2023 The Masters Recap

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2023 Masters Champion is Jon Rahm. In a week that saw rain, extreme temperature drops, and suspended play, Jon Rahm weathered it all to claim the Green Jacket. Now a two-time major champion after previously taking the 2021 U.S. Open, Rahm is the fourth Spanish golfer to win the Masters, joining Sergio Garcia (2017), José María Olazábal (1994, 1999), and the legendary Seve Ballesteros (1980, 1983).

2023 The Masters Recap

Venue: Augusta National – Augusta, Georgia

Date: April 6^th – 9th

Purse: $15 Million

Winner: Jon Rahm

Rahm remained cool and consistent as he made his comeback on Sunday, but it was well before Sunday that he had to start his comeback. In fact, it was on the second hole in his opening round on Thursday as he put himself in an early deficit by four putting the first and carding a double-bogey. But, on the contrary, the man he wound up chasing, Brooks Koepka, cruised to the top of the leaderboard over the first 54-holes, and it was looking like the green jacket was being fit for him.

The Spaniard halved Koepka’s lead over the final 12 holes of their third rounds, which were played on Sunday morning after weather delayed the third round on Saturday. He then moved even with the tournament-long leader at the 5th in Round four, pulled ahead one hole later, and took off from there with Koepka falling two strokes behind at the 8th as he was never able to get any closer.

Rahm basically put the tournament away on the 14th, as he carded a birdie and Koepka settled for a bogey, leaving Rahm in control with a five-shot lead and completing a ridiculous comeback over a nine-stroke swing which started in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday.

On the 18th, Rahm’s tee shot found the rough on the left side of the fairway. Before Rahm’s ball could be found, he hit a second ball, a provisional ball, right down the middle of the fairway. To Rahm’s relief, the ball from his first tee shot was located, and the provisional tee shot was abandoned. Rahm rebounded from the episode to par the final hole for his first Master’s win. Rahm carded a fourth-round 69 to finish 3-under across the last 30 holes Sunday, while Koepka posted a 75 and finished 5-over across the same span.

Koepka, on the other hand, seemed to fade on Sunday, and some may point to the fact that he has not played a 72-hole tournament in almost a year. Whatever the reason, Koepka woke up Sunday morning with a four-stroke lead; The lead didn’t last long as a two-shot swing on the seventh green during the third round started the descent from Kopeka. Despite this slight hiccup, the four-time major champion found himself with a two-stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes. Koepka went 23 holes, from the 8th in Round Three to the 13th in Round Four, without making a single birdie while posting six bogeys.

As we mentioned earlier in the week, The Masters has a way of rejuvenating golfers that may seem past their prime, and Phil Mickelson was a prime example of that this week. His form on the LIV Golf circuit has been lackluster, but the three-time green jacket winner provided a good argument for throwing out statistics at the year’s first major championship.

Lefty fired a second-nine 31 to claim the early clubhouse lead at 8-under with a final-round 65, the lowest by anyone over 50 in Masters history. In the process became the oldest player to finish inside the top five at Augusta.

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