AUGUSTA, Ga. – A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the Masters:

75 years ago (1939): Ralph Guldahl technically became the first winner of the Masters because the name of the championship was changed in 1939 from the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. The opening round was postponed by rain, leading to a 36-hole Sunday. Guldahl, a runner-up at Augusta each of the previous two years, had a 33 on the back nine and closed with a 69 for a one-shot win over Sam Snead. Guldahl finished at 279, the first sub-280 performance in a 72-hole major.

50 years ago (1964): The fourth and final Masters that Arnold Palmer won was by far his easiest. After one-shot victories in 1958 and 1960, and a playoff win over Gary Player in 1962, Palmer went wire-to-wire (including a tie in the first round) to win by six shots. Three rounds in the 60s gave him a five-shot lead over Bruce Devlin, and Palmer closed out victory with a 70. He won by six shots over Dave Marr and defending champion Jack Nicklaus. Palmer set the record with four green jackets, which Nicklaus surpassed with his fifth win in 1975. It was the last major Palmer won.

25 years ago (1989): Nick Faldo rallied from five shots back in the final round with a 7-under 65 to force a playoff, which he won on the second extra hole against Scott Hoch. Faldo had to return Sunday morning due to rain and wrap up a 77 in the third round. He switched putters before returning for the final round, and it paid off. In the playoff, Faldo hit into a bunker on No. 10 and made bogey. Hoch had a chance to win with a par, but he famously missed the 3-foot putt. On they went to No. 11, where Faldo won the first of his three green jackets by holing a 25-foot birdie putt.

20 years ago (1994): Jose Maria Olazabal had 14 wins in Europe and a successful partnership with Seve Ballesteros in the Ryder Cup. He came into his own at Augusta National, closing with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Tom Lehman. Olazabal was tied for the lead when his second shot to the par-5 15th narrowly stayed up, and he holed a 30-foot eagle putt from the fringe. For the week, the Spaniard had 30 one-putt greens, chipped in twice and saved par all six times he was in the bunker. He was sixth European winner in seven years.

10 years ago (2004): Finally, Phil Mickelson won his first major championship when he made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to end a tense duel with Ernie Els. Mickelson made five birdies on the last seven holes for a 31 on the back nine and closed with a 3-under 69. Els closed with a 67, narrowly missing a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. The South African was on the putting green preparing for a playoff when he heard the enormous roar for Mickelson’s winning birdie putt. Until that day, Mickelson had been 0 for 42 as a professional in the majors. He would go on to win majors in each of the next two years.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The following 97 players have qualified and are expected to compete in the 78th Masters, to be played April 10-13 at Augusta National Golf Club. Players are only listed in the first category for which they are eligible.

MASTERS CHAMPIONS: Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson, Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O’Meara, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson.

U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONS (five years): Justin Rose, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Lucas Glover.

BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONS (five years): Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen, Stewart Cink.

PGA CHAMPIONS (five years): Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Y.E. Yang.

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPS CHAMPIONS (three years): Matt Kuchar, K.J. Choi.

U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPION AND RUNNER-UP: a-Matt Fitzpatrick, a-Oliver Goss.

BRITISH AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Garrick Porteous.

U.S. AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS CHAMPION: a-Jordan Niebrugge.

U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Michael McCoy.

ASIAN AMATEUR CHAMPION: a-Lee Chang-woo.

TOP 12 AND TIES-2013 MASTERS: Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Thorbjorn Olesen, Brandt Snedeker, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Tim Clark, John Huh.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2013 U.S. OPEN: Billy Horschel, Hunter Mahan.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2013 BRITISH OPEN: Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter.

TOP FOUR AND TIES-2013 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: Jim Furyk, Jonas Blixt.

PGA TOUR EVENT WINNERS SINCE 2013 MASTERS (FULL FEDEX CUP POINTS AWARDED): Derek Ernst, Sang-Moon Bae, Boo Weekley, Harris English, Ken Duke, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore, Dustin Johnson, Chris Kirk, Scott Stallings, Kevin Stadler, Russell Henley, John Senden, Matt Every, Steven Bowditch, Matt Jones.

FIELD FROM THE 2013 TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP: Steve Stricker, Roberto Castro, Nick Watney, Brendon de Jonge, Luke Donald, Gary Woodland, Kevin Streelman, D.A. Points, Graham DeLaet.

TOP 50 FROM FINAL WORLD RANKING IN 2013: Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, David Lynn, Thongchai Jaidee, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten, Branden Grace.

TOP 50 FROM WORLD RANKING ON MARCH 30: Stephen Gallacher.

(a) denotes amateur

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Harris English got his first Masters week off to an ideal start Sunday – he made an ace on the 12th hole.

And it came with a little help from Brandt Snedeker.

They played a practice round with Augusta National members Dave Dorman and Toby Wilt, who teamed with Snedeker to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last year. When they got to the menacing 12th hole, Snedeker hit a three-quarter 9-iron to the front-left hole location.

English’s caddie suggested about the same, and that’s when Snedeker stepped in with these words of advice: “Just rip a wedge.”

“I’m 1-for-1 as a caddie,” Snedeker chirped after the round. Turning to English, he said, “What have you been doing all year? This is easy.”

English is among a record 24 players playing the Masters for the first time, though Sunday wasn’t his first time playing Augusta National. He played every year in college at Georgia. Even so, it was a good way to ease into a busy week.

And it was a long time coming. English said it was the second hole-in-one of his life, and his first as a professional.

The other one?

“Huntsville Country Club, when I was 14,” he said. “I hit a 5-iron. Hooked it left and it kicked right.”

This was a wedge from 142 yards that covered the flag. And he was at Augusta National. Big difference.

HAPPY RETURNS: Adam Scott returned to Augusta National on Friday and took one last privilege as the defending champion. He took his father out to play the course.

“It was the highlight of his golfing life,” Scott said Sunday. “I think for him following me around here for so many years, to get to stand in the middle of the fairways and get the perspective was just great. And for me just playing with him, well, it was pretty special.”

Perhaps the best part was going down the 10th hole, where last year he hit 6-iron to 12 feet and made the birdie putt to beat Angel Cabrera on the second playoffs hole. It was a good time, as Scott said his coach told him, to “stop and smell the flowers.”

“Walking down there the last couple of days thinking about,” Scott said, still amazed at the feeling. “It’s had an incredible impact on me. Reliving it has been nice, even these last couple of days, as well.”

What he’s not looking forward to this week is leaving the green jacket behind – unless he was to win again.

Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods are the only players to win back-to-back at the Masters.

“I’m quite determined to not leave it here,” Scott said.

AN INSPIRING SUNDAY: By all accounts, the Drive, Chip and Putt competition was a huge success at the Masters. Club chairman Billy Payne said the idea was to inspire young kids to get involved in golf and be motivated to earn a trip to Augusta National.

Ian Poulter said his 9-year-old son, Luke, was watching from home.

“My son is home on the sofa watching,” Poulter said. “I told him, `This should get you excited to go play.’ Hopefully, he’s on the range.”

Poulter said he spent a good part of the morning watching the Golf Channel coverage and couldn’t imagine what it was like to be a parent.

“I remember my mum and dad watching me play here for the first time,” he said. “For the parents of these kids, they’ve got to be a complete bag of nerves. This is brilliant. It’s cool for the kids.”

Poulter was inspired for other reason. While watching coverage, he noticed one young boy wearing his clothing line.

“I’ve got to go find him,” Poulter said, and off he went.

DIVOTS: Matt Jones became the 97th player into the field by winning the Shell Houston Open on Sunday. That makes it a record 24 Masters rookies this week. … British Amateur champion Garrick Porteous has a rare distinction at Augusta National. He is the first Masters competitor to play the 17th hole without the Eisenhower Tree. Porteous played a practice round on Feb. 17, the day after the ice-damaged tree was removed.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Lexi Thompson left Michelle Wie behind Sunday – off the tee and on the leaderboard in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

The 19-year-old Thompson closed with a bogey-free 4-under 68 at Mission Hills for a three-stroke victory over Wie. Thompson birdied four of the first nine holes to open a five-stroke lead and parred the final nine.

Wie birdied the final hole for a 71. She used her driver only four times, choosing to hit fairway-metal stingers on the other 10 driving holes – leaving her as much as 60 yards behind Thompson. When both hit 3-woods, Thompson also had the advantage.

Thompson became the second-youngest major winner in LPGA Tour history at 19 years, 1 month, 27 days. Morgan Pressel set the record in her 2007 victory at Mission Hills at 18 years, 10 months, 9 days.

Thompson finished at 14-under 274 for her fourth LPGA Tour victory. She opened with a 73, shot a tournament-best 64 on Friday and had a 69 on Saturday to tie for the lead with Wie at 10 under. The 6-foot Florida player had only one bogey – when she missed a 3-footer on the par-5 18th Saturday – in her last 55 holes.

Thompson won the 2011 Navistar LPGA in Alabama at 16 to become the youngest winner in tour history, a mark broken by Lydia Ko in the 2012 Canadian Women’s Open. Last year, Thompson won the LPGA Malaysia and Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

The 24-year-old Wie made her 12th start in the event. She was ninth in 2003 at age 13, fourth the following year and tied for third at 16 in 2006. She also was sixth in 2011.

Wie has two tour victories, winning the 2009 Lorena Ochoa Invitational and 2010 Canadian Women’s Open. She has been in the top 16 in all six of her starts this season.

Thompson hammered a drive 40 yards past Wie’s 3-wood on the par-4 opening hole and took the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt. Wie pulled even with a birdie on the par-5 second, chipping to 1 1/2 feet after leaving her second shot just short of the green.

Wie bogeyed the par-4 third, missing from 6 feet after a short chip.

Thompson birdied Nos. 4 and 5. She hit a 3-wood 30 yards past Wie’s 3-wood and made a 12-foot putt on the par-4 fourth, and holed a 5-footer on the par-3 fifth.

Thompson picked up another stroke on the par-3 eighth when Wie missed a 2-foot par putt, and pushed her lead to five with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth.

Wie birdied the first two holes where she used her driver, hitting it past Thompson on the par-5 second and 11th. Wie also hit driver on the par-4 13th, setting up a wedge that she hit to 4 feet. But she left the birdie putt short to remain four strokes back.

She cut it to three on the par-3 14th, holing a 12-footer, but dropped a stroke after hitting well right on the par-3 17th.

Stacy Lewis, the 2011 winner, had a 67 to finish third at 7 under. Cristie Kerr and Se Ri Pak tied for fourth at 6 under. Kerr shot 72, and Pak had a 72.

Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson shot a 2-over par 74 Sunday. The 16-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont. tied for 26th with two others at 1-over 289. She’s currently ranked 6th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, but expect the defending Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion to jump a spot or two next week.

Notes of encouragement for Henderson came in from across the Twitterverse. Here is a brief sampling…

@TheGolfCanada Brooke Henderson @GAOGolf #incredibleperformance #veryproud

— Steve Carroll (@stevecarrollGAO) April 6, 2014

Fantastic day for #BrookeHenderson and so proud of our female Canadian golf star!!! #golf @TheGolfCanada @PGATOURCanada #futurewinner @LPGA

— JEN_M (@savagecookie) April 7, 2014

Congratulations to Brooke Henderson on a great performance! @TheGolfCanada #proud #incredibleperformance #lpgamajor

— Kathy St-Germain (@ckstgermain) April 7, 2014

Minjee Lee, the 17-year-old Australian who tops the World Amateur Golf Ranking, was low amateur. She closed with a 72 to tie for 24th at even par.

HUMBLE, Texas – Matt Jones earned his first trip to the Masters with a remarkable 42-yard chip-in on the first playoff hole, outdueling Matt Kuchar on his way to winning the Houston Open on Sunday.

The win is the first on the PGA Tour for the Australian, who made a 46-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to reach the playoff. He ended it one hole later, chipping over the right front bunker on the 18th and watching it roll in.

Kuchar, who bogeyed the final hole of regulation, then missed his bunker shot to give Jones the win – earning him nearly $1.2 million and a trip to Augusta National.

Jones, who began the day six shots back of Kuchar, shot a final-round 66 and ended the tournament 15 under overall.

In September, Jones lipped out an 8-foot birdie putt on the last hole of the BMW Championship – a putt that would have earned him a trip to next week’s Masters by sending him to the Tour Championship.

He waited until the last possible moment to make amends for that miss on Sunday, doing so in impressive fashion.

Jones sent his tee shot on the first hole of the playoff into the right fairway bunker. He then landed just short of the greenside bunker with his second shot, while Kuchar found the bunker from the fairway.

It was the second straight miss of the 18th green from the fairway for Kuchar, who sent his fairway metal on the 72nd hole into the water before recovering to make bogey and reach the playoff.

Jones didn’t leave Kuchar any room for error in the playoff, sending his chip over the greenside bunker and watching as it rolled in – much to the delight of the Golf Club of Houston gallery.

Golfers were sent off in threesomes early Sunday morning for the second day in a row because of the threat of strong storms in the Houston area. The rain, heavy at times, began early during the final pairing’s round, but the pros finished without any delays.

Kuchar started the day with a four-shot lead over Garcia and Cameron Tringale, but he bogeyed the first hole and was 1 over on the front nine.

That allowed Jones, who began the day at 9 under, to briefly tie for the lead at 14 under following a birdie on the par-4 11th.

Kuchar answered moments later with a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 10. The putt gave him a one-shot lead at 15 under, a lead that seemed solid until the final hole of regulation.

With Kuchar watching from the tee, Jones bounced back from a bogey on the 17th to make a 46-foot birdie putt on No. 18. That sent him to 15 under overall, one shot back of the lead.

Kuchar hit the fairway before his second shot found the water – opening the door for Jones to earn the win and his improbable trip to next week’s Masters.

It was the second straight final-round disaster for Kuchar, who shot a 75 in the final pair of last week’s Texas Open on his way to finishing fourth.

Garcia finished in third at 13 under, while Tringale was fourth at 12 under.

Rory McIlroy matched the low round of the tournament with a 7-under 65 on Sunday, finishing tied for seventh at 8 under overall.

Phil Mickelson, who won the tournament in 2011, was 1 under on Sunday and finished 7 under overall in a tie for 12th – a week after he was forced to withdraw from the Texas Open because of a muscle pull in his right side.

Graham DeLaet climbed four spots up the leaderboard Sunday thanks to a 2-under 70. The Weyburn, Sask. native finished 5-under-par, leaving him tied for 19th with four others, including Jonathan Byrd and former Masters champion, Charl Schwartzel.

Calgary’s Stephen Ames carded a 4-over 76 on the day. He tied Bubba Dickerson for 74th at 9-over 297.

CADIZ, Spain – Unheralded Marco Crespi of Italy won his first European Tour title after carding a 3-under 69 in the final round to claim the inaugural edition of the NH Collection Open on Sunday.

Playing in his 25th European Tour event, the 35-year-old Crespi had five birdies to overcome a pair of bogeys on the final day to end two strokes ahead of nearest rivals Richie Ramsay of Scotland and Spaniard Jordi Garcia.

Felipe Aguilar and overnight leader Matthew Nixon finished three shots back.

Crespi stumbled with back-to-back bogeys on the 12th and 13th holes, but he responded with a birdie on the 14th before making par down the stretch to take the win at La Reserva de Sotogrande Golf Club.

“I started very well today,” said Crespi. “I birdied the first and that gave me the confidence to go low. I just had to manage my pressure on the back nine.”

Crespi’s previous best finish was fourth at the South African Open earlier this year.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta National not only has female members, on Sunday it crowned its first female champion.

Nine-year-old Kelly Xu of Santa Monica, Calif., was the first of eight youngsters to win the inaugural “Drive, Chip and Putt” contest. The skills challenge took place at the home of the Masters, even as Adam Scott, Vijay Singh and others were preparing for the Masters.

There were four girls and four boys from various age groups that won out of 11 players in each division – including Canada’s Remi Chartier (Beaconsfield, Que.) and Nyah Kelly (Bobcaygeon, Ont.) The last putt each faced was from about 20 feet on the 18th green, the same spot where Scott made birdie in regulation last year when he won the Masters in a playoff.

Kelly competed in the Girl’s 7-9 category. She finished with a score of 16.5 and tied for 8th.

Chariter competed in the Boy’s 12-13 category and tied for 4th with a score of 19.5

Here is the full list of winners:

Girls 7-9: Kelly Xu
Boys 7-9: Treed Huang
Girls 10-11: Lucy Li
Boys 10-11: Leo Cheng
Girls 12-13: Natalie Pietromonaco
Boys 12-13: Bryson Bianco
Girls 14-15: Hunter Pate
Boys 14-15: Patrick Welch

Full results can be found here.

To learn more about the Canadians who qualified for the Drive, Chip & Putt National Championship, click here. 

Did you know: CN Future Links runs an annual National Junior Skills Challenge where participants from active CN Future Links sites across the country compete on the Junior Skills Leaderboard for a chance to attend the World Junior Girls Championship at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ont. where they will compete at the CN Future Links National Junior Skills Challenge against other top competitors in their age category. 

To find out more information on the CN Future Links National Junior Skills Challenge, click here.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson topped the Kraft Nabisco leaderboard, setting up a possible final-round showdown the LPGA Tour has been waiting for.

The 24-year-old Wie shot a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Saturday to match Thomson at 10-under 206 at Mission Hills in the first major championship of the year.

The 19-year-old Thompson settled for a 69 after driving into a fairway bunker and missing a 3-foot par putt on the par-5 18th. She also missed two short birdie putts.

Charley Hull, the Englishwoman who turned 18 last month, was two strokes back along with five-time major champion Se Ri Pak. Hull birdied the 18th for a 66, the best round of the day in perfect afternoon conditions in the Coachella Valley. Pak shot 71.

Brooke Henderson shot a bogey-free 2-under par 70 Saturday to sit tied for 19th at 1-under 215 heading into the final round. The 16-year-old Smiths Falls, Ont. native is playing her second LPGA Tour major, having previously made the cut at the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open where she tied for 59th. The Team Canada member is also the defending Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion.

HUMBLE, Texas – Matt Kuchar didn’t have the result he had hoped for while playing in the final pairing at last week’s Texas Open.

The six-time PGA Tour winner, who closed with a final-round 75 on his way to a fourth-place finish last week, will have the opportunity to show what he learned from that disappointing finish at this week’s Houston Open.

Playing in the final pairing, Kuchar vaulted past a struggling Sergio Garcia with a 4-under par 68 on Saturday – overcoming windy conditions at the Golf Club of Houston to match the low round of the day and take a four-shot lead after three rounds.

Kuchar stands at 15-under overall heading into Sunday’s final round, four shots ahead of second-round leader Garcia and Cameron Tringale. The three will be paired together on Sunday.

“It’s a nice position to have played well last week, to have been in the last group with a chance to win and again to come back this week, completely different course, and have another shot to win,” Kuchar said.

Kuchar’s last win came at the Memorial last year, and he has eight top 10 finishes this season in 10 events.

He’ll have the opportunity add to that resume on Sunday, weather permitting, as well as fuel his surging confidence leading into next week’s Masters, where he finished in a tie for eighth last year.

The prospect of a winner’s share of nearly $1.2-million, however, has Kuchar locked in on this weekend first – even with the prospect of competing for his first major championship looming next week.

“I’ve been playing some steady golf for a couple of years now and feel like my chances of playing well tomorrow are pretty good,” Kuchar said. “Having a four-shot lead is a great position to be in.”

The golfers went off both tees in threesomes early Saturday morning in anticipation of severe weather in the evening, a format they’ll use again Sunday with hopes of avoiding a Monday finish leading into next week’s visit to Augusta National.

Garcia, who surged ahead with a 7-under 65 on Friday, began the day with a one-shot lead over Kuchar. That disappeared quickly after the Spaniard bogeyed the first to fall back to 11 under and into a tie with his playing partner, Kuchar.

That was just the beginning of the struggles for Garcia, who later put his tee shot into the water on No. 10. He finished with a 1-over 73 after matching the course’s low mark of 12 under after two rounds.

“Obviously, I didn’t play as well as yesterday with the difficulty,” Garcia said. “… It wasn’t that easy.”

Kuchar, meanwhile, birdied the first to move into the lead – a spot he didn’t relinquish. He added back-to-back birdies on No. 4 and 5 to move to 14 under, and he added three birdies in a row on the back nine.

He reached 16 under with a birdie on the par-3 14th before three-putting the 18th and settling for 15 under.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Ben Curtis, who is tied for 5th at 8 under with Rickie Fowler. “(Kuchar’s) on a great roll the last few years. Obviously, he’s playing very confidently, and that makes a huge difference.”

Kuchar missed his first four cuts at the Houston Open, but the American finished tied for eighth in 2010 and 2011 before not playing in the tournament the last two years.

His three rounds in the 60s this week have only been matched by Tringale, who shot a 3-under 69 on Saturday while playing in the next-to-last pairing.

Phil Mickelson, after withdrawing from last week’s Texas Open with a muscle pull in his right side, was inconsistent from the opening hole Saturday.

The five-time major winner left his opening two approach shots short of the green, the second of which found the bunker and caused him to slump over in the fairway. That led to the first of back-to-back bogeys, though he did recover with three straight birdies on the back nine before settling for an even-par 72 – leaving him in a tie for eighth at 6 under.

“I don’t know if I’ll have a good round tomorrow or not,” Mickelson said. “But it’s close, a lot closer than it’s been.”

Fowler matched Kuchar’s low round in Saturday’s chilly conditions, posting a 4-under 68 and moving to 8 under overall.

With rain forecast for Saturday night and throughout Sunday, the golfers will once again tee off in threesomes early on Sunday morning.

Canada’s Graham DeLaet shot an even-par 72 on moving day. He sits 3-under par and tied for 23rd.

Stephen Ames struggled to a 6-over 78 on the day. He fell 17 spots into a a tie for 72nd at 5-over-par.

CADIZ, Spain – England’s Matthew Nixon shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round at the NH Collection Open on Saturday.

Nixon had nine birdies to overcome a pair of bogeys in the best round of the inaugural tournament at La Reserva de Sotogrande Golf Club for an overall 8-under 208.

Marco Crespi of Italy is one stroke behind Nixon with Chile’s Felipe Aguilar another shot back in third.

Poor weather and then bad light had forced the opening two rounds to be suspended on Thursday and Friday, and the third round only got under way after 45 golfers finished their second round early Saturday morning.

Nixon says “I had a nice start and it just kept going.”