Augusta, Ga. April 10-13, 2014. FedExCup Points: 600. Purse: $9,000,000
Augusta National Golf Club; Par/Yards: 72/7,435
Third-Round Notes – Saturday, April 12, 2014
Weather: Sunny with a high of 82 degrees. Winds S 5-10 mph.
Third-Round Leaderboard
Jodan Spieth 71-70-70—211 (-5)
Bubba Watson 69-68-74—211 (-5)
Matt Kuchar 73-71-68—212 (-4)
Jonas Blixt 70-71-71—212 (-4)
Spieth and Blixt are just the third and fourth players to open their Masters career with three consecutive sub-par rounds:
*Fuzzy Zoeller, 1979 (70-71-69-70) Won
Larry Mize, 1984 (71-70-71-72) T11
Jordan Spieth, 2014 (71-70-70)
Jonas Blixt, 2014 (70-71-71)
*Only player to open his Masters career with four consecutive sub-par rounds.
Spieth is the fifth first-year player to hold the round three lead at the Masters: Horton Smith (1934), Ralph Guldahl (1937), Bert Yancey (1967) and Brian Henninger (1995). Horton Smith was the only to go on to victory.
Bubba Watson (71) and Jordan Spieth (73) were paired together for the final round of The Barclays in 2013. It was their only pairing.
Third-Round Notes
The eventual Masters champion has come out of the final Sunday pairing 19 out of the last 23 years, with Zach Johnson (2007), Charl Schwartzel (2011), Bubba Watson (2012) and Adam Scott (2013) the exceptions.
The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win the Masters Tournament 41 (out of 77) times, most recently Angel Cabrera in 2009.
Bubba Watson has his eye on the ball during the third round of the Masters. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
Dating to 1991, with the exception of Zach Johnson (T4) in 2007, Bubba Watson (T3) in 2012 and Adam Scott (3rd) in 2013, the Masters champion has been ranked no lower than T2 following 54 holes.
The only Masters champion who was not inside the top 10 on the leaderboard after 54 holes was Art Wall Jr. in 1959 (T13).
The largest comeback at the Masters after the third round is eight strokes (Jack Burke, 1956). Burke was eight behind Ken Venturi through three rounds but edged Venturi by one with a closing round of 71 (compared to Burke’s 80).
Last year, Adam Scott notched the fourth consecutive come-from-behind win at the Masters (Phil Mickelson/2010, Charl Schwartzel/2011 and Bubba Watson/2012). The last time there was four consecutive back-to-back come-from-behind wins at the Masters were by Ben Crenshaw/1984, Bernhard Langer/1985, Jack Nicklaus/1986 and Larry Mize/1987.
Bubba Watson
Watson had not held a R1-3 lead in a major before this week when he held the second and third round leads. It is his 25th start in a major.
Bubba Watson tees off the 18th green on day three of the Masters. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
Watson has converted one of seven third-round leads/co-leads on the PGA TOUR. Below are Watson’s third-round leads/co-leads:
Event
2007 Shell Houston Open 1 T2 (72)
2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational T1 T8 (72)
2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans T1 Won (69)
2011 Deutsche Bank Championship 1 T16 (74)
2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship 1 2nd (74)
2013 Travelers Championship
2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open 1 T2 (71)
In winning the 2012 Masters, Watson was three shots (4th) off the lead (Peter Hanson) after round three.
Watson at the Masters: 2008/T20; 2009/42nd; 2011/T38; 2012/Won; 2013/T50.
Watson is making his sixth start in the Masters. Below are the fewest number of attempts before a second victory in the Masters:
3, Horton Smith
6, Jimmy Demaret
6, Arnold Palmer
Lefthanders have won five of the last 11 Masters (Bubba Watson, Mike Weir and Phil Mickelson-3).
Watson won earlier this year at the Northern Trust Open. It was his first win since the 2012 Masters.
At the Northern Trust Open, Watson shot matching weekend rounds of 64 to win by two shots over Dustin Johnson. He came from four shots back on the final day to claim the victory. Watson was the only player in the Northern Trust Open field to go bogey-free on the weekend at Riviera Country Club.
In his last start on TOUR, Watson was a WD after a first round 83 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to allergies.
Watson’s 2013-14 starts-made cuts-top-10s-wins: 8-7-5-1
Watson has two runner-up finishes this year on TOUR: Waste Management Phoenix Open and WGC-Cadillac Championship. In each instance he lost by one shot.
Jordan Spieth
The youngest winner of the Masters is Tiger Woods (1997, 21 years, 3 months, 14 days). On Sunday, Jordan Spieth’s age will be 20 years, 8 months and 16 days.
Jordan Spieth shares third round lead in his Masters debut.
Three players won the Masters in their first appearance: Horton Smith (1934), Gene Sarazen (1935), Fuzzy Zoeller (1979).
Last July, Spieth became the first teenager (19 years, 11 months, 18 days) to win on the PGA TOUR (John Deere Classic) since Ralph Guldahl won the 1931 Santa Monica Open at 19 years, 2 months, 4 days.
As a historical reference, Guldahl made his Masters debut with a second-place finish in 1937 with rounds of 69-72-68-76—285 (-3). He also held the third-round lead in his Masters debut, but finished second behind Byron Nelson. Guldahl recovered by winning the U.S. Open two months later. Guldahl won the Masters in his third start in 1939.
Below are the youngest winners at each major since 1900:
Johnny McDermott 1911 U.S. Open
Gene Sarazen 1922 PGA Championship
Tiger Woods 1997 Masters Tournament
Seve Ballesteros 1979 British Open
A win this week at the Masters would make Spieth the fifth youngest two-time winner on TOUR (since 1900).
Ralph Guldahl 1931 Santa Monica Open 19 years, 2 months, 4 days
Ralph Guldahl 1932 Arizona Open
Gene Sarazen 1922 Southern Open
Gene Sarazen 1922 U.S. Open
Horton Smith 1928 Oklahoma City Open 20 years, 5 months, 13 days
Horton Smith 1928 Catalina Open
Tom Creavy 1931 Northeastern New York 20 years, 6 months, 7 days
Tom Creavy 1931 PGA Championship
Jordan Spieth 2013 John Deere Classic 19 years, 11 months, 18 days
Jordan Spieth TBD
American Jordan Spieth looking to become the third first-time winner of the Masters. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
Spieth would become the third youngest two-time winner when one of the wins includes a major championship.
Gene Sarazen 1922 Southern Open
Gene Sarazen 1922 U.S. Open
Tom Creavy 1931 Northeastern New York 20 years, 6 months, 7 days
Tom Creavy 1931 PGA Championship
Jordan Spieth 2013 John Deere Classic 19 years, 11 months, 18 days
Jordan Spieth TBD
Tiger Woods won his second PGA TOUR event at the 1996 Walt Disney World Classic at the age of 20 years, 9 months and 20 days.
Spieth has made 10 of 12 cuts on TOUR this season. He missed the cut last week at the Shell Houston Open. He has four top 10s in his previous 11 finishes this season.
Spieth has made four previous starts in a major:
2013 PGA Championship
2013 Open Championship
2013 U.S. Open MC 77-76—153
2012 U.S. Open (a)
Spieth’s only previous third-round lead/co-lead was earlier this year at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions where he finished second after shooting a final round 69 (-4).
Spieth defeated Matt Kuchar in the third round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this year (2 and 1).
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar has six top-10 finishes in nine previous starts on TOUR this season. In the last two weeks he finished T4 at the Valero Texas Open and P2 at the Shell Houston Open.
Matt Kuchar hoping to climb his way to a first Major at 2014 Masters. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
Last year Kuchar bounced back from a runner-up finish at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with a won the following week at the Memorial Tournament.
Kuchar at the Masters: T21/1998; T50/1999; MC/2002; T24/2010; T27/2011; T3/2012; T8/2013
Kuchar’s best round at the Masters is a 68 (R3/1998, R1/2011, R1/2013, R3/2014).
Coming into this week, Kuchar’s round three stroke average at the Masters was 70.50. His final round stroke average at Augusta National is 73.00.
Kuchar leads the TOUR with 43 top-10 finishes since the start of the 2010 season. He is tied with Harris English for the top-10 lead this season (6).
Kuchar has six PGA TOUR wins: 2002 Honda Classic, 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship, 2010 The Barclays, 2012 THE PLAYERS Championship, 2013 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, 2013 Memorial Tournament.
Last year was Kuchar’s first multi-win season on TOUR.
Kuchar is looking to join Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Tiger Woods as players who have won a major championship, a PLAYERS Championships title and a World Golf Championships event.
Kuchar’s previous-best position after round three in a major championship was fifth at the 2012 Masters.
Jonas Blixt
Sweden has never produced a major championship winner. The best finish ever in a major by a Swede is Henrik Stenson (2nd/2013 Open Championship), Jesper Parnevik (2nd/1994 Open Championship and T2nd/1997 Open Championship) and Niclas Fasth (2nd/2001 Open Championship).
Jonas Blixt looking to become first Swede to win a Major. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
Eight Swedish players have won on the PGA TOUR: Jesper Parnevik (5), Carl Pettersson (5), Henrik Stenson (4), Gabriel Hjertstedt (2), Daniel Chopra (2), Jonas Blixt (2), Freddie Jacobson (1) and Richard S. Johnson (1).
Blixt is making his third career start in a major (T26/2013 Open Championship, 4/2013 PGA Championship).
Blixt has a pair of TOUR wins: 2012 Frys.com Open and 2013 Greenbrier Classic.
Lee Westwood
The most top-3 finishes in a major championship without a victory since 1934 is eight by Lee Westwood. Below is the list:
Player
Lee Westwood 2
Colin Montgomerie 5
Doug Sanders 4
Harry Cooper 3
Bruce Crampton 4
Sergio Garcia 3
Lee Westwood and Fred Couples are the only two players to finish in the top-15 at the Masters each of the last four years:
Year
2013
2012
2011
2010
Miscellaneous Notes
American’s have won 17 of 21 events on TOUR this season, while players from Australia have won the other four: Jason Day (WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship); John Senden (Valspar Championship); Steven Bowditch (Valero Texas Open); and Matt Jones (Shell Houston Open).
Three players can jump to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings this week including: Adam Scott (two-way tie for third or better), Henrik Stenson (two-way tie for second or better) and Jason Day (with a victory).
American’s have won 8 of the last 14 Masters dating to 2000.
Adam Scott went 47 straight majors without a victory before winning the Masters. Below are the most active major starts without a victory (counting 2013 PGA Championship):
Player Starts
Lee Westwood 63
Miguel Angel Jimenez 62
Sergio Garcia 61
Steve Stricker 60
Active consecutive major appearances (including 2014 Masters):
Player Consecutive starts
Sergio Garcia 59
Adam Scott 51
K.J. Choi 48
The oldest winner of the Masters is Jack Nicklaus (1986, 46 years, 2 months, 23 days). There are 14 players in the field this week that are older than Nicklaus was when he won in 1986.
Miguel Angel Jimenez will make his Champions Tour debut next week at the Greater Gwinnett Championship presented by Mitsubishi Electric Cooling and Heating at TPC Sugarloaf.
First-time appearances
A record 24 players are making their first start: Jonas Blixt, Steven Bowditch, Roberto Castro, Brendon de Jonge, Graham DeLaet, Victor Dubuisson, Harris English, Derek Ernst, Matt Every, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Stephen Gallacher, Oliver Goss, Billy Horschel, Matt Jones, Chris Kirk, Chang-woo Lee, Joost Luiten, Michael McCoy, Jordan Niebrugge, Garrick Porteous, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Stadler, Jimmy Walker.
Most first-year players at the Masters: 24 (2014), 23 (1935), 22 (1962, 1966), 21 (1990), 20 (1980, 2008, 2011).
Amateurs in the field (6):
Oliver Goss (Australia)
Matthew Fitzpatrick (England) MC
Chang-woo Lee (Korea)
Michael McCoy (United States) MC
Jordan Niebrugge (United States) MC
Garrick Porteous (England) MC
Best finish by an amateur in Masters: 2nd- Ken Venturi (1956), T2nd–Frank Stranahan (1947), Charles Roe (1961).
Past Masters champions in the field (19)
Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Phil Mickelson, Larry Mize, Mark O’Meara, Jose Maria Olazabal, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Craig Stadler, Bubba Watson, Tom Watson, Mike Weir and Ian Woosnam.
Only four players have recorded three wins before their first major championship appearance:
Player
Billy Burke
Leonard Gallett 1936 U.S. Open
Sam Snead
Patrick Reed
* Special thanks to PGA Tour.
