2018 Masters Tournament

2018+Masters+Tournament

Brad Stogner, Staff Writer

On Sunday, April 8, American golfer Patrick Reed won his first major tournament during the 2018 Masters Match in Augusta, Ga.

Every year before The Masters Match, many golfers participate in the Par 3 contest where golfers play a nine-hole, par 27 course at the Augusta Golf Course. During this year’s Par 3 contest, there were a few stand-out moments. For example, golfer Jack Nicklaus’s grandson, GT, caddied for him during the contest. On the ninth hole, GT took his shot and got a hole-in-one at just 15 years old. Nicholson was moved to tears by the achievement.

Later, while celebrating a hole-in-one at the Par 3 Contest, golfer Tony Finau lost his footing and dislocated his ankle. As soon as it happened, he kneeled down to pop it back into place–a moment repeatedly played on the news and sports shows. Surprisingly, the next day he came to play in the tournament and went 4 under, which is amazing after coming off an injury like that.

On the first day of actual The Masters tournament, Jordan Spieth led everyone with a score of 6 under, followed by Finau and Matt Kuchar who were tied with 4 under. Tiger Woods had a rough first round, going 1 over and finishing the first day tied for 29th place.

However, no one compares to Sergio Garcia’s hits. He was unlucky at the 15th hole when 5 of his shots went into the water. He posted the highest score recorded on hole 15 with a 13 over par. Very surprising from this golfer, considering he won The Masters tournament last year.

On day two of the tournament, Reed took the lead with 9 under, followed by Marc Leishman who went 7 under and Henrik Stenson who went 4 under. Woods barely made the cut with a 4 over par and tied for 40th place going into the third round. After the first two rounds, 87 golfers quickly dwindled to 46 golfers who were able to move on to the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

On the third day of the tournament, Reed continued to lead everyone with 11 under par, followed by Rory McIlroy who went 9 under and Jon Rahm who went 8 under, all of whom were very close to advancing into the final of the tournament. As McIlroy moved into Sunday, he continued to strive to win every major tournament and chase the career grand slam.The only five golfers to achieve this are Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Sarazen, but no golfer has ever won all four in the same year.

However, on day four of the tournament, Reed killed McIlroy’s chances for getting all four in the year as he won with 15 under par while Rickie Fowler followed in second place with 14 under. In third place was Spieth with 13 under par.

McIlroy fell short of achieving the grand slam, while Rickie Fowler was close to winning his first major golf match. This is Reed’s first win in his first major tournament at this year’s Masters match while simultaneously earning his first green jacket which commemorates the champion of the tournament.