It’s Masters week! Canada and the historic tournament have shared a rich history through the years. Let’s see how well you know The Masters!

1. Who has won the most Masters?
   1. Tiger Woods
   2. Jack Nicklaus
   3. Arnold Palmer
2. Who was the first left-handed player to win The Masters?
   1. Phil Mickelson
   2. Bob Charles
   3. Mike Weir
3. Who was the first person to get a hole-in-one at The Masters?
   1. Sandy Somerville
   2. Gene Sarazen
   3. Walter Hagen
4. What was previously located on the land that is now Augusta National Golf Club?
   1. Church of the Most Holy Trinity
   2. Waffle House
   3. Fruitland Nurseries
5. How many times did Canadian Gary Cowan play The Masters?
   1. 8
   2. 9
   3. 10
6. Which Canadian amateur most-recently played The Masters?
   1. Nick Taylor
   2. Matt Hill
   3. Corey Conners
7. How many Canadians have competed in The Masters?
   1. 19
   2. 23
   3. 30
8. Who won the first Masters?
   1. Bobby Jones
   2. Horton Smith
   3. Gene Sarazen
9. How many players have won both The Masters and the Canadian Open?
   1. 16
   2. 12
   3. 11
10. What is the record total of Canadians who participated in the Masters in a given year?
    1. 3
    2. 4
    3. 5
11. Who was the first Canadian to participate in the Masters?
    1. Jerry Magee
    2. Bill Mawhinney
    3. Sandy Somerville
12. Which Canadian has played in the second-most amount of Masters?
    1. Stan Leonard
    2. Mike Weir
    3. Al Balding

Answers

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Phil Mickelson can think of only one way that the Tuesday night dinner for Masters champions can get any better: to be the host.

Mickelson has served in that capacity three times as the reigning champion. That meant picking the menu and speaking to a room filled with some of golf’s greatest players, all of them in their green jackets, a dozen of them in the Hall of Fame.

He is a quick study.

“I realized a couple of things,” Mickelson said. “All the old guys like meat. The first year I had lobster ravioli. I messed up – the guys want a steak. The other two times, I always did some beef so they’d always have a steak option.”

Of all the traditions unlike any other at the Masters, the Tuesday night champions’ dinner rates as high as any.

It began in 1952 when Ben Hogan hosted a dinner for all the past champions and proposed forming the “Masters Club” in which membership is limited to only those who have won green jackets (along with the Augusta National club chairman, Billy Payne), who are honorary members.

The stories could get a little raunchy, especially when Sam Snead was holding court. And they could get quite emotional, such as when Arnold Palmer spoke two years ago after being presented the first piece of loblolly pine from when Eisenhower’s Tree was felled by an ice storm.

And for the host – especially a first-time Masters champion – it can be a little unnerving.

“I’ll never forget it,” Charl Schwartzel said. “I was pretty calm and everything went well as you got there. The most nerve-wracking thing was saying the speech. So you’ve got this massive table, probably 15 guys sitting on the sides, three at the end. Out on the middle of the left-hand side was Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, right next to each other, all three of them.”

“As I got up, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Nicklaus and Tiger all looked at me,” Schwartzel said. “I couldn’t stop looking at them and I didn’t know what to say. I thought, ‘What am I going to say to these guys that they haven’t already heard before?’ I just remember being so nervous. But it’s very special.”

Schwartzel will be pleased to know he wasn’t the only Masters champion who felt a bit overwhelmed.

Nick Faldo already had won 17 times around the world, including his first major at the British Open, when he won the Masters for the first of three times in 1989. In the room that night were Snead, Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen, Billy Casper, Nicklaus, Palmer and Gary Player.

“You’re in awe,” Faldo said. “My goodness, they were just wandering around. You feel like a complete school boy. You’re a little embarrassed, like a school boy in a class of Masters scholars. I’m like, ‘Wow!’ That was all I could say. I’m not sure I belong here. It’s quite a feeling.”

That’s what awaits Danny Willett on Tuesday night.

The menu will be local flair, typical of champions. Willett plans to serve cottage pie, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Schwartzel served sliced biltong and Boerwors with monkey gland sauce. Sandy Lyle of Scotland had haggis on the menu. Bernhard Langer served wiener schnitzel with spaetzle is first year as the host. Woods? He went with cheeseburgers and French fries after he first won in 1997.

Champions dinner by Yorkshire ?? pic.twitter.com/H2uMSE2sZR

— Danny Willett (@Danny_Willett) April 4, 2017

More than the food, it’s the ambience. And in some cases, it’s the pressure.

“I don’t want to say you’re walking on eggshells, but you don’t want to do anything wrong,” Zach Johnson said. “There’s a fraternity of men there who have been to multiple dinners. So you’re like: ‘OK, don’t say anything stupid. Pick a good meal and show up on time. And just enjoy the evening.’ It’s fun. It’s nerve-wracking. But the excitement and surrealness outweighs all the heart flutters.”

Jordan Spieth said one of his most prized possessions is a gold locket for being in the Masters Club, along with his gold medal for winning the Masters. He also has a menu signed by everyone at the dinner, along with a Masters flag. He owes Johnson for that.

“I didn’t actually have one because I didn’t know you were supposed to,” Spieth said. “Zach had an extra one, which was one of the coolest gifts.”

That flag includes a signature from Palmer, who died last September.

This dinner is sure to include a sombre moment without having the King around. Palmer had been a prominent part of the dinner since 1959.

“I hope they ask everybody to around the room and tell an Arnold story. That would be unbelievable,” Faldo said. “I think we should make that a tradition. That will be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tommy Fleetwood is making his second appearance at the Masters, the first as a player.

Three years ago, Fleetwood came to the Masters as a spectator because he figured he would be in the field at Augusta National and it wouldn’t hurt to take in the entire experience of Masters week.

It just didn’t work out that way. The 26-year-old from England was No. 52 in the world deep into 2014 and signed up for the Dubai Open on the Asian Tour with hopes of cracking the top 50 in the world by the end of the year to get a Masters invitation. He missed the cut and finished the year at No. 51.

A wasted trip? Not really.

“I just wanted to see it,” he said. “I think whoever you speak to says it’s not just the golf course, but the surroundings, the club, everything takes a little bit of getting used to. Augusta, it’s in everybody’s mind and everybody’s dreams and it’s just that place that you know that you want to go to, so it’s a little bit surreal when you first go.”

If nothing else, he figured that trip in 2014 as a spectator would keep him from being in awe when he did make it as a player.

Wrong again.

“It doesn’t quite work like that. When you get to the golf course, it’s still the same feelings,” Fleetwood said. “It doesn’t disappoint when you arrive, and you drive down Magnolia Lane.”

As a spectator, his favourite spot was Amen Corner. It’s one of the busiest places at Augusta National, but Fleetwood was struck by how tranquil it seemed to be on the 12th green, and particularly the 13th tee tucked away in the corner. There was only one way to find out, and he took care of that by qualifying.

Fleetwood was on the cusp of the top 50 when he was runner-up in the Mexico Championship, moving him up to No. 35 in the world and securing that Masters invitation. And going over the bridge to the 12th green, then up to the 13th tee, lived up to his expectations.

“Those were the two places when I watched I couldn’t get to and I was desperate to get there,” he said. “That’s what I was most excited about.”

Rickie Fowler was listed in a magazine survey of players (who didn’t have to give their names) as the most overrated player on the PGA Tour two years ago. He responded by winning The Players Championship in a finish so compelling that he made birdie on the island-green 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass three times on the final day (twice in a playoff).

The topic came up again on Monday whether he has met expectations thus far in his career. Fowler described it as “under.”

But that doesn’t mean he’s been disappointed. The Honda Classic was his seventh victory worldwide, and while he hasn’t won a major, Fowler played in the final group at three majors in 2014. He also felt good about where his game is headed this year.

“I’m ready for a fun ride coming in,” Fowler said. “Yeah, I would have liked to have won more. I would have liked to have been there in some more majors like I was. Hey, it’s tough out there, but I’m enjoying the ride.”

Fowler shot 80 in the first round at the Masters a year ago and missed the cut.

BEST LEFT UNSAID: Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth have been friends since they were 14. The play pranks on each other (Spieth nearly had Thomas’ car towed in Phoenix) and the needle is sharp.

No matter the friendship, some topics are off-limits.

Thomas was asked if he can needle Spieth about the 12th hole last year at the Masters, where Spieth put two in the water for a quadruple bogey that cost him a second straight green jacket.

“No, that’s not really cool,” Thomas said. “That’s all I have to say about that.”

MASTERS TRADITION: PGA champion Jimmy Walker has his own tradition at the Masters.

“I try to get an egg salad sandwich in me as quick as possible,” he said. “I’ve already had two, and I was requested to bring some home for dinner tonight.”

Egg salad, along with pimento cheese, are among the more popular sandwiches at Augusta National.

More than a sandwich, the entire week is one to savour, Walker said.

“It’s a week I always try to slow down and enjoy it,” he said, “because it’s so cool to be here.”

MONTREAL – The Québec Golf Federation is proud to announce that Robert Bissonnette was appointed 2017 President at the conclusion of the 96^th edition of the Annual General Meeting held on April 2 at Le Fontainebleau, in Blainville.

He joined the Golf Québec Board of Directors in 2011. First as Secretary-Treasurer, he eventually became Vice-President of the corporation. He also acted as Regional Representative of the OVGA and was Chairman of the provincial Finance and Investments Committee. Still active with the OVGA, he was the regional Secretary-Treasurer from 2008 to 2010 and regional President in 2012 and 2013.

Robert Bissonnette has had a career as a professional accountant in the aerospace sector and currently is a financial consultant to crown corporations and non-profit organizations. He lives in Ottawa with his wife Laurie and they have two married sons, Sorrel and René.

“Golf Québec is a leader in the golf industry,” mentioned Robert Bissonnette. “Aside from introducing new golfers to the game, our mandate is also to increase the number of golf rounds played by existing golfers. To achieve these goals, we challenged ourselves to build new golf communities in the coming years,” he added. “We are convinced that by combining the efforts of all local stakeholders and supporting them with a larger number of Golf Community Coaches, we will be successful at stimulating interest for the game, inciting more sports participants to discover or rediscover golf, and contribute to generating more attendance on golf courses. Close collaboration with other associations that are promoting and developing golf in our industry will be essential”, concluded the new President.

CALGARY, Alta. (Alberta Golf) — Alberta Golf is pleased to announce its competition schedule including host clubs and dates for the 2017 championship season. A total of 13 provincial amateur championships that serve as qualifiers for national amateur championships will be conducted in 2017.

“With outstanding venues throughout the province that will both welcome and test all competitors, we are pleased to announce our 2017 championship schedule,” said Alberta Golf Executive Director/CEO Phil Berube. “As we continue to broaden our competition offering and explore additional formats to attract new competitors, we hope to see more players take advantage of the great value and high caliber events being organized by Alberta Golf.”

Alberta Golf’s provincial amateur championships are proudly supported by Sun Life Financial, Guardian Capital, Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP, Alberta Sport Connection, adidas Golf Canada, and Titleist & FootJoy.

Championship notes:

Alberta Golf’s championship season kicks off with regional qualifiers throughout May and early June for the Alberta Open, Junior & Juvenile, Mens Amateur and Senior Mens championships. Competitors can also register to qualify for the Glencoe Invitational.

The first championship of the season is the Scott Venturo Alberta Open & Match Play Championships at the Sundre Golf Club, June 19-22^nd. The season will wrap up at the Alberta Mens Interclub Championship at the Canmore Golf & Curling Club on September 7^th. The complete 2017 championship schedule as well as registration information can be found here.

The Alberta Net Amateur Championship will be held at the Lacombe Golf & Country Club, August 30-31^st. This fun two-day competition is a net stableford format and a fantastic introduction to the competitive experience.

The Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru Provincial Event, the Alberta Ladies Team Classic, will be held at Stewart Creek Golf & Country Club on August 1^st. The one-day event is a celebration of the success of all Golf Fore the Cure events held province-wide during the 2017 season. To date, the program’s fundraising efforts have totaled more than $5.9 million for breast cancer research nationwide.

PROVINCIAL AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Alberta Golf conducts 13 provincial amateur championships for annual competition to identify the best golfer in various age and gender categories, welcoming nearly 1,500 competitors each year. Provincial amateur championships are conducted at member facilities on a variety of high quality courses across the province to provide a best in class experience for competitors. Championships service as an opportunity for golfers to qualify for national amateur championships and are delivered by a committed and passionate group of staff and volunteers. Provincial amateur championships are conducted to promote competition, build pride in the community, support charitable giving an inspire future generations of golfers.

His Masters win 20 years ago would have marked the apex of just about every other golfer’s career. It’s worth remembering now that Tiger Woods was just getting started.

He’s vowed to attend the Champions Dinner, but the four-time Masters champion announced Friday night that he won’t play this year because of an ailing back. His latest attempt to jump-start a career derailed by chronic injuries ended miserably in February, when Woods walked off the course at the Dubai Desert Classic with back spasms.

“I’m trying everything to be able to get back and play,” he said last week. “I love that event. It’s meant so much to me in my life. It has so much history and meaning to me, I’d love to get back.”

One thing that hasn’t changed: When Woods plays, everyone pays attention. These days, it might amount to no more than a casual check of where he’s placed in the field.

But in 1997, you couldn’t take your eyes off him.

Watch @TigerWoods look back at his historic 1997 win at #themasters. pic.twitter.com/VJDPcK1Kyz

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 2, 2017

Woods shot 40 on his opening nine in his first major championship as a pro and still won by 12 strokes. He averaged 25 yards longer off the tee than the next closest player, blowing by bunkers and firing darts into the roly-poly greens with shorter irons and from angles no one else had even considered. He made everything inside 8 feet.

The powers-that-be at Augusta National wouldn’t get around to “Tiger-proofing” the place for three more years. But there was already a whiff of panic in the air.

“Obviously the Masters Committee has to be a little concerned,” veteran pro Tom Kite weighed in after Saturday’s third round in 1997. “They’ve got a golf course that’s pretty darn tough, and they’ve got somebody just ripping it up.”

Woods stayed up late that night talking with his father, Earl, about how to rip it up some more.

Earl had turned over control of Tiger’s swing to more capable teachers long ago. But because military habits die hard, the ex-Green Beret reserved the job of toughening up the kid for himself.

When Tiger was starting out, he’d jangle the coins in his pocket in the middle of a backswing. As he got older, Earl progressed – digressed, really – to dropping clubs, hopping up and down, yelling, cussing, even using the occasional N-word. None of it dented his son’s suit of armour.

Sometime past midnight, Earl checked off the last box on his list.

“Just get in your own little world,” he said, “and go out there and just thrash ’em.”

Tiger did.

He was as thin as a 2-iron then, supple as Gumby, and Woods controlled the golf ball like no one you’d ever seen. Twenty records fell over the four days – youngest Masters champion, lowest score, biggest margin of victory, etc. – yet that only hinted at Woods’ readiness for the grand stage.

When Nick Faldo, the previous year’s champion, draped the green jacket over Woods’ shoulders at the trophy ceremony, it marked almost 50 years to the day that Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s colour barrier. The Spartan white Augusta clubhouse in the background was a subtle reminder that on matters of race, golf had been dragging its cleats.

But gifted an athlete like Woods, a blend of talent and charisma whose appeal stretched from lush suburban courses to raggedy inner-city driving ranges, the game hopped aboard.

“I was there waiting for the finish. It was a foregone conclusion,” former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem recalled. “From then on it was only a question of details.

“How many does he win? Does he challenge the big, long-term records?” he said. “If he stays like this, and plays like this, and stays healthy and challenges the big records – which takes decades – that’s going to be an awesome impact on the game.”

Woods was even better than advertised. As he took off, prize money and TV ratings soared. Galleries swelled and occasionally got rowdy. Some old-timers blanched, but golf suddenly seemed a lot cooler.

Taking their cues from Woods, kids wandered onto courses from Florida to California, Northern Ireland to South Africa, Australia, Argentina and a thousand points in between. A serious few stayed with it, following his blueprint, emulating his fitness and adopting his survival-of-the-fittest approach to every competition.

Those are the ones who walk nonchalantly past Woods and his tee shots nowadays on the way to their own. They constitute the deepest pool of talent the game has ever seen. But in 1997, they were just fans.

“I was 9 and just getting into golf,” Australian Jason Day, the No. 3-ranked player in the world, recalled recently. “My dad had this turn-knob TV with bunny ears. You had to move the antenna to get the right picture and it was really early in the morning. I remember him walking up the 18th and he obliterated the field.

“I started playing more golf than I usually did,” he added. “And then I read a book about him when I was 14. So, they’re the two moments that really kind of changed my life.”

Instead of being inspired, the old guard playing alongside Woods at that Masters was terrified.

“It threw me into a tailspin seeing how much talent a guy like that had. It affected me,” said Steve Stricker, who has partnered with Woods in U.S. team events for years. “I don’t have any problem saying it now. But it took me a while to get out of the funk, thinking, ‘I can’t do what he’s doing.”’

At that moment, though, Woods wasn’t worried about usurpers, young or old, and the horizon wasn’t the only thing that appeared limitless. Just 21, he looked like he could go on winning forever.

Woods did for the next dozen years, everything and everywhere but especially at the biggest events, putting himself well ahead of pace to rip the most revered record in golf – 18 career majors – from Jack Nicklaus. Then life thrashed him back.

Some argue that began at the 2008 U.S. Open, where Woods won his last major after a scratch-and-claw duel with Rocco Mediate in a Monday playoff. He hobbled off with the trophy and, it turned out, stress fractures in both his knee and tibia that required reconstruction barely two weeks later. Still only 32, Woods began falling apart like a used car.

The next year brought an even more literal thrashing. First came his “Buster Douglas” moment in August, when little-known Y.E. Yang went off in the final group on the final day of the PGA Championship paired with Woods and beat him by three shots. It marked the first time Woods had failed to seal the deal in a major after holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

That small tear in his cloak of invincibility hinted at the trouble ahead. Two months later, after a Thanksgiving night fight with his wife over widely rumoured infidelities, Woods raced out of his driveway and wrecked into a tree, knocking himself unconscious. Neither his image nor his golf game ever completely recovered.

He’s won eight times on the PGA Tour since, though none after 2013. The chain-reaction crash set off by that 2008 injury has reached down to both Achilles tendons through his back and on up to his neck. It didn’t help that at points in between, Woods ignored his inner circle’s advice and sneaked in a few days of training with Navy Seals.

He’s grown increasingly guarded about his life. He even named his yacht Privacy.

Turns out Woods wasn’t kidding. In an interview last year, he told Time magazine what he’d like his legacy to be:

“The best thing,” Woods said, “would be to not be remembered.”

Good luck with that.

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame writer Lorne Rubenstein’s latest collaboration was a memoir documenting the historic run in 1997 with Woods. Read John Gordon’s review here.

Tournament: The 81st Masters.

Dates: April 6-9.

Site: Augusta National Golf Club.

Length: 7,435 yards.

Par: 36-36–72.

Purse: To be determined ($10 million in 2016).

Field: 93 (88 professionals, five amateurs).

Cut: Top 50 and ties, and anyone within 10 shots of the lead.

Defending champion: Danny Willett.

Last year: Danny Willett won the Masters with a 67 in the final round. Jordan Spieth lost it with a quadruple bogey on the 12th hole. Spieth had a five-shot lead until starting the back nine Sunday with two bogeys, then hitting two shots in Rae’s Creek and making 7 on the par-3 12th. He never caught up. Willett became the first player from England to win the green jacket since 1996, when Nick Faldo closed with a 67 and took advantage of a collapse by Greg Norman.

Grand Slam: Rory McIlroy needs a Masters victory to become only the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam. This will be his third attempt at it.

No. 1 ranking: Dustin Johnson will try to become only the fourth player – and first since Tiger Woods in 2002 – to win the Masters at No. 1 in the world.

Key statistic: Five of the top 10 players in the world ranking have won on the PGA Tour this year.

Tiger tales: Tiger Woods is not playing for the third time in the last four years.

Noteworthy: Mark O’Meara, 60, is the oldest player in the field.

Quoteworthy: “You have to play 72 great holes at Augusta. There’s no shot on that golf course where you can switch off.” – Three-time champion Nick Faldo.

Television: Thursday and Friday, 3-7:30 p.m., ESPN; Saturday, 3-7 p.m., CBS Sports; Sunday, 2-7 p.m., CBS Sports.

Interactive: www.masters.com . Live video channels from Amen Corner, the 15th hole, 16th hole and a featured group. Estimated times – Amen Corner (Nos. 11, 12 and 13) from 10:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and from 11:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; Nos. 15 and 16 from 11:45 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, featured group from noon to completion of play on Thursday and Friday, and from 12:30 p.m. to completion of play on Saturday and Sunday. The Masters iPad application will display the video channels and a live digital simulcast of CBS Sports’ weekend coverage.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – So Yeon Ryu est venue à bout de Lexi Thompson lors du premier trou de prolongation, dimanche, pour triompher au tournoi ANA Inspiration malgré la controverse.

Ryu (68) a réussi un oiselet au 18e trou, lors de la prolongation, et elle a mis la main sur un deuxième titre majeur en carrière sur le circuit de la LPGA. Ses célébrations ont toutefois eu lieu dans des circonstances bizarres sur le parcours de Dinah Shore.

Âgée de 22 ans, Thompson (67) détenait une avance de trois coups et semblait se diriger vers une deuxième victoire en carrière lors d’un tournoi majeur, mais elle a écopé une pénalité de quatre coups pour avoir placé incorrectement sa balle avant un coup roulé, samedi.

Les officiels de la LPGA l’ont informé de cette sanction alors qu’il ne restait que six trous à jouer. Ceux-ci ont été alertés de cette manoeuvre illégale par un téléspectateur, qui leur a envoyé un courrier électronique.

“C’est dommage, a déclaré Thompson. Je n’ai pas voulu faire quelque chose d’illégal. Je n’ai pas réalisé que ce l’était. Je me suis sentie assez forte jusqu’au dernier trou et c’était bien de sentir que la foule était derrière moi.”

L’arbitre de la LPGA, Sue Witters, a expliqué qu’elle se devait de lui imposer la sanction, alors qu’elle se dirigeait au 13e trou.

“Je ne pouvais pas aller au lit ce soir sachant que j’avais laissé passer une faute, a raconté Witters. C’était une chose difficile à faire. Pour être honnête, ça m’a rendue malade.”

La jeune golfeuse américaine croyait qu’il s’agissait d’une farce et elle a qualifié de “ridicule” la décision des officiels. Les réactions n’ont pas manqué sur le parcours et sur le réseau social Twitter. Tiger Woods s’est d’ailleurs porté à la défense de sa compatriote, mentionnant que “les téléspectateurs ne devraient pas rendre les décisions des officiels”.

Malgré ce recul au classement général, Thompson s’est bien battue et elle a forcé la tenue d’une prolongation. Elle a remporté ce tournoi en 2014 et elle y a toujours connu du succès par la suite.

“Je n’arrive pas à croire ce qui s’est passé, a déclaré sa rivale Ryu. Je n’ai même pas regardé le tableau des résultats. J’ai trouvé que Lexi a très bien joué. C’est une situation très fâcheuse pour elle. Je ne m’y attendais pas. Je me disais que j’étais toujours derrière elle alors je me suis simplement concentrée sur mon match.”

À un certain moment, lorsque Inbee Park (69) a réussi un oiselet au 16e trou, il y avait cinq golfeuses à égalité avec un pointage cumulatif de moins-13. Park a finalement terminé le tournoi avec ce pointage alors que Ryu et Thompson ont amorcé la prolongation à moins-14.

Minjee Lee (69) et Suzann Pettersen (70) ont complété le tournoi

à égalité avec Park, au troisième échelon.

La Canadienne Brooke M. Henderson a remis une carte de 68 et elle s’est emparée de la 14e place, à moins-5.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Lexi Thompson had no idea why LPGA Tour rules official Sue Witters was approaching her on the way to the 13th tee at the ANA Inspiration.

When she found out, Thompson still couldn’t believe it.

A television viewer’s email had alerted officials to a day-old rules violation by Thompson for a 1-inch ball placement error . Her three-shot lead had just been wiped out by a four-shot penalty.

“Is this a joke?” Thompson asked Witters.

After being assured it wasn’t, she responded: “This is ridiculous.”

Thompson survived the shock and tears, and she forced a playoff with three gutsy birdies that had the Dinah Shore Course crowd on its feet.

But So Yeon Ryu managed to take advantage of the break created by Thompson’s extraordinary penalty.

Ryu birdied the playoff hole to win the LPGA Tour’s first major of the year Sunday after Thompson was blindsided for an infraction she had accidentally committed 24 hours earlier.

Thompson, the 22-year-old U.S. Olympian who won here in 2014, was left stunned by the decision that stopped her from cruising to what looked like an easy victory. The ruling cost her more than a strong chance at her second major title: Ryu won $405,000 with the victory, and Thompson went home with just over $250,000 in second place.

“Every day is a learning process,” said Thompson, who still stopped to sign dozens of autographs after her heartbreak. “I wasn’t expecting what happened today, but … it happens, and I’ll learn from it and hopefully do better.”

The fateful email arrived during Sunday’s final round, alerting officials to the violation committed Saturday. Thompson marked a 1-foot putt with a coin on the 17th green during her third round, but she replaced the ball perhaps 1 inch out of position.

After an extensive video review , Thompson was penalized two strokes for an incorrect ball placement and two strokes for an incorrect scorecard. Witters regretfully explained the penalty to Thompson.

Lexi Thompson was assessed a 4-shot penalty for an incorrect marking of a ball and signing an incorrect card yesterday at #ANAInspiration pic.twitter.com/6pNJ5haql9

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 3, 2017

“I can’t go to bed tonight knowing I let a rule slide,” Witters said. “It’s a hard thing to do, and it made me sick, to be honest with you.”

Thompson fought back tears after getting the news, but she incredibly birdied the 13th hole. She battled back into a five-way tie for the lead, making three birdies and a bogey on the final six holes of regulation at Mission Hills Country Club.

“It’s unfortunate what happened,” Thompson said. “I did not mean that at all. I didn’t realize I did that. I felt strong through the finish, and it was great to see the fans behind me.”

Golf fans on the course and the internet reacted with bewilderment and outrage when the LPGA’s decision became understood. Tiger Woods immediately came to Thompson’s defence on Twitter.

“Viewers at home should not be officials wearing stripes,” Woods wrote . “Let’s go, Lexi, win this thing anyway.”

Most golfersweighing inon Twitter didn’t disagree with the ruling, but condemned the practice of allowing TV viewers to have their say – particularly an entire day afterward.

Even Justin Timberlake saw it : “Lexi is SO CLASSY. Handled that with grace and fight. Career defining moment.”

As awkward as the situation was, it could have been worse: If golf officials hadn’t made a rule change before last year, Thompson would have been disqualified entirely.

Ryu birdied the 18th hole in regulation and again in the playoff, but she didn’t find out she was in serious contention to win until officials informed her of Thompson’s penalty on the 16th tee.

“I just cannot believe the situation,” Ryu said. “I didn’t even check the leaderboard. I thought Lexi played really, really well. I didn’t expect what happened to Lexi.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation. I didn’t expect it. I thought I’m well behind, so all I wanted to do was play my game.”

They both finished regulation at 14-under 274, but Thompson still nearly won it in regulation after crushing her approach shot on the 18th.

With emotions visible on her face amid loud chants of her name, Thompson gathered herself – and left a 15-foot winning eagle putt inches short.

Ryu, who also won the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open in a playoff, buried a 5-foot birdie putt to claim her second major title with an excellent playoff hole after her bogey-free, final-round 68 .

Although she cried with joy on the green for what she said was the first time in a U.S. tournament, her celebration was a bit muted because of the bizarre circumstances – at least until she made the traditional leap into Poppie’s Pond with her caddie and friends.

“It definitely feels a bit weird,” said Ryu, who is expected to move to No. 2 in the world. “It was kind of a weird atmosphere, even after I won the tournament.

“But I think the most important thing is no matter what happened during the round, we ended up going to a playoff. Then I was able to handle the tough situation well.”

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 68 to finish the tournament tied for 14th at 5-under 283.

Norway’s Suzann Pettersen barely missed a birdie putt on the 18th to force a three-way playoff. She finished tied for third with Inbee Park and Minjee Lee.

HUMBLE, Texas – Russell Henley no longer gets to take a week off, and he couldn’t be happier.

He’s going to the Masters.

Henley overcame a four-shot deficit Sunday in the Houston by closing with a 7-under 65 for a three-shot victory, one of the most important final rounds of his career. Only later did he realize it might have his best.

He made 10 birdies. He never went more than two holes without a birdie.

“I made 10 birdies today?” he asked. “Oh, wow. Wow. Yeah, then I guess it’s definitely the best.”

Henley ran off five of them in the opening eight holes to briefly catch up to Sung Kang, only to make a double bogey from the bunker on the par-3 ninth at the Golf Club of Houston. Only the 27-year-old from Georgia was just getting warmed up.

The decisive stretch came on the par-5 13th, where Henley and Kang were tied for the lead. Henley pitched to 3 feet for birdie, while Kang missed from 15 feet. On the par-3 14th, Henley rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the fast greens, cut to try to mimic what players will face at Augusta National. Kang did well to save par from 6 feet. And then Henley raced out to a three-shot advantage with another up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 15th.

He finished with a bogey for 20-under 268, three shots ahead of Kang.

Mackenzie Hughes (68) of Dundas, Ont., was the top Canadian at 5-under 283 and finished 23rd. Nick Taylor (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., was 44th at 2 under.

Rickie Fowler was never in the picture. He made a double bogey with a wild drive on the second hole, and then got hit driver off the deck into the water on the par-5 fourth hole to drop another shot. Fowler trailed by as many as seven shots until a flurry of birdies late in the round when it was out of reach.

Fowler closed with a 70 and tied for third, along with Luke List (68).

“Just an alignment problem that just caused me to make a couple bad swings, cost me a few shots,” Fowler said. “Nice that I got it turned around and started to make some good swings and made some birdies and fought back, got a good finish out of it. Obviously, yeah, I would have like to have gotten off to a better start.”

Jon Rahm, the 22-year-old rookie from Spain, closed with a 67 and tied for 10th, his fourth consecutive top 10 as he heads to Augusta National for his Masters debut.

Henley won for the third time in his PGA Tour career, and his first since a playoff victory over Rory McIlroy in the 2014 Honda Classic. He was in danger of missing the Masters for the second straight year until winning the Houston Open, the only way into Augusta National at this point.

“I wasn’t expecting to go back to Augusta,” he said. “I was planning on not going, but I was going to try my best to win. So, the fact I get to go back is pretty cool and I’m excited. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

Henley became the third player in the last four years to win the Houston Open and earn a trip to the Masters.

Kang, going for his first PGA Tour victory, had a six-shot lead after 36 holes, the largest in tournament history. He appeared to get a slight reprieve Saturday when Fowler fell back with a four-putt double bogey on the 18th hole of the third round.

The threat turned out to be Henley, one of the best putters in golf when he gets it going.

Kang did his best to hang on, but he never made another birdie after No. 8. His hopes were all but gone when he missed a 5-foot birdie attempt on No. 16.

“This week is going to be very memorable for me,” Kang said. “I played really solid the first few rounds and then it shifted for two rounds. I’ll keep grinding out and working out and hopefully, I can get a chance next time.”

The starting times were moved up Sunday because of the threat of rain, and the final round featured dark, grey skies and a drizzle, followed by steamy sunshine as the leaders entered the final stretch.

This was the Houston Open with Shell as the title sponsor after 26 years.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was at the tournament on Sunday and advocated for moving the Houston Open inside the city limits rather than unincorporated Harris County near Humble where the tournament has been played since 2003.

Neither the sponsor nor the location for next year’s Houston Open has been determined. Turner advocated heavily for moving the tournament to Memorial Park, which last hosted the Houston Open in 1963.