After 73 failed attempts to win a major the Spaniard finally came good at Augusta National having seemingly thrown his challenge away once againOn reflection it was wrong to say we had been waiting for this since 1999. It was not a thing in 1999 at all. When the precocious 19-year-old charmer Sergio García announced himself by manufacturing a six iron to the green from behind a tree at that year’s US PGA Championship, sprinting up the fairway after it, then running Tiger Woods close in a near-miracle at Medinah, it was simply assumed he would go on insouciantly to gather up armfuls of major titles – just like Tiger. But it did not work out like that.Since then Todd...
US challenge petered out before the turn and the Spaniard eventually saw off Justin Rose, his Ryder Cup team-mate, at the first extra hole in what also became a celebration of their great sportsmanshipFor a few brief moments on Sunday afternoon the 2017 Masters was alive with possibility. At the far end of the 1st hole, Tea Olive, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, the two finest young players in the US today, were standing in front of the green, scheming over the chip shots they were about to play. Way back behind them Justin Rose and Sergio García, another couple of close friends, were making their way up the fairway from the 1st tee, to the spot where their drives...
With his exemption for the tournament having run out, the South African’s final round on Sunday could prove to be last in the season’s first majorEarly Sunday morning, seven hours before the leaders reached the back nine and the tournament really started, Ernie Els started what will likely be his last round at the Masters. For the last five years Els has qualified automatically because he won the Open in 2012. The exemption is about to run out and, given that Els is 47, is currently ranked No410 in the world and has missed the cut in nine of his last 10 tournaments, he may struggle to find a way back. Time was when Els would have had a late...
The American clung on to a share of the lead in Augusta as he finished with a three-over-par 75 on the second day, level with Sergio GarcíaIt took 36 hours and 23 holes but sometime around midday on Friday Charley Hoffman, a portly 40-year-old ranked No52 in the world, finally realised he was playing in the Masters. For the last day-and-a-half, Hoffman seemed to have fooled himself into thinking he was playing in some small town Sunday fundraiser, the Pro-Am at Podunk Country Club.On Thursday, Hoffman played one of the finest opening rounds in the history of the Masters, a seven-under-par 65, which left him four shots clear of the next best, and was 10 strokes ahead of the average...
There was a time when the 23-year-old made playing Augusta National look easy but on Thursday he had to exorcise the demons of 2016Just after two in the afternoon Jordan Spieth set himself for the most keenly awaited shot of the day, one the world had been waiting 362 days to see him play. Spieth has been around Augusta National almost half a dozen times since he took that quadruple bogey and blew a three-shot lead at the 12th back in 2016. He played once with his father, once again with Tom Brady, a couple of times with the members and a couple more in practice this week. Which helped “get rid of some”, as he put it back in...