Masters Tournament: The 7 defining moments in Augusta

UPGRADE DAY

The temperature plays the spoilsport

Mother Nature played spoilsport in the middle of the tournament. The warm weather from earlier in the week disappeared on Friday as thunderstorms swept through eastern Georgia. The gloomy weather caused delays as play was suspended twice in the second round. The golfers had to finish it on Saturday morning in cold and rainy weather. The third round suffered the same fate, in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday. More than half of the golfers had to finish it on Sunday morning. The sun then came out and the winds chased the clouds to crown the champion under a beautiful blue sky at dusk. 

Phil Mickelson < strong>finishes strong after creating discomfort

The expected atmosphere at the Masters Tournament champions' dinner had raised questions at the dawn of the tournament. With six champions having made the jump to LIV Golf and soured comments on both sides, one could expect strained relations. With a huge elephant in the room, it was Phil Mickelson who would have created the discomfort by remaining completely silent in his corner, according to reports that circulated the day after the feast. 

After skipping the 2022 edition, Lefty came back strong with his best performance since 2015. The 52-year-old golfer who made the jump to LIV finished second, at -8, behind Jon Rahm, thanks to its best round since moons! He finished with a splendid card of 65 (-7) which allowed him to jump 19 ranks. 

Woods record and forfeit

In his 25th appearance at the Masters, Tiger Woods set a new record. At 47, he narrowly resisted the ax for the 23rd time in a row. He thus joined Fred Couples and Gary Player who did the same in the story from 1983 to 2007 and from 1959 to 1982, respectively. At 63.5 years old, Couples became the oldest golfer to make the final rounds.

Woods snuck into the weekend rounds through the back door, thanks in part to the defeat of his friend Justin Thomas at the end of the second round. 

But afterwards, in cold weather, in the rain, the Tiger struggled in miserable conditions. He was even seen having difficulty putting one foot in front of the other. 

Sixteen hours later, Woods withdrew citing severe pain in his foot.  

Three trees fall to the ground 

Mother Nature also did some damage and above all frightened hundreds of spectators around the 17th tee and the 16th flag green. Shaken by the strong winds that had picked up on Friday afternoon, three huge pines over 100 feet in height fell on the course.

Miraculously, nobody was injured, fortunately.  

Greg Norman's wish at 18e

The week was just beginning as the controversy snuck through the gates of Augusta National. You didn't have to look far to find it with the presence of 18 golfers from the controversial LIV Golf circuit.

Hundreds of miles from Georgia, LIV commissioner Greg Norman has expressed his desire to see his players invade and trample the famous course's 18th green should one of his own win the Masters.&nbsp ;

The first poison dart was thrown. 

Even though neither of them put on the jacket, the LIV circuit gained valuable points by seeing three of his golfers finish in the top 5. 

Augusta National boss prefersgather

We will see if the desired one-week truce during the Masters Tournament can last or if the war between the circuit of the PGA and the LIV Golf Rebels will resume in the coming days. 

In his speech, the big boss of the Augusta National called for the world of professional golf to come together. He wanted the Masters to be the first step towards peace between the two parties.

However, during Holy Week in Augusta, LIV suffered two setbacks. The first in Europe as a magistrate ruled in favor of the DP World Tour to fine its members £100,000 for deserting to the Saudi-funded tour. < /p>

In the United States, it appears that the legal debate will drag on. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, will appeal verdicts that left them vulnerable. They were called to possibly testify according to the strategy of the PGA Tour prosecutors. 

A deserved jacket 

Jon Rahm has battled through thick and thin in his four rounds. Having started on a bad note with four putts on the first green by scoring a sordid double bogey in the opening round, he recovered in brilliant fashion by chasing the leaders. Defying the elements, his last victim on Sunday was poor Brooks Koepka who unfortunately went nowhere in the final round. The Spaniard will have made up for a deficit of four strokes when the third round resumes and then slips away to victory. He became the fourth Spaniard to win the green jacket. And what's more, he did it on the birthday of one of his idols, Seve Ballesteros, who won the 1983 edition exactly 40 years ago. The stars were aligned for “Rahmbo”.