The Masters (Augusta) Round 4

Bubba Watson wins second Masters 

American golfer Bubba Watson won his second Masters title only two years after winning his first. A three under par final round of 69 was enough for Watson to win the Masters by three shots as Jonas Blixt and Jordan Spieth finished the tournament on -5. In what proved to be a tough day to shoot an under par round, Bubba shot one of the lowest rounds of the day and managed to stay ahead of Spieth throughout the final round before deservedly winning the 2014 Masters at Augusta on the 18th hole. Lee Westwood was the highest placed Englishman on the leaderboard in 7th but a one over par round of 73 meant that yet another top ten finish was all that could be taken home. 



My Opinion:
It was a really tense start to the final round as the leaders began to tee off as everybody knew that if someone was to race away from the pack, they would probably win. That person ended up being Bubba Watson. The unusual style of Bubba, who claims he never had a golf lesson, paid tremendous dividends for a second time as he is now a two time winner of The Masters. It was a really composed round of golf where drive after drive flew miles down the fairways which enabled Bubba to shoot 69. Nobody could match the scoring of Bubba as Blixt could only manage a round of 71 whilst Spieth shot 72. Jimenez failed to pose a challenge after a one under par round of 71 whilst Kuchar and Fowler trailed away with over par rounds. Unsurprisingly, Lee Westwood finished in the top ten but he must be getting really sick and annoyed that he just can't win a major. Rory McIlroy enjoyed his best round of the tournament with a 69 to finish on level par for the week. Both Ian Poulter and Justin Rose shot 74 in what was a disappointing way to bow out of this years Masters. Another great week of golf at Augusta and another green jacket in the wardrobe for Bubba Watson. We may not have had Tiger Woods this year but hopefully he will be back along with a strong British challenge next year. 

Final Leaderboard:
Winner: B. Watson -8 (69)
2. J. Blixt -5 (71)
- J. Spieth -5 (72)
4. M.A. Jimenez -4 (71)
5. R. Fowler -2 (73)
- M. Kuchar -2 (74)
7. L. Westwood -1 (73)

How my favourite players felled:
Winner - B. Watson -8 (69)
T5th - R. Fowler -2 (73)
7th - L. Westwood -1 (73)
T8th - R. McIlroy E (69)
T14th - A. Scott +1 (72)
T14th - J. Rose +1 (74)
T20th - I. Poulter +2 (74)
MC - L. Donald
MC - P. Mickelson
MC - S. Garcia
MC - G. McDowell
MC - D. Johnson

Click here for a video of the best shots from Round 4

Lowest Round of the Day: J. Luiten shot 67

Lowest Round of the Tournament: M.A. Jimenez shot 66 in Round 3

Highest Round of the Day: K. Streelman and L. Mize both shot 79

Highest Round of the Tournament: B. Crenshaw shot 85 in Round 2

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The Masters (Augusta) Round 3

Spieth and Watson lead by one shot going into final round of The Masters

Bubba Watson blew a three shot lead during the third round at Augusta after shooting 74 to fall back to -5. Jordan Spieth took advantage of Bubba's slip with a two under par round of 70 to tie for the lead going into the famous final round that is The Masters Sunday. Only one shot behind the leaders on -4 are Matt Kuchar, who went round in 68, and Jonas Blixt who came home in 71. Two shots back on -3 include the likes of Miguel Angel Jimenez, who carded the lowest score of the third round with 66 whilst Rickie Fowler enjoyed a much better round of golf after going round Augusta in 67 shots. Early tournament favourites Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy both endured a tough time of it in their third rounds as Scott dropped four shots to sit on +1 whilst McIlroy sits nine shots behind the leaders on +3 despite shooting 71. 



My Opinion:
Well after Bubba's minor third round blip, suddenly there are a lot of people who are in with a decent chance of winning this years Masters. Bubba let go a three shot lead and now sits alongside young Jordan Spieth at the top of the leaderboard. Kuchar and Blixt will both be looking to put the pressure on the top two as they play right in front of them tomorrow whilst Jimenez, Fowler, Westwood and Furyk will all be looking to shoot a really low score in the final round to put the pressure on the last two pairs. Justine Rose and Ian Poulter enjoyed under par rounds today but look to far back to pose a challenge for the title whilst last years winner Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy are just trying to repair the damage they had already done to their scores in the second round. Should be a really fun, tense and exciting watch tomorrow and it will be very interesting to see who has the nerve and composure to claim the 2014 Masters. Just on pure experience and having won it already, I'm backing Bubba to do the job tomorrow and take his second green jacket. 

Leaders:
1. J. Speith -5 (70)
- B. Watson -5 (74)
3. M. Kuchar -4 (68)
- J. Blixt -4 (71)
5. M.A. Jimenez -3 (66)
- R. Fowler -3 (67)
7. L. Westwood -2 (70)
- J. Furyk -2 (72)
- T. Bjorn -2 (73)

How my favourite players are getting on:
B. Watson -5 (74)
R. Fowler -3 (67)
L. Westwood -2 (70)
J. Rose -1 (69)
I. Poulter E (70)
A. Scott +1 (76)
R. McIlroy +3 (71)

Click here for a video of the best shots from Round 3

Lowest Round of the Day: M.A. Jimenez shot (66)

Highest Round of the Day: S. Gallacher shot (81)

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The Masters (Augusta) Round 2

Bubba Watson leads by three shots after Second Round

Bubba Watson will take a three shot lead going into the weekend of The Masters. After a strong opening round yesterday, Bubba went one stroke better in the second round, carding a brilliant 68 which puts the American on -7. First round leader Bill Haas could not continue his good form on the first day and fell off the leaderboard after a disappointing second round performance. John Senden shot 68 to put himself in second place on -4 whilst Adam Scott remains in the chasing pack on -3. 
The cut this year was +5 and it meant that plenty of renowned favourites and popular players will not be coming back for the weekend. Most notably was the failure of Phil Mickelson to make the cut who just missed out by one shot whilst Dustin Johnson, Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner all fell victim to the cut. It was a disappointing two rounds of golf for some of the top European golfers as Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els all missed the cut. 



My Opinion:
Another great day of golf and the excitement of who would make the cut. It was really enjoyable to watch Bubba shoot the lowest round of the day and take a three shot lead going into the weekend. I would love to see Bubba win the Masters for a second time as he's just insane to watch play golf. There is a clear three shot gap between Bubba and the chasing pack but it only takes one person to shoot a really low score on Saturday for things to change dramatically. I was mainly let down by most of my favourite players as they all struggled in the second round. Westwood, Rose and Poulter all made the cut safely but they really need two low scores over the weekend if they are to be in contention of winning. It was really disappointing to see Rickie Fowler shoot 75 after a decent first round whilst Rory McIlroy had a round to forget after shooting 77 and just making the cut by one shot. His hopes of winning his first Masters are surely over for another year. I find it really hard to believe that Phil Mickelson missed the cut but things were just not going for him today and he even made a triple bogey 7 after taking four shots around the ground - something I never thought possible from arguably one of the greatest players around the green. Gutted that Luke Donald just missed the cut but he never really seems to play his best golf at Augusta. It's all set up for a great weekend and it will be really interesting to see if Bubba can hold on if someone can make a strong challenge from the chasing pack.

Leaders:
1. B. Watson -7 (68)
2. J. Senden -4 (68)
3. T. Bjorn -3 (69)
- J. Blixt -3 (71)
- A. Scott -3 (71)
- J. Spieth -3 (69)
7. F. Couples -2 (71)
- J. Walker -2 (71)
- J. Furyk -2 (68)

Notable players who missed the cut +5:
L. Donald +5
S. Garcia +5
P. Mickelson +5
E. Els +5
W. Simpson +5
G. McDowell +6
Z. Johnson +6
D. Johnson +7
K. Bradley +9
J. Dufner +10

How players I follow are getting on:
B. Watson -7 (68)
Westwood E (71)
J. Rose +2 (70)
I. Poulter +2 (71)
R. Fowler +2 (75)
R. McIlroy +4 (77)
L. Donald +5 (71) MC
S. Garcia +5 (74) MC
P. Mickelson +5 (73) MC
G. McDowell +6 (76) MC
D. Johnson +7 (74) MC

Shots of the Day: Click here for the video

Lowest Round of the Day: Bubba Watson shot 68

Highest Round of the Day: Ben Crenshaw shot 85

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The Masters (Augusta) Round 1

Bill Haas takes First Round lead at Augusta

The most anticipated Golf major of the year is back and it was Bill Haas who shot an opening round of 68 to lead The Masters after the first round. Last years champion Adam Scott continued his fine run of form at Augusta and trails Haas by one shot after shooting a solid three under par round of 69. Following close behind in the chasing pack is 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson alongside Louis Oosthuizen who both enjoyed a strong start to their weekend with opening rounds of 69.



My Opinion:
It was an enjoyable start to this years Masters as plenty of players managed to shoot below par scores. I'm pleased to see some our past champions, Bubba and Scotty, up on the leaderboard after the first round as they are two brilliant players to watch playing golf. Rickie Fowler made a decent start to his challenge with an opening round of 71 along with many peoples favourite to win, Rory McIlroy. McDowell and Westwood coped pretty well and kept themselves ticking over with rounds of 72 and 73 respectively. However, I was disappointed to see some of my favourite players struggle with the course as they dropped more shots than I would have liked. Poulter, Rose and Donald are trailed down the leaderboard and will desperately need to improve in the second round if they are to make the cut. Surprisingly to most, Mickelson had a tough time of it after carding a +4 round of 76 whilst Dustin Johnson fell to +5. Not the start to their campaigns that either would have imagined or hoped for but they will definitely have their work cut out tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll see some of my favourite players climb the leaderboard but I'm pleased to see Bubba and Adam Scott already up there.

Leaders:
1. B. Haas -4 (68)
2. A. Scott -3 (69)
- L. Oosthuizen -3 (69)
- B. Watson -3 (69)
5. K. Stadler -2 (68)
- J. Blixt -2 (68)
- G. Woodland -2 (68)
- J. Walker -2 (68)
- K.J. Choi -2 (68)
- B. Snedeker -2 (68)
- M. Leishman -2 (68)

How players I follow are getting on:
B. Watson -3 (69)
R. Fowler -1 (71)
R. McIlroy -1 (71)
G. McDowell E (72)
L. Westwood +1 (73)
S. Garcia +2 (74)
I. Poulter +4 (76)
P. Mickelson +4 (76)
J. Rose +4 (76)
D. Johnson +5 (77)
L. Donald +7 (79)

Shots of the Day: Click here for the Video

Lowest Round of the Day: Bill Haas shot 68

Highest Round of the Day: Branden Grace shot 84

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