Month: April 2021

The words “under the radar” and “Masters” are an odd pair, and very rarely go well together. Even when compared to the other majors, the Masters resists obscurity. The tournament has been obsessively documented since the start, and its champions are—for the most part—enshrined in golf lore. There’s also the fact that the tournament started

The National Golf Foundation hinted throughout the summer and fall that 2020 was showing a remarkable surge in both participation and rounds played despite the shutdowns and uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its final report for the year might actually be more positive than even predicted, what the golf industry group called “a year of

2:50 PM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy, who is known to be one of the most thoughtful and introspective golfers on the professional touring circuit, ended his pre-Masters news conference by going on an extended riff about Tiger Woods. That felt perfect because even though Woods is at home recovering from his car wreck,

There had never been debate throughout the history of Augusta National Golf Club that Alister MacKenzie was Bobby Jones’ first choice to design the world’s best inland golf course. Up until now. Jones’ granddaughter, Ann Hood Laird, and her husband, Cody, inherited old office files of Jones after Ed Hood, the husband of Jones’ daughter,

7:08 PM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — On Tuesday of Masters week, every former winner who wants to attend comes to Augusta National for the Champions Dinner. It is one sports’ most exclusive dinner parties. This year, defending champion Dustin Johnson is the host. This is his menu. His brother, Austin, who is Johnson’s caddie and

The Masters is Christmas for golf bettors, and this year we’re getting two Christmases in a span of six months. You could say we’ve been spoiled rotten. It only makes sense, then, to spoil our readers with more gambling content. We’ve given you our best bets and our favorite DFS plays already, so now it’s

Phil Mickelson can spin a yarn as good, if not better than a wedge over a tree. So when it comes to story time, simply give Lefty a microphone, sit back and enjoy. Leave it to the three-time Masters winner to use the occasion of this year’s tournament to regale the press room with a

7:30 AM ET MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina — Six years ago, not long after Dustin Johnson had completed one of the worst collapses in golf history at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, he was behind the wheel of his courtesy car headed back to his rental house. No one in the car —

Tyler Strafaci never met his grandfather, Frank, who passed away before he was born. But the 22-year-old from Davie, Fla., has enjoyed following in the family patriarch’s golf footsteps the past nine months. First, Tyler won the North & South Amateur title last July at Pinehurst No. 2, as did Frank in 1938 and 1939.

3:26 PM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jordan Spieth got to drive down Magnolia Lane late Monday morning with a sense of relief. For the first time in nearly four years, he was a winner again Sunday on the PGA Tour, the constant scrutiny and questions concerning his troubling play now changing to talk of him

It’s officially Masters Week, which means that everyone—your mom, your dad, your little cousin, Nancy in accounting, etc.—is going to have a “dark horse” pick to win at Augusta National. By the time Wednesday evening rolls around, there will be no dark horses left. One guy who has slipped through the cracks so far, though,

The 2021 Masters is upon us, and with it comes a slew of delectable storylines. Of course, there’s often a discrepancy in what matters before the tournament to what ultimately transpires. A quick refresher on the Bryson Reckoning that did not come to pass last November will testify as much. Did that stop us, however,

7:00 AM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bryson DeChambeau was going to obliterate Augusta National last fall. He was coming off a convincing 6-shot win at the U.S. Open, overpowering famed Winged Foot. He arrived at the Masters with a plan to do the same. But a funny thing happened on the way to a green

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — All players practice visualization, but what Patty Tavatanakit was visualizing two years ago was not her next shot, but her future, and it precluded her from accepting an invitation from Augusta National. Magnolia Lane represented a detour. Tavatanakit declined an opportunity to play in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in

8:00 AM ET Bernhard Langer stood toward the back of the tee box on the first hole of the Masters in November and watched Rory McIlroy launch his opening tee shot of the third round 322 yards. Moments later, the 63-year-old Langer hit his — 251 yards. The differences between the two were greater than

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Realistically, Lydia Ko was out of contention entering the final round of the ANA Inspiration on Sunday, though reality and Ko apparently were not in agreement on that. Ultimately she did not win, but she injected the final round with a jolt of drama that otherwise would have been missing. Ko,

Normally, Jon Rahm is the one constantly coming up clutch. But in the wee hours of Sunday morning, it was his wife Kelley who delivered the goods. In early February, Rahm, who is looking to capture his first major next week, said he’d miss and/or leave the Masters to be present for the birth of

8:00 AM ET AUGUSTA, Ga. — Only five months since the last Masters Tournament another is here, back in its familiar April spot. Tiger Woods won’t be here as he continues to recover from injuries he suffered during a single-car crash in Los Angeles in February. But the patrons will return, in limited numbers. The