Jon Rahm conquers, Rory McIlroy tanks, Tiger Woods withdraws – 5 Things We Learned at the Masters in Augusta

It was a Masters tournament that had it all, crazy weather, LIV golfers in the mix and the world’s best slugging it out to capture the famous green Jacket. Here are five things we learned from this year’s first major.

Jon Rahm conquers Augusta

The 28-year-old Spaniard may have started Thursday’s round with a four-putt double bogey, but he bookended it with a four-shot victory to claim his second major and first green jacket.

Despite his opening mishap and being on the wrong side of the draw, where he experienced the worst of the weather, the new World No.1 didn’t let that phase him as he put on a clinic, displaying epic levels of focus and determination. He had never been in the lead until overtaking Brooks Koepka on the front nine during Sunday’s play, but the big hitter was always within touching distance and ready to strike.

With three wins on the PGA TOUR already this year, plus four top-10 finishes in six previous Masters starts, Rahm had the form and pedigree to win at Augusta – and he duly delivered.

Rahm became the fourth Spanish player to win the Masters and his victory poignantly came on what would have been the 66th birthday of the legendary two-time champion Seve Ballesteros, who won in 1980 and 1983.

“I wasn’t sure how [the emotion] was going to come to me until I hit the third shot on the 18th,” said Rahm, whose first major win came at the 2021 U.S. Open held at Torrey Pines.

“History of the game is a big reason why I play and Seve is a big part of that history.

“For me to get it done on the 40th anniversary of his second Masters win and on his birthday was incredibly meaningful.”

Better together – World’s best put on a show

We had major Brooks back, reminding us of his 2018-19 dominance where he won multiple majors and ascended to the top of the rankings, a charging Phil Mickelson, who pieced together an incredible final round 65 at the age of 52 where he recaptured support from the patrons despite his recent antics, and former Masters champion Patrick Reed, who also showing flickers of former glories. Add all of this to Rahm’s performance and Scottie Scheffler finishing in the top 10 along with Jordan Spieth, and we had ourselves a sensational leaderboard reminding us of good times before any LIV disruption.

“It is fractured, I guess, from the fan’s perspective,” Koepka said of golf’s bigger picture. “But as far as us, I mean, I think everybody saw it this week. It’s nice to see everybody. There’s no hard feelings pretty much. I think that’s the way everybody should see it.”

Beware of Mother Nature

Aside from the LIV storylines much had been made of the forecast heading into The Masters and boy did it make the headlines.

Play was stopped and suspended multiple times which sadly fractured the flow of the tournament. Friday was stop-start but play was ultimately suspended for the day forcing all everyone, including the patrons, to vacate the property, with thunderstorms in the area playing a part in the uprooting of three giant trees near 17th tee, where miraculously no one was hurt.

Footage subsequently emerged that showed how the scary scene played out.

Saturday suffered as a result of the weather too, the suspended second round was completed in the morning but the conditions deteriorated further as temperatures dropped dramatically. Standing water was now a mainstay on most greens, with puddles forming elsewhere making the course unplayable. With no sign of improvement for the rest of the day, the klaxon was sounded and play was halted which set up a marathon Sunday at Augusta.

Is the end near for Tiger?

All eyes were on Tiger Woods as he teed it up for the only second time this season, a couple of months on from his last appearance at the Genesis Invitational. We were treated to some of the magic of old back then, but the same couldn’t really be said this time around.

Bottom line is that Woods just competing is a miracle and making the cut on the number for the 23rd time in a row, matching Gary Player and Fed Couple’s all-time record, is testament to the gritty competitor that he is. However, it was a tough watch. The brutal conditions certainly didn’t help his case, as the cold front stiffened up his already pieced together body.

With play halted on Saturday, Woods was faced with the prospect of playing 29 holes on Sunday to conclude the tournament. After footage emerged of Woods limping heavily and clearly in severe pain during Saturday’s early play, where he had made two bogeys and two double-bogeys over his first seven holes, it was no surprise that the 15-time major champion decided to withdraw. He would then release a statement in the following hours confirming that he had reaggravated his plantar fasciitis.

Woods was already in a sentimental mood at the beginning of the week, hinting that this could well be his last Masters, and with what transpired over the course of the tournament it certainly looks like this could be a real possibility.

Rory slam put on hold for another year

McIlroy has been part of golf’s “Big 3” alongside Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler for a while now and with The Masters top of his to-do list, the fact he tanked and missed the cut in search of the ‘Career Grand Slam’ makes it all the more shocking.

The pre-tournament favourite opened with a level-par 72 which was by no means a massive cause for concern with three days of play left, despite already being seven off the pace of the early leaders. However, as the weather also worsened on Friday, McIlroy was fully in reverse where two birdies were blown out by five bogeys en-route to a five-over 77 leaving him two outside the cut mark and ending his hunt for another year.

Everything had seemed to be in good order for the Northern Irishman to finally get it done in 2023, having sorted out driver issues and reverting back to an old putter that afforded previous glories. There was also a strong performance at the recent WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, but nothing clicked and he has since withdrawn from this week’s RBC Heritage. The 33-year-old has now had 15 attempts at capturing Augusta glory without success, with the 2024 contest set to be his 10th crack at completing the ‘Slam’.