By Cael Dolph ’23
It is Masters week, and this year’s competition is off the charts. Tiger Woods announced that he will be playing just a few days before the tournament. When Tiger teed off on Thursday he started off decent, shooting five pars in a row and then went birdie, par, bogey. He then finished the first round one under and he was in a good position after the first round. The number one golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler also began his round very well, shooting 2 under through 9 holes. Scheffler kept the good shots coming, ending 3 under after 18 holes which put him in first place for the tournament after day one.
When the second day started and Tiger began playing, he was struggling. After the first five holes he was 4 over, and he realized that he needed to come back strong so that he would make the cut. After birdies on 8 and 10 he thought this would be a possibility. Right after those holes, he quickly bogeyed the next two. Tremendously after that, he bounced back and birdied the two following holes finishing to his round 2 over. Scottie Scheffler didn’t slow down and only grew his lead, playing a bogey-free back nine and finishing with a 67 and another 5 under round. He was now 8 under through two days of golf.
When the third day came around, Tiger had an early tee time due to just making the cut. This did not suit him well as he kept making mistakes on the course, shooting a 78 with multiple double bogeys, bogeys, and only a few birdies. He shot 6 over and this was just not good enough to keep him in the running for that first place title to win yet another green jacket. Scottie Scheffler was still in search of that green jacket on the third day, and it showed as he kept stripping the ball down the fairway and playing his ball very safely. He ended up shooting a 71 on Saturday, his overall score being 9 under on the third day. The next closest was Cameron Smith, he was 6 under after he shot a 68 on the first day, a 74 on the second, And a strong comeback shooting a 68 on the third day. He knew that it was going to be a battle and that he needed to get some strokes back but never count anyone out at Augusta.
On the final day, the scores were crazy; some people who were trying to come back and give Scottie some stress just didn’t perform and some people shined. One player, Rory McIlroy, was shining on the course after going four under through the front nine. He knew that it was going to take a miracle but there wasn’t anything that he wasn’t going to try. He birdied the tenth hole and eagled the 13th to put him 6 under. Then, deep in the 17th sand-bunker, with the sand white as snow he placed it under 3 ft from the pin to help him save his par. On the 18th, he found himself in the same place but this time the ball rolled directly into the cup and helped him finish 7 under while birdieing the last hole. Scottie Scheffler then got to tee off last as he was the lowest under and he was placing balls directly in the fairway and he was not missing any chances that he was given. Putt after putt was being made and he was sitting in a comfortable first place position. After the first nine, he had a steady lead and he just wasn’t messing up. After the 15th, he was 12 under and the closest person was Rory McIlroy who was 7 under. He came into the clubhouse with a breeze of a win and finished after he four putt the 18th.
