Masters Aftermath: Matsuyama Had Help On his Way To Victory

Hats off and a traditional bow to the champion of the 85th Masters — Hideki Matsuyama.

Someone always wins The Masters but very often, and it was the case again last Sunday, there are players who basically “lose” The Masters.  Winning this major takes skill and some good fortune, often it’s other players who mess things up and allow the player who doesn’t “mess up” on Sunday to don the Green Jacket.

That was the case for Jack Nicklaus’ historic sixth win back in 1986.  Jack brought out the roars with a back nine 30 for 65 and that 30 might have been 29 had Jack not bogeyed the short par three 12th hole.  But Jack also had some help as he finished at nine-under and waited.

Seve Ballesteros laid the sod over a four-iron for his second into the par-five 16th (ironically Hideki hit the same club in the back pond on Sunday).  Seve did salvage bogey six then made another bogey at the seventeenth to finish seven-under, two back of forcing a playoff with Nicklaus.

Tom Kite missed a not-difficult 12-footer for birdie at the 18th to finish at eight-under and lose out on a possible playoff.

Then Greg Norman hit the most memorable miss — he blew his second way right, made bogey and handed a sixth Green Jacket to the Golden Bear.

When Tiger Woods got his crowd-pleasing fifth title in 2019, he got a lot of help as well.

Overnight leader Francesco Molinari totally botched the final nine.  He watered his tee shot at 12 and made double then added another double at the 15th.  Two pars and he easily donned a Green Jacket.

Brooks Koepka did the same — watered his tee shot at 12 and lost by a shot.  Bogey at 12 forces Tiger into a playoff.

Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele came up a shot short after shooting 68s but both were three shots behind Tiger, too many for a player of Tiger’s skill-set at Augusta National.

On Sunday, Hideki got a lot of help.  Often, when an overnight leader shoots over par in the final round, as Hideki did (73), someone will catch or pass him but that wasn’t the case on Sunday.

Here’s a summary of the guys who helped him don the Green Jacket:

Xander Schauffele:

Here’s the main culprit,  the man who really blew it.  It was bad enough that he made a bone-head decision at the 16th to try and hit some sort of eight-iron cut into the traditional pin placement.  We know how that worked out.  After cutting Hideki’s lead from four to two shots, Xander had him on the ropes, just two shots with three holes to play.  But the “X-Man” threw it all away with the triple at 16.  No one that close makes triple at 16!

But Xander threw it away much earlier.  Hideki gave him hope with an opening bogey.  Xander’s downfall started at the short third where he hit an awesome tee shot on the proper side of the hole, just short of the green.  He got too cute with his second and it didn’t even finish on the green, instead it was left on the bank and he’d make bogey where he had a nice look at birdie.  At the par three fourth, he made another bogey from the front bunker.

Things got worse at the difficult fifth where Xander blew his tee shot too far right and was lucky to even have a swing.  His punch didn’t even make it to the fairway and he walked off the hole with a double.  Masters winner DO NOT play three, four and five in four-over on Sunday.  He blew it right there, never mind the ridiculous decision at 16.  Xander choked early.

Will Zalatoris:

He was the most exciting guy on the course Sunday.  Zalatoris, who has a one-iron profile when he stands sideways, proves you don’t have to weight 230 like Bryson DeChambeau to bomb tee shots.  This fresh face on the PGA Tour has played his way into the top 30 in the world and a birdie-birdie start, cut Hideki’s lead to one-shot from four.  Will made the turn in two-under and was the guy most likely to beat Hideki.

Zalatoris will look back and know that his putter cost him a Green Jacket.

At the 10th, he hit a nice shot into that difficult holes and three-putted from just 35 feet.

At the short 12th, he hit one of the worst shots you can hit without going in the water.  He was on the front left fringe with the front trap between him and the hole — 84 feet away.  He then hit an incredible pitch to inside five-feet then blew the par putt — another costly miss and a bogey.

At the 15th, he was 45 feet above the hole, going downhill, no problem getting it to the hole — yet he left his eagle putt 10 feet short and he walked off with a three-putt par.

Had he two putts, the Green Jacket would have been his.

Still, a solo second and a check for $1,242,000 solidified him as the tour’s Rookie Of The Year and a guy who should win before the season’s over.

Jordy’s Thursday Triple-Bogey:

Jordan Spieth finished finished tied for third with Schauffele at seven-under.

Jordy’s downfall came on Thursday when his tee shot at the ninth went into previously unexplored territory.  He ended up with a triple-bogey seven.

Not sure anyone has ever won The Masters with a triple-bogey on their card for any round.

A par there might have made it an entirely different tournament for Spieth, whose game continues to rebound.

And that’s the way it happened at the 85th Masters.

Hideki won and became the first player from Japan, the second male player from an Asian country to win a men’s major championship.

But he did get a little help from his friends.

85th Masters Final Scoreboard: