The fourth and final day of the 87th Masters Golf Tournament took place at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia on Sunday, April 9, with Jon Rahm taking home the green jacket.
The conditions on Sunday were much better than they had been throughout the whole tournament. The morning was cold, but warmed up quickly as players started their last round.
The end of the third round saw fast movement, as leader Brooks Koepka dropped an early bogey and Jon Rahm, hot on his heels, posted an early birdie to come within two strokes of the lead.
Koepka, who still retained the lead after three rounds, highlighted the challenge in the lack of rigor on the LIV Golf Tour, which only has three days of golf per tournament rather than the four days on the PGA Tour. Koepka, on his fourth and final round, couldn’t find a birdie and shot a score of 75 (three over par). On the other hand, Rahm had one of his best rounds of the tournament. He shot a 69 (three under par) and won the event by four strokes, becoming the fourth Spaniard to win the event.
Former Masters champions Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson were paired together on Easter Sunday and they put on quite the show. Before round three began, both Spieth and Mickelson were 10 strokes back from the lead. They finished tied-fourth and tied-second, five and four strokes behind Rahm respectively. Spieth finished the last round with a 66 (six under par), and Mickelson finished with a 65 (seven under par).
Scheffler continued to struggle when it mattered the most, only shooting four under par the whole tournament, ending in a four-way tie for 10th place. Masters rookie Sahith Theegala had his first top 10 finish in a major tournament, finishing in solo-ninth place. Amateur golfer Sam Bennett, who took the world by surprise over the first two rounds, shot a combined six over par in his final two rounds, finishing in a tie for 16th at two under par. Five times Masters champion Tiger Woods never finished his third round as he withdrew from the tournament due to a flare-up of plantar fasciitis.
Rahm’s victory pocketed him $3.24 million, and Koepka, who dropped to a two-way tie for second place with Phi Mickelsonl, secured $1.58 million — half a million dollars less than he would’ve if he retained solo-second. This prize money is the most of any Masters tournament, with Rahm taking home over $600K more than last year’s winner Scottie Scheffler.
This year’s Masters highlighted the changing landscape of professional golf and gave us a glimpse of what to expect for the future. Three LIV Golf members have already qualified for next year’s Masters — needing to finish within the top 12 in ties to qualify. The ongoing battle between LIV Golf and PGA Tour players is far from over.
Evan Marks is a Sports Intern for the spring 2023 quarter. He can be reached at ecmarks@uci.edu