Golfing News & Blog Articles

Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, looked every bit the part on Saturday at the Masters. He takes a four-shot lead into the final round.

Here is the full rundown of tee times for the final round of the 2020 Masters.

Dustin Johnson has a sizable lead, but he also has a history of not being able to finish things off at a major. Can he close? Who might push him -- or pass him? We break down the final round.

He started the third round just four shots off the lead and in the mix. Then his game stalled and his body began to give out. Here's how his third round, and hopes of another Masters title, fell away.

Bryson DeChambeau, whose COVID-19 test came back negative after he was feeling "dizzy," is at even par after 36 holes to make the Masters cut on the number.

Tiger Woods played the eight holes he had remaining at 1 under par to complete 36 holes at 5-under 139. He is in a tie for 17th place, four strokes behind the five leaders tied at 135.

Besides being looking unbecoming of the elegance that is Augusta National and totally contradicting the philosophy of the course designers, 2020’s new higher cut has turned out to be a sanctuary. From mudballs.

Longtime Masters watchers know of the mudball’s recent rise after the club started mowing fairways longer and toward tees to offset modern distances. Bubba Watson popularized the term by making sure to let us know his ball was covered in mud clumps.

Alan Shipnuck quotes players following round two about the new tall stuff and both Rickie Fowler* and Adam Scott noted the preference of rough—”in some situations”—over the fairways (mudball!).

The second cut was introduced as a low-key penalty for errant drives; it makes it a little harder to impart spin, and that is significant when playing to precise spots on the ultimate second-shot golf course. But the rain taketh and the rain giveth. Adam Scott has been largely unbothered by the vagaries of the rough because the saturated greens are still so soft that even spinless shots from the second cut are stopping dead. “Normally, you’re just losing that little bit of control,” Scott says, “and on a firmer green, you’ve got some difficult decisions to make on how you’re going to manage to get it on the green or keep it on the green. It’s a little more straightforward out there at the moment.”

And because it’s 2020, there are times when hitting it into the rough can actually feel advantageous. Fowler estimates he’s getting half-a-dozen mudballs per round on the closely-cropped fairways. “Actually, I mentioned it to [playing partner Willett] yesterday when we were on 11. He had just missed the fairway right, into the first cut, and chipped a 6- or 7-iron down there to the middle of the green. I was in the middle of the fairway with a mud ball and had to aim over at 12 tee, and I still almost hit it in the water. So I feel like it’s almost harder to pick up mud balls in that first cut. In some situations, you’d almost rather that, or you wouldn’t mind it.”

Without those sulfourous green reading books sidelined this week and with a tightly bunched leaderboard where the slightest mistake could lose a green jacket, caddies take on extra meaning at The Masters.

Ward Clayton filed a definitive piece for Masters.com this week on the art of charting Augusta National compared to normal weeks where more of the charting is already done for players and caddies. How we got here is pretty incredible and there remains so much local knowledge to Augusta National.

Just a sampling from the piece related to the shining star that is 2020:

Yardages are important, especially this week when a landmark such as grandstands are absent and another marker must be documented. But at Augusta National, it’s the greens that are the final exam. Putts that look to break one way do the exact opposite or roll out much more than expected, resulting in head scratching and insecurity.

Willie Lee “Pappy” Stokes, the godfather of Augusta National caddies and a five-time winner as a caddie, quickly figured out a secret that Augusta National caddies carried for decades. In the caddie facilities adjacent to the Tournament Practice Facility, simple framed maps of green complexes hang on the walls. On every drawing, there is a distinct red dot, showing the direction of Rae’s Creek from that green – and the tendency for putts to break to the lowest point on the property when it’s not evident to the naked eye. Many caddies over the years have denoted that red dot in their personal Augusta National yardage books.

There was no disputing that Adam Scott had the unluckiest break at the Masters on Friday, a wretched piece of poor fortune that fully tested the Australian's famous sense of equanimity.

Ariya Jutanugarn announced she has tested positive for the coronavirus and has pulled out of next week's LPGA Pelican Women's Championship in Florida.

Close your eyes. Look at the jam-packed leaderboard. Notice all the big names. You would this is just like every other Masters, loaded with drama and possibilities heading into the weekend.

Tiger Woods remained at 4 under with Masters play suspended due to darkness and will be just off the fairway with his drive at No. 11 when second-round action resumes Saturday.

Bernhard Langer will become the oldest player to make the 36-hole cut at the Masters, topping the record by Tommy Aaron in 2000 by 33 days.

There are some big names -- that's you, Bryson -- who will wake up with work to do on what will be a long and busy Saturday at Augusta National.

While most major 2020 sports events have seen significant ratings declines, day one of the rescheduled Masters fared well. The 2.2 million average nearly caught 2019’s 2.5 million played in the traditional April slot.

From ESPN PR:

ESPN’s live telecast of the first round of the Masters Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 12, averaged 2.2 million viewers, airing from 1 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET from Augusta National Golf Club.

With the tournament being played in November after being postponed from its traditional April date due to the pandemic, the audience peaked between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. at 2.44 million viewers. Last year’s first round, in addition to being played in April, also aired later in the day (3-7:30 p.m.) and averaged 2.5 million viewers.

ESPN will televise the completion of the second round of the Masters at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. On both Saturday and Sunday, ESPN+ will have live feeds of Featured Groups and Featured Holes during Tournament play.

Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith share the Masters lead at 9 under. Play was suspended due to darkness, and will resume Saturday morning.

The ever-confident DeChambeau hit another wide shot that got lost and led to a triple bogey. He followed that with two more bogeys.

After arguing to no avail after not being able to find his initial drive, Bryson DeChambeau went back to the tee at the par-4 third, drove it again and ended up with a triple-bogey 7.

A day after England's Paul Casey shot 7-under 65, Dustin Johnson and South Africa's Dylan Frittelli matched him once first-round play resumed at the Masters on Friday morning.

It’s fair to say most golfers hadn’t heard of Spornia before last spring.  However, the California-based company finished a close second in this spring’s MyGolfSpy Best Golf Practice Net Buyer’s Guide.

Couple that with the COVID-induced boom in the demand of at-home practice gear and it’s easy to see why Spornia experienced unprecedented success in 2020.

We loved how easy the SPG-7 net was to set up and take down while maintaining a stable platform for both indoor/outdoor use. But, hey that’s just us.

Here’s a chance to find out for yourself.