By Jack Gilroy || Contributing Writer
As you get older, a lot of things change in life, whether it be the people you surround yourself with, your thoughts, or…the weather. One thing that has always stayed the same through the years, though, is the Masters. This weekend ranks as one of the top 5 to not move from your couch and watch golf all day for four days—with this year being a special one.
Despite the presence of COVID-19, it was nice to see The Masters Tournament be able to run, especially with this year’s tournament accommodating some fans in the crowd as well. Nothing is better than when a professional golfer hits a tee shot and some drunk guy a few rows back screams, “get in the hole!” (golf terms) because everyone watching from home can clearly hear his voice…always hits.
As for the actual golf part, we had a first this year! History was made as the first Japanese man, Hideki Matsuyama, won a major, taking it home after shooting a calm and collected 10-under for the weekend.
Matsuyama took command of the lead on Saturday after shooting 6-under to finish the day with a 65. He didn’t look back at all, or even up from his notebook. This guy was like a surgeon under the pressure.
For anyone who doesn’t know a lot about Augusta—the course where the Masters is played—it is a tough cookie. You really have to play with zero mistakes; the greens are notorious for being a golfer’s worst enemy. But we saw Matsuyama just dominate throughout the tournament, barely ever moving a muscle. Seriously, until the match was over, I don’t think I saw the guy smile—he just kept moving from one shot to the next, one hole at a time.
We also saw Xander Scauffele have a chance at the end to make a push, but he came up short after blowing up on the second-to-last hole with a triple bogey. This in turn bumped him out of 2nd place, costing him a little over half a million dollars in prize money.
We were also introduced to a new young golf star, Will Zalatoris, who finished a stroke behind Matsuyama, nearly pulling off the unthinkable as an up-and-coming 24-year-old. He also bears an uncanny resemblance to the caddie of the infamous golfer, Happy Gilmore.
All in all, it was another Masters for the books, and people are already counting down the days for next year’s tournament, ready for a weekend of golf, the southern sun, and a tradition like no other.
Junior Jack Gilroy is a contributing writer. His email is jgilroy@fandm.edu.