur, but as a competitor in the tournament. Following his Masters debut, Ogletree said he plans on turning pro “in the near future.”

“I’ve kind of done what I wanted to in amateur golf, and this just is the cherry on top for my amateur career, so I can’t wait to see what the future holds, but for now I’m just going to enjoy this moment,“ Ogletree said.

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Yes, 63-year-old Bernhard Langer outplayed Bryson DeChambeau at the Masters on Sunday

Langer played Augusta National Golf Club two strokes lower than the pre-tournament favorite on Sunday.

There were no patrons at the 2020 Masters Tournament, although Bernhard Langer occasionally felt like a spectator.

The 63-year-old played the weekend in groupings that included Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, and admitted to watching “in awe” of the two bombers. Langer finished the Masters at 3-under par.

“Every once in a while I had to tell myself, ‘Stop watching and play your game. Focus on what you want to do,’” Langer said. “I got to experience the longest guys in the world right now, and it’s quite amazing.”

Langer played Augusta National Golf Club two strokes lower than the pre-tournament favorite on Sunday, shooting 71 to DeChambeau’s 73. Langer relied on six hybrids and two 3-woods into par 4s on Sunday, while DeChambeau drove the par-4 third green.

Bryson three-putted No. 3 for par, and Langer matched that score.

“If I can make a few putts, I know I can shoot somewhere around par or even under,” Langer said. “That’s usually good enough to hang in there. If my putter goes bad, then I’m struggling.”

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Langer made history this November, surpassing Tommy Aaron as the oldest player to make the cut at the Masters. The two-time champion here has played the weekend in six of his last eight trips to Augusta National.

“I think I have a few more in there,” Langer said. “You never know. I know how to play this golf course and I have to play my angles and rely on my short game. With me it’s really all the putter.”

Langer opened this week with 68, his first round in the 60s since the final round of 2014. DeChambeau praised his playing partner and admitted to admiring the 63-year-old.

“Even though I’m bombing it by him, he’s still playing better than me,” DeChambeau said. “That’s the cool part about the game of golf. You can shoot a score whatever way you want, and he’s able to do it still at his age.”

DeChambeau added: “He’s an unbelievable iron player. He grinds over everything.”

The tour’s longest hitter, who led the field this week at 324.4 yards per drive, battled a mysterious illness that often left him dizzy on the course. The symptoms started Thursday night, he said, and didn’t go away the rest of the tournament. He even took a COVID-19 test during the tournament, which came back negative.

“I’ve got to fix whatever is going on up here,” he said, pointing to his head. “I have no idea. Just dizziness. It’s only when I go from down to up, so I can’t even like think and talk right now. But that’s just what happens, I go down and up and my brain gets all disoriented. I’ve got to fix that, and once I fix it I’ll be even better than now, and when something arising in the future, I’ll just keep trying to fix it.”

He said dizziness was better than it was on Friday, when he shot 74, but it never totally went away.

“But still, it’s tough. I’m hydrated, everything is fine,” he said. “It’s just about orientation. There was numerous times where I was over it and I just felt super uncomfortable. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see the line. It was really weird. I missed a lot of putts (he had 29 putts) today.”

It left him feeling “60 percent” healthy and put a damper on chances of winning a second major in a row.

“Absolutely,” he said when asked about a missed chance to win the Masters, where his best finish had been a tie for 21st as an amateur in 2016.

“At the beginning of the week I felt like I could have a great chance to win the tournament if I just played my game,” he said. “Shoot, I made enough birdies this week and eagles to have a chance to win. There’s no doubt about that. I made way too many mistakes that I’ve got to talk about with my caddie and go, hey, how do we not make these mistakes anymore, how can we work better as a team to have that not happen.”

There was a highlight on Sunday for DeChambeau. On the par-5 13th hole, his 9-iron second shot – which would have been for double eagle had it gone in – just slipped past the hole. He tapped him for eagle.

“I thought it was (going in),” DeChambeau said. “I was so excited to hopefully get some of that crystal, but I was just happy I made eagle because I missed a five-footer on 8 the other day for eagle and that was a little frustrating, but at least I got something out of the week.”

DeChambeau said he won’t play again until the Tournament of Champions, which starts Jan. 7.

(Reporter Devid Westin contributed to this article)

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Brooks Koepka’s response to a top 10 Masters finish behind DJ? ‘Whoo, seventh.’

Brooks Koepka — whose performance level in majors is only matched by his bravado — wasn’t thrilled with his finish at the Augusta.

A top-10 finish and four straight rounds of 70 or less at Augusta National Golf Club would be enough to make most PGA Tour players ecstatic.

But when that player is Brooks Koepka —whose performance level in major tournaments is only matched by his bravado — that’s simply not good enough.

And especially when that finish was well behind Dustin Johnson, the player he was once close with but threw a jab at before the final round of the PGA Championship.

“Yeah, I’m not really excited right now. Whoo, seventh,” Koepka said after finishing T-7. “I don’t know what else to say to that. I’m not too happy. Yeah, I mean, it’s disappointing.”

While his former confidante Johnson was setting a new bar with a 20-under par finish and claimed his first green jacket, Koepka never seemed to clear himself from the morning fog that delayed Sunday’s start.

MASTERS: Leaderboard | Money

Koepka was still on the fringes of striking distance at Augusta on Sunday, he entered the day at 8 under, eight shots behind Johnson, but the two-time U.S. Open and two-time PGA Championship winner would have needed a huge day to get back into contention once Johnson started strong.

He made birdie on No. 7, holing out a chip, but then gave the stroke back on the No. 11 when he tried to bump a short shot that got caught in the fringe.

He made a pair of birdies on the back nine, but they came on the par 5s and the effort on No. 13 was a missed opportunity — Koepka missed a short eagle putt.

Brooks Koepka waits for his shot on the 11th hole during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National GC. Photo by Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

The lack of on-course electricity might have been a reason for his play — Koepka has often saved his best efforts for the loudest and most intense stages.

“Yeah, even at the PGA, it’s just very dull. It’s hard to. … there’s just not that atmosphere going. Hopefully soon, we can have them back,” Koepka said.

“I mean, the no fans thing is. …  I mean, it’s becoming, I guess, the norm, but it’s still very odd at this place to see it. You kind of miss the roars. I think that’s the one thing I miss the most is just kind of the excitement, the buzz that goes around.

“Even when you’re just kind of walking around on Tuesday,  you can almost feel it in the air at this place, and I kind of miss it.”

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As for witnessing Johnson make history, Koepka said he wasn’t surprised by the result, especially the way Augusta National was playing in the fall. Johnson and Koepka (and Xander Schauffele) tied for second in the 2019 Masters, a stroke behind winner Tiger Woods, but this year’s wet conditions played right into Johnson’s strengths.

“The course suited him down to the ground. He’s more of a picker of the ball. He doesn’t spin it that much with his irons. So the ball’s not going to be backing up, so he can get to a lot of the back pins a lot better,” Koepka said of DJ. “If you pick it like that, you can really, really control … you’re never going to rip it off the front of the green, where I feel like a lot of people, pretty much everybody struggled with that. Like I said, it just suited him.”

Famously, Koepka drew fire for a comment he made at the PGA Championship that was widely interpreted as dismissive of Johnson, who was leading the tournament, and of other players near the top of the leaderboard.

“A lot of the guys on the leaderboard, I don’t think have won, I guess DJ has only won one. I don’t know a lot of the other guys up there,” Koepka said.

But Koepka admitted this must have been a big moment for the South Carolina native.

“Yeah, obviously, he grew up — I mean, I’m taking a stab at it — probably an hour and a half from here, if I had to guess, maybe less. This is one you always want to win,” Koepka said of Johnson. “He’s been on a tear the last, what was it, Travelers? Did he win Travelers? Yeah, since Travelers, he’s been on a tear. Yeah, he’s been playing good. It almost feels like it’s coming, and it was this week.”

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How much money each golfer won at the 2020 Masters at Augusta National

Check out the prize money payout for all the players at the 2020 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

Dustin Johnson will drive down Magnolia Lane with a new green jacket, a sterling silver replica of the Masters Trophy, a gold medal and $2.07 million.

The world No. 1 claimed his second major title in dominant fashion, setting the Masters scoring record at 20 under. Johnson, who won the 2020 FedEx Cup and was the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year, won by five shots over Cameron Smith and Sungjae Im, who finished T-2 at 15 under. Justin Thomas came in fourth at 12 under, followed by Rory McIlroy and Dylan Frittelli, T-5 at 11 under.

Check out how much money Johnson and company are taking home from Augusta National Golf Club.

MASTERS: Leaderboard

Masters prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Dustin Johnson -20 $2,070,000
T2 Cameron Smith -15 $1,012,000
T2 Sungjae Im -15 $1,012,000
4 Justin Thomas -12 $552,000
T5 Rory McIlroy -11 $437,000
T5 Dylan Frittelli -11 $437,000
T7 C.T. Pan -10 $358,417
T7 Brooks Koepka -10 $358,417
T7 Jon Rahm -10 $358,417
T10 Webb Simpson -9 $287,500
T10 Corey Conners -9 $287,500
T10 Patrick Reed -9 $287,500
T13 Marc Leishman -8 $215,625
T13 Hideki Matsuyama -8 $215,625
T13 Kevin Na -8 $215,625
T13 Abraham Ancer -8 $215,625
T17 Xander Schauffele -7 $178,250
T17 Patrick Cantlay -7 $178,250
T19 Scottie Scheffler -6 $144,325
T19 Cameron Champ -6 $144,325
T19 Tommy Fleetwood -6 $144,325
T19 Sebastian Munoz -6 $144,325
T23 Louis Oosthuizen -5 $115,000
T23 Justin Rose -5 $115,000
T25 Danny Willett -4 $91,713
T25 Charl Schwartzel -4 $91,713
T25 Shane Lowry -4 $91,713
T25 Ian Poulter -4 $91,713
T29 Nick Taylor -3 $74,750
T29 Bernhard Langer -3 $74,750
T29 Sung Kang -3 $74,750
T29 Rickie Fowler -3 $74,750
T29 Chez Reavie -3 $74,750
T34 Adam Scott -2 $62,100
T34 Bryson DeChambeau -2 $62,100
T34 Si Woo Kim -2 $62,100
T34 Andy Ogletree (a) -2 —
T38 Lee Westwood -1 $50,600
T38 Billy Horschel -1 $50,600
T38 Tiger Woods -1 $50,600
T38 Paul Casey -1 $50,600
T38 Tony Finau -1 $50,600
T38 Christiaan Bezuidenhout -1 $50,600
T44 Shugo Imahira E $41,400
T44 Collin Morikawa E $41,400
T46 Matt Wallace 1 $33,672
T46 Charles Howell III 1 $33,672
T46 Matthew Fitzpatrick 1 $33,672
T46 Victor Perez 1 $33,672
T46 Jordan Spieth 1 $33,672
T51 Mike Weir 2 $28,003
T51 Jazz Janewattananond 2 $28,003
T51 Zach Johnson 2 $28,003
T51 Rafael Cabrera Bello 2 $28,003
T55 John Augenstein (a) 3 —
T55 Phil Mickelson 3 $26,680
57 Bubba Watson 4 $26,450
58 Bernd Wiesberger 6 $26,220
59 Brandt Snedeker 7 $25,990
60 Jimmy Walker 8 $25,760
– Adam Hadwin CUT $10,000
– Gary Woodland CUT $10,000
– Graeme McDowell CUT $10,000
– Byeong-Hun An CUT $10,000
– Max Homa CUT $10,000
– Andrew Putnam CUT $10,000
– Justin Harding CUT $10,000
– Kevin Kisner CUT $10,000
– Matthew Wolff CUT $10,000
– J.T. Poston CUT $10,000
– Francesco Molinari CUT $10,000
– Fred Couples CUT $10,000
– Sandy Lyle CUT $10,000
– Nate Lashley CUT $10,000
– Jose Maria Olazabal CUT $10,000
– Matt Kuchar CUT $10,000
– Henrik Stenson CUT $10,000
– Brendon Todd CUT $10,000
– Larry Mize CUT $10,000
– Lanto Griffin CUT $10,000
– Tyrrell Hatton CUT $10,000
– Jason Kokrak CUT $10,000
– Jason Day CUT $10,000
– Tyler Duncan CUT $10,000
– Lucas Glover CUT $10,000
– Andrew Landry CUT $10,000
– Erik van Rooyen WD $10,000
– Vijay Singh WD $10,000
– James Sugrue (a) CUT —
– Lukas Michel (a) CUT —
– Yuxin Lin (a) CUT —
– Abel Gallegos (a) CUT —

 

Justin Thomas finished fourth at the Masters, but still wishes the next one ‘started tomorrow’

As soon as Justin Thomas wrapped up his fourth-place finish at the Masters, he started thinking about the next one.

As soon as Justin Thomas wrapped up this Masters performance, he started thinking about the next one. Shortly after coming off the 18th green with a fourth-place finish — eight shots behind Dustin Johnson’s 20-under runaway – Thomas indicated he was ready for another chance.

“I wish the tournament in April started tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll just say that.”

Thomas, 27, posted rounds of 66-69-71-70 for his best Masters finish – both in relation to par and position on the leaderboard – in five career starts here. There’s a lot to be said for that but Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner, was left wanting more.

“I mean, it was far from my best stuff,” he said when asked to reflect on the week as a whole. “So to finish fourth with that is a positive. I mean, I keep getting better. I’m very confident I’m going to win around this place at some point. I just don’t know when or if it will happen. I’m very comfortable. I just need to execute a little bit better.”

Truly, it looked like it might be Thomas’ week. His opening 66 moved him into contention and he played his way to 8 under by going 2 under through the first nine holes of his second round (which he started on No. 10). But from there, a double-bogey on the first hole derailed him and Thomas couldn’t get under 70 again.

“I didn’t hole anything the last three days, but I hit the ball beautifully yesterday,” he said. “Like I hit it really solid. I didn’t hit it really close to the hole a lot, but the shots that didn’t go where I wanted, they still were hit really well, and I felt like they were good shots.”

Thomas felt that with soft conditions, course knowledge didn’t come into play as much as it might in a normal year. Hitting the right spots was key, but perhaps there was less of a premium on placement than there will be in April.

Before leaving the Augusta grounds on Saturday night, Thomas indicated that he was aware of – and ready for – the chase he’d need to put on to catch Johnson, who was already four shots ahead of the next-closest player and six shots ahead of Thomas.

“It’s going to take something pretty special for me to have a chance tomorrow, but I know I can do it,” he said. “It’s just about doing it.”

Thomas started that effort a little late. He bogeyed the par-5 second hole out of the gate and didn’t make his first birdie until No. 8. He added another at No. 12, but by the time he eagled the 15th, it was too little, too late.

“I hit four great golf shots on 1 and made par,” he said. “Yeah, I mean, you just can’t bogey two in the scenario I was in. No, I didn’t hit the ball very well to start, and any time I had a birdie chance, I didn’t hit a very good iron shot. Then I found a little bit of rhythm on the back nine.”

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