With the seven-shot victory over fellow LIV golfer Peter Uihlein, 22-year-old Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin earned exemptions into the 2026 Masters and Open Championship.
The Australian Open has been given an enormous boost by being named as one of a handful of national championships that will award the champion an invitation to the Masters, after a bombshell announcement by Augusta National and the R&A.
For the first time in more than four decades, Verne Lundquist won’t be in the 16th hole tower at this year’s Masters. However, that doesn’t mean golf fans won’t hear another familiar voice at one of Augusta National’s most famous spots.
While Chamblee says he’s never felt Augusta is a perfect course fit for McIlroy’s game, he stated that the problems, particularly in the first round, seem more mental than physical.
The par-5 second hole is a dynamic, fascinating test that’s emblematic of the evolved genius of Augusta National’s architecture, where hole location dictates the way the players strategise.
Masters chairman Fred Ridley acknowledged that what Augusta National Golf Club fans will see in April won’t have “quite as many trees as we did a year ago” but that any damage suffered last September when Hurricane Helene rolled through Georgia and the Carolinas won’t be an issue when the Masters is held in less than three months.
While the CBS’ final-round ratings followed the trend in 2024 of being down from the previous year, some interactions and observations from being at this year’s Masters eased this writer’s mind.
Neal Shipley will officially go down as the low amateur at the Masters but, unofficially, he was also the high golfer in terms of viral moments from Sunday at Augusta National.
Scheffler shot 33 on the inward nine and produced six birdies in the last 11 holes, none of those requiring a putt of longer than 10 feet. That’s how dialled in he was.
This was a week of attrition, and while others were worn down by the course and the wind or the significance of what they were trying to chase, the unassuming superstar was undeterred by his surroundings, in command of his game and of himself. For that, Scheffler earned his second Masters title.