Ten things you should know about the Masters
Ten historical nuggets worth knowing to know about the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club:
WHAT’S THE SCORE: Clifford Roberts, co-founder of Augusta National, devised a scoring system for the 1960 Masters that he called the “over-and-under” method. Scores were shown on a cumulative basis on how a player stood with respect to par, such as 10-under par or 3-over par. That has become the standard for scoring at golf tournaments around the world.
MEASURING HOLES: The Masters is the only major golf tournament in which the yardage of each hole is rounded off to end in “5” or “0.” Roberts felt that an exact yardage was not relevant because the movement of tee markers and pin positions for each round changed the distance. The course is listed at 7,435 yards. And no one can be sure it ever plays to that length.
WHAT’S IN A NAME: When the club decided to hold a golf tournament, Roberts suggested it be called the Masters Tournament. Co-founder Bobby Jones vetoed that because he felt it was too presumptuous, so it made its debut in 1934 as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. The title changed to the Masters in 1939.
GREEN JACKET THEN: Augusta National bought green jackets from New York-based Brooks Uniform Company in 1937 for members to wear during the tournament so patrons would know who to turn to for information. Members wore them at the club so that waiters would know who would pay the bill.
GREEN JACKET NOW: Sam Snead in 1949 became the first Masters champion awarded a green jacket, a symbol that winners would become honorary members. The previous champions also were given green jackets. For past champions and members alike, the jacket can only be worn at the club. The exception is the reigning champion, who returns the green jacket when he comes back to defend his title.
AMATEUR HOUSING: Amateurs have the option to stay in the Crow’s Nest atop the clubhouse at Augusta National. It provides space for up to five players, and rising from the room is the 11-square-foot cupola with windows on all sides that can only be reached by a ladder. There are seven amateurs at the Masters this year, though not every man wishes to stay in the Crow’s Nest. Among the amateurs who did were Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw and Tiger Woods. Canada’s Corey Conners will stay there for part of this year’s Masters.
BLACKOUT: The Masters now is the most viewed golf tournament in the world, broadcast in more than 200 countries. But it wasn’t always that way. When it was televised for the first time in 1956, all CBS stations within a 200-mile radius of the club were blacked out from showing the tournament to help with ticket sales. The blackout was lifted in 1969.
ICE ON THE AZALEAS: One of the many myths about Augusta National is the staff places bags of ice on the azaleas and other flowers in the spring to keep them from blooming until the week of the Masters. That was proven incorrect most recently in 2012, unless the town ran out of ice. Every now and again, spring arrives earlier than the first full week in April, and the azaleas and dogwoods no longer are in bloom.
THE GREAT SWITCH: The most exciting back nine in golf used to be the front nine at Augusta National. The opening tee shot was what now is No. 10. Amen Corner would have consisted of Nos. 2, 3 and 4. But after the inaugural tournament in 1934, officials decided to flip the two nines.
MEMBERSHIP: Ever wonder how to be considered for membership at Augusta National? Don’t bother. Much like the tournament it runs, club membership is by invitation only. Golf World estimated in 2009 from a member who didn’t give his name that the initiation fee was “low five figures” and annual dues were “a few thousand” a year. When the club opened, the initiation fee was $350 with annual dues of $60. And by the way, Augusta National is closed from the middle of May to the middle of October.
Tiger Woods confirms he’s playing the Masters
Tiger Woods ended all that speculation about his game by letting everyone see for themselves.
He said Friday he will play next week in the Masters.
Golf’s biggest attraction and four-time Masters champion played two practice rounds at Augusta National this week before a simple announcement on his website that he would end his two-month leave on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I’m playing in the Masters,” Woods said on his website. “It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there. I’ve worked a lot on my game, and I’m looking forward to competing. I’m excited to get to Augusta, and I appreciate everyone’s support.”
Woods was last seen at a golf tournament on Feb. 5 at Torrey Pines. He hit a sand wedge some 30 yards over the green, duffed a chip coming back, bladed the next one too hard and made double bogey. One tee shot later, he withdrew because of tightness in his lower back, saying that his “glutes didn’t activate” after a delay in cool, foggy weather.
Of far greater concern was the state of his game.
Woods has played on two tournaments this year and completed just 47 holes. His short game was shockingly bad at the Phoenix Open, where he shot a career-worst 82 and missed the cut by nine shots. And he didn’t get out of the first round at Torrey Pines.
A week later, he said his game and his scores were unacceptable. “I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back.”
Those are words by which he will be judged next week at the Masters.
Woods played an 18-hole practice round Tuesday at Augusta, and he played again at the club on Friday, according to his agent.
He will have gone nine weeks without competition when he hits his opening tee shot on Thursday, which is not unprecedented for Woods. He went nearly five months without playing when he returned in 2010 from a crisis in his personal life that led to one of the greatest downfalls in sport. He tied for fourth that year.
Scrutiny might be even greater this time around.
The last time Woods took an extended break before the Masters, he had won his previous tournament at the Australian Masters and was No. 1 in the world after a seven-win season. Now, his game has been in disarray over a series of injuries, physical limitations and another change in coaching.
He hasn’t won a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in August 2013. He hasn’t finished under par in 14 months, dating to the 2014 Dubai Desert Classic. And he has plunged to No. 104 in the world, his lowest ranking since Sept. 29, 1996, a week before he won the first of his 90 professional tournaments worldwide.
Woods hasn’t won the Masters in 10 years, though he has managed there even when his game was off. It’s the only major where Woods has made the cut every time.
He missed the Masters last year because of back surgery to alleviate a pinched nerve, and he wound up sitting out three months. Four tournaments into his return, he again dealt with back pain and sat out the final four months of the season to fully recover and get stronger.
But when he returned at his Hero World Challenge in December, he tied for last in an 18-man field and chipped so poorly that some analysts said he had the chipping yips. Two months of practice didn’t help. During the Phoenix Open pro-am, he hit a bunker shot on the 16th hole that shot over the green and into the first row of bleachers.
Chipping and pitching at Augusta National doesn’t not allow for much margin of error, and the scrutiny figures to be at a high level even by Woods’ standards.
“The first little pitch shot he’s got to hit – not chip shot, the first little pitch shot he’s got to hit – will be microanalyzed, and he knows that,” said Paul Azinger, a former PGA champion and now ESPN analyst. “There’s a big microscope on that guy. I don’t think he’d show up unless he feels like he solved that problem.”
When he skipped the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Woods said he hoped to be ready for the Masters and would continue working.
There have been secondhand reports that Woods was playing a lot at his home club, The Medalist, in South Florida. Golfweek cited a source as saying Woods shot 74 with five birdies when he played Augusta National on Tuesday.
Woods has his own practice facility in the backyard of his home in Jupiter Island, Florida. Going from a private setting to some 35,000 fans figures to be the biggest challenge.
“All we see with Tiger is the tip of the iceberg,” Azinger said. “And what we don’t know is what’s under the tip of the iceberg. How hard has he worked on being the best player, not the best swinger? That’s what we don’t know.”
Starting Thursday, that’s what everyone gets to find out.
Westgate Las Vegas Superbook listed odds for Woods winning at 40-1.
I’m playing in the Masters. Thanks for all the support. http://t.co/SYih4eSxUa
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 3, 2015
Scott Piercy shoots 63, takes lead at Houston Open
HOUSTON – After his record-tying round Thursday, Scott Piercy let his thoughts drift toward qualifying for the Masters with a win this week.
Piercy tied a tournament record with a nearly flawless 9-under-par 63 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Houston Open.
“It’s the first round,” he said. “If I’m sitting here Sunday, then I’ll be super-excited. If I (keep playing) like I did today, I would say there’s a pretty good chance of that.”
Alex Cejka, in an afternoon group, made four birdies on his back nine – the course’s front nine – to finish with a 64, one stroke behind Piercy.
J. B. Holmes was next at 65, having also gotten to 8-under with four holes to play before finding a fairway bunker with his first shot at No. 6. After badly missing the green, Holmes had to scramble to a bogey.
Phil Mickelson, Luke Guthrie, Charles Howell III and Houston’s Shawn Stefani each shot a 66 and trail Piercy by three strokes.
Piercy, who made five birdies in a row over one torrid stretch during the middle of his round, became only the fifth player to card a 63 since this PGA Tour stop moved to the Golf Club of Houston Tournament Course in 2003. Two of the others, Mickelson in 2011 and Johnson Wagner in 2008, went on to win the championship.
The 36-year-old Piercy, a pro from Las Vegas, missed only one green in regulation and needed just 26 putts. Two days earlier, however, feeling so discouraged by the way he’d been playing of late that it crossed his mind while he was out grinding on the driving range “to go home and not waste my time.”
Piercy, instead, decided to keep practicing. He wound up hitting golf balls for “12, 13 hours. … In the 13th hour, something kind of clicked and I kind of figured it out. On Wednesday, I kind of engrained it, kept working and got pretty good. Today was awesome. It really was.”
Piercy was off the PGA Tour for six months last year while recovering from elbow surgery and said he still hadn’t felt quite right before arriving in Houston. But he liked his form Thursday the moment he first swung his driver. He began the day with a birdie on No. 10 and capped it by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt on the No. 9, his final hole.
“Everything went right,” said Piercy, who last won on the Tour at the RBC Canadian Open in 2012. “I hit the ball so good. It’s been building. I kept hitting good shot after good shot. By the end, I was (only) trying to make birdies.”
Teeing off 20 minutes before Piercy, Mickelson made himself the early front-runner by chipping in for birdie on his first hole, then turning the corner at 3-under, about the time Piercy began his birdie run. Mickelson reached 7-under at one point but bogeyed the par-three ninth, his final hole.
The three-time Masters champion, one of at least 36 players in the Houston field who are headed to Augusta National next week for the season’s first major, had skidded to a final-round 76 Sunday in the Texas Open. So, his late lapse here notwithstanding, Mickelson called his effort “a good round, a good start to the tournament. I got off to a quick start, birdieing three of the first four holes, and kept it going.
“The course is in pristine condition. The greens being soft are going to allow us to get more aggressive (aiming for) the pins and make some more birdies. The scores are going to be low” he said. “I’m just glad I was one of them.”
Piercy wasn’t the only one thinking about qualifying for The Masters.
Canada’s Graham DeLaet opened with a 5-under 67.
Tim Clark to miss Masters with elbow injury
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tim Clark of South Africa will miss the Masters next week as he recovers from an elbow injury.
Thomas Parker, his agent at Professional Advisory Group, said in a text message Wednesday that Clark’s elbow is feeling better but that he has not had enough time to properly prepare for the first major of the year.
The 39-year-old Clark was runner-up to Phil Mickelson at the 2006 Masters.
Clark was eligible by winning the RBC Canadian Open last year. He has not played since the Sony Open in Honolulu the second week of the year. Because the Masters is by invitation only, there is no alternate list.
With Clark not playing, the Masters is assured of having fewer than 100 players at Augusta National for the 49th straight year.
Stricker, out since December, plans return at Masters
Steve Stricker intends to play the Masters next week, his first competition since back surgery four months ago.
Stricker recently returned from Naples, Florida, where he tested his swing and his strength. He had surgery two days before Christmas on a bulging disk in his lower back that was causing recurring hip problems.
“I was playing, walking, just to see what I had,” Stricker told The Associated Press by phone Monday. “It’s the first time I played since December, and it was good. It felt good. Just a little stiffness here and there. I walked the last three days just to play like I would be playing.”
The 48-year-old Stricker last played Dec. 7 at the Hero World Challenge, where he finished 14th in an 18-man field at Isleworth. He has been playing a reduced schedule since 2013 and last year failed to reach the Tour Championship for the first time in the FedEx Cup era.
The original plan was to play the Shell Houston Open this week to warm up for Augusta National. His doctor and physical therapist told him, however, that returning from surgery might take its toll during the second straight week.
“I think the biggest concern was putting in back-to-back weeks, with the second week being a little more fatigued,” Stricker said. “I still feel it’s a bit early to be pushing it a lot, so I want to take it cautiously.”
Stricker qualified for the Masters by being ranked in the top 50 at the end of last year. He finished the year at No. 41, and has since fallen to No. 75. That’s his lowest ranking since he was out of the top 100 a week before the 2006 PGA Championship.
He played his last three days at Calusa Pines, where he said the greens were firm and fast, and a good way to prepare for the Masters.
“I didn’t fix a ball mark in three days – not because I missed the greens,” he said with a laugh. “I just couldn’t find any ball marks.”
Stricker plans to visit Augusta National this week for practice rounds. He said he would be in Indianapolis for the Final Four to watch Wisconsin play Kentucky on Saturday and then return to Augusta on Sunday.
Tiger Woods played practice round at Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods played a practice round Tuesday at Augusta National, a strong indication that the four-time champion could make his return at the Masters.
Mark Steinberg, his agent at Excel Sports Management, confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that Woods played 18 holes.
Still to be determined is whether he returns for the Masters next week.
Woods has not played since he withdrew at Torrey Pines on Feb. 5 after 11 holes because of tightness in his back during a chilly, fog-delayed opening round. A week later, he said he would return to competition when he had the game for it.
“My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf,” Woods said in a statement Feb. 11. “Like I’ve said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back.”
He has missed the Honda Classic and Arnold Palmer Invitational – he was not eligible for Doral this year – since the statement. There have been second- and third-hand reports that Woods has been practicing near his home in south Florida.
Woods could make an announcement about his Masters plans this week, though it is not necessary. Unlike a regular PGA Tour event, players with a Masters invitation only have to register before they tee off in the opening round on April 9. It would be unlike Woods to do that. Instead, he likely would inform the club of his plans before Sunday.
Woods played in the 2010 Masters without having competed in nearly five months. He tied for fourth that year, though he was No. 1 in the world and his previous tournament was a victory in the Australian Masters.
He now has dropped to No. 104, his lowest ranking since September 1996 a week before his first pro victory. He has not recorded a top-10 finish since the end of 2013. And his limited golf this year has been the worst of his career. Woods shot 82 in the Phoenix Open when he missed the cut. He hit standard chips that didn’t reach the green or sailed 30 yards long during the 47 holes he has played this year.
The Augusta Chronicle first reported that Woods was in town after a plane matching the tail number of his Gulfstream G5 was parked at the terminal for private aircraft at Augusta Regional Airport.
Tiger Woods’ Plane (Larry Marano/ Getty Images)
Woods falls out of the top 100 in the world
VIRGINIA WATER, England – For the first time since 1996, Tiger Woods is not among the top 100 golfers in the world ranking.
Woods, who hasn’t played since he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open on Feb. 6, falls to No. 104 this week. The last time he was out of the top 100 was on Sept. 29, 1996, when he was at No. 225. The following week, Woods won the Las Vegas Invitational as a 20-year-old for the first of his 79 PGA Tour victories.
It is not clear when Woods will return. He said in February that his scores were not acceptable and he would not play until his game was in tournament shape.
Woods is not required to announce if he is playing the Masters until the tournament starts April 9.
Jimmy Walker wins hometown Texas Open
SAN ANTONIO – Jimmy Walker won his hometown Texas Open on Sunday to become the first two-time winner this season on the PGA Tour, beating fellow Texan Jordan Spieth by four strokes.
Walker closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 11-under 277 at TPC San Antonio, a 35-minute drive from his home. The 36-year-old former Baylor player won the Sony Open in Hawaii by nine shots in January and has a tour-best five victories in the past two seasons.
Spieth also finished with a 70, making four late birdies in a row. The 21-year-old Dallas player was coming off a playoff victory two weeks ago at Innisbrook.
Walker and Spieth will move to career highs in the world ranking, with Spieth going from sixth to fourth and Walker from 13th to 10th.
FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel was third at 4 under after a 71.
Daniel Summerhays, second last year behind Steven Bowditch, tied for fourth with Chesson Hadley at 3 under. Summerhays closed with a 69, and Hadley had a 71.
Doral winner Dustin Johnson shot his second straight 68 to match Ryan Palmer at 2 under. Palmer also had a 68.
Phil Mickelson, looking for some momentum heading to the Masters, closed with a 76 to drop into a tie for 30th at 4 over.
Ten players finished under par, with the Oaks Course playing the toughest on the PGA Tour this season with a 74.581 stroke average – more than two shots over par. The previous high was PGA National’s Champion course at 1.832 over par for the Honda Classic.
Marc Warren and Harris English failed to crack the top 50 in the world ranking, which would have given them spots in the Masters. Warren, 52nd, needed to finish ahead of Brendan Todd to get in, but closed with a 70 to finish 35th. English, 53rd, needed at least a top 10. His final-round 72 only got him to 30th.
Jimmy Walker leads hometown Texas Open
SAN ANTONIO – Jimmy Walker opened a four-stroke lead over fellow Texan Jordan Spieth, shooting a 3-under 69 on Saturday in his hometown Texas Open.
Walker, who lives 35 minutes away from TPC San Antonio, is looking for his fifth title in two tour seasons. He had a 9-under 207 total after opening with rounds of 71 and 67.
“It’s a tough golf course,” said Walker, the winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. “I thought coming into today that even par or maybe 1 under would be a good score. You definitely want to find a way to extend the lead, but you have to be smart about it.”
Spieth shot a 71. The 21-year-old Dallas player, coming off a playoff victory two weeks ago at Innisbrook, had a double bogey, two bogeys and two birdies on the final six holes.
“It’s not ideal – I really look for more consistency,” Spieth said.
FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel birdied the final three holes for a 69 to get to 3 under.
“I wanted to give myself some opportunities coming in,” Horschel said. “It was a nice one to get at 16 – it was blowing downwind and that green has been pretty firm all week. And they had the tees moved up at 17 and 18, just straight downwind today.”
Five players were seven back of Walker at 2 under. Zach Johnson birdied the last two holes for a 72, Chesson Hadley had a 71, tour rookie Scott Pinckney shot 69, 2011 champion Brendan Steele had a 72, and Jason Kokrak finished with a 71.
Phil Mickelson was even par after a 74. He had a near double-eagle on the 14th hole.
Tied making the turn, Walker broke away from Spieth with a two-shot swing on the par-5 14th and extended when Spieth hit his tee shot at the par-3 16th into more trouble well right of the grandstand.
Both players have long-established roots in Texas. Spieth played on the Texas Longhorns’ national champion team in 2012, and Walker was an All-American at Baylor.
“Jordan and I played the first two days out here and we had a lot of people,” Walker said. “We’ll probably have even more people tomorrow. It should be fun.”
Playing in the group ahead at No. 14, Spieth left a long bunker shot in the sand and failed to make a 13-footer once he got on the green.
Walker planted a wedge shot a foot away from the cup and made birdie.
Spieth got a shot back with an 8-foot birdie putt at 15, then hit a tee shot on the 191-yard 16th that ended up about 40 yards right of the green. He took two chips and lipped out a 4-footer en route to a double bogey.
“I’m going to have to hit the ball better than I did today,” Spieth said. “A couple of tough breaks on the back nine. All in all, I was playing a really solid round of golf, minus a couple of decisions and a couple of swings.”
Spieth bounced back to birdie the short par-4 17th.
Walker also birdied 17 after hitting a short pitch to 7 feet away. He capped his round with a 9-foot birdie putt on 18.
Mickelson had all sorts of short-game troubles while shooting a front-nine 40.
That included two shots from the fringe leading to a double bogey at No. 4, taking four shots to find the hole and bogeying after driving into a greenside bunker at the short par-4 fifth, missing a 3-foot par putt at the seventh and missing a green in regulation while blasting from a greenside bunker at the par-5 eighth.
He also missed birdie putts of 8 feet at Nos. 2 and 6.
He nearly holed out for double-eagle from 258 yards on the par-5 14th. His eagle put him back in red figures, but he bogeyed 16.
Jimmy Walker takes lead in Texas Open
SAN ANTONIO – Jimmy Walker shot a 5-under 67 on Friday in the Texas Open to take a one-stroke lead in his hometown event.
After a 35-minute drive from his suburban home, Walker enjoyed a neighborly stroll at TPC San Antonio to reach 6-under 138. He won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January after winning three times last season.
Walker overtook first-round leader Charley Hoffman with three straight birdies late in his round.
Hoffman, 8 under at the turn, uncharacteristically let a good round get away on the Oaks Course with three bogeys on his second nine. He finished with a 72 to drop into a tie for second with Aaron Baddeley.
Hoffman has two top-three finishes in his previous four appearances at the Texas Open.
Baddeley had a 71.
Kevin Na, who infamously took 16 strokes on a par 4 in the event four years ago, had a 68 to join Texan Jordan Spieth at 4 under. The 21-year Spieth, coming off a playoff victory two weeks ago at Innisbrook, followed his opening 71 with a 69.
The gusts near 40 mph that blew Thursday morning continued to subside, though play started Friday with temperatures in the 40s.
The improved conditions packed the leaderboard with nine players within four strokes of Walker. That included Phil Mickelson, continuing to cram for the Masters less than two weeks off, at 2 under after a second-round 72. He was tied for sixth.
FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel (70), Zach Johnson (71), Chris Kirk (71) and 2011 winner Brendan Steele (68) also were 2 under.
Johnson felt a jarring sensation in his right ring finger when he hit a rock while swinging from the native area to the right of the 12th fairway. He continued and expects to play this weekend.
Francisco Molinari, the former European Ryder Cup player, withdrew before the round because of a wrist injury he said happened while shooting 81 in the wind Thursday.
Jim Furyk and Dustin Johnson managed to survive for the weekend as the cut dropped a stroke in the afternoon to 6 over. Both made it on the number, and Furyk kept a streak of consecutive cuts made, now at 33. Steve Stricker, not playing this week, has the best active streak at 35.
Martin Kaymer wasn’t close. After shooting his PGA Tour-worst 82 on Thursday, he had an 80 on Friday. The U.S. Open champion told officials in Houston he has changed his plans not to play next week and has committed to the Shell Houston Open to get ready for the Masters.
Marc Warren and Harris English made the cut in their bids to earn Masters spots by getting into the top 50 in the world.
Warren is No. 52, and his 4-over total had him three shots out of a top-20 finish that could push him to Augusta. English, 53rd, needs something in the top 10, and he was five shots from that at 3 over.
Walker jumped to the lead with a hot putter. Combining his three birdies from his 15th, 16th and 17th holes, Walker made almost 40 feet worth of putts.
Mickelson got it to 4 under after hitting to 3 feet on the 174-yard third hole – his 12th of the day – and chipping in on No. 4.
But had a double bogey two holes later with a tee shot that put him thick in the trees to the left on the par 4, followed by a shot out of the woods across the fairway. He was still 54 yards away, and he left that approach short of the green and couldn’t get up-and-down to save bogey.
The three Canadians in the field, Adam Hadwin (83-69–152), David Hearn (81-76–157) and Graham Delaet (82-77–159) all failed to advance to weekend play.