Almost everyone who has picked up a golf club knows the feeling.
Shanking shot after shot into the woods. Approach shots continuously landing in the drink. Repeatedly trying to get your ball out of the bunker from hell.
Many a weekend hacker could relate to what Sergio Garcia went through during his disastrous turn on the 15th hole in his opening round at the Masters. The defending champion put five balls into the water on the par-5 hole and took a whopping 13 on the scorecard.
“I think that was a very, very unique situation yesterday where we witnessed one of the best players in the world kind of looking like a 30-handicapper for a minute there,” said former PGA Tour player Ian Leggatt.
Clearing hurdles that the golf gods put in place can be a stiff challenge on the local nine-hole track or in the bright spotlight at Augusta.
Either way, when emotions and stress levels run high, decision-making and performance can be affected. Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood, a sport psychologist with Canadian Sport Centre Manitoba, said it’s important to back away a little when things start to go sideways.
Her advice for Garcia in that situation would be to get the mind and body in tune.
“If he’s able to breathe and calm his body down, then he’ll be able to think more rationally and slow things down on the course,” she said Friday from Winnipeg. “So I would definitely just tell him to breathe and calm your body down. We want to buy him some time to let him think of different options.”
Canadian women’s team head coach Tristan Mullally also preaches a mindset of re-evaluation over persistence.
“Good players naturally go to try and make up for their mistake,” he said from Westover, Ont. “That can lead to trying to hit the same perfect shot again and again.”
After Garcia’s first shot went in the water, he took a sand wedge from inside 100 yards and watched four more balls get wet. The Spaniard said he didn’t miss his shots – the ball just simply didn’t stop on the green.
Make no mistake: this wasn’t a duffer’s display with balls being sprayed in every direction. Garcia was burned by a pool table-fast green and just a little too much spin.
“Even the best players, having a mistake like that, there’s a little bit of shock,” Mullally said. “Their natural instinct and why they’re probably so good in the first place is to hit the next shot closer and move on.
“In an attempt to hit it really close, the margin for error is smaller especially at a place like Augusta.”
There comes a point for many players – whether you’re a top pro or just playing a casual round – where you simply have to try a different club or change the approach.
But as Leslie-Toogood notes, armchair quarterbacks aren’t living in that moment on the course.
“It just happens so quickly and he’s in such a different place as he’s processing it,” said Leslie-Toogood, who has worked with Golf Canada for years. “It’s not until later when he reflects back and realizes what other people are seeing, because we can see it very differently when we’re from afar.”
When Garcia eventually got a ball to stick, he hit the 10-foot putt for a rare octuple bogey.
“I think great players are guilty of the same things as an amateur,” Mullally said. “Sometimes the situation can take over and decisions get harder.”
Leggatt, a native of Cambridge, Ont., who won the Tucson Open in 2002, said players avoid laying up on that hole because they know the pitch shot can be very difficult.
“Sergio didn’t really hit any bad shots into that green,” he said from Richmond Hill, Ont. “It’s just the severity of it and being able to pick and choose the right type of shot you need to hit on that particular hole is going to be the most important (thing). But it was all set up by ultimately hitting that second shot in the water and then having to play that pitch shot into the green.
“It’s probably the most difficult shot on the whole golf course.”
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Adam Hadwin is one of those rare Canadians who never played hockey.
Like all Canadians, he was rocked by a tragic bus crash that claimed 15 lives in his home country.
Hadwin, a native of Saskatchewan who now lives near Vancouver, shot an even-par 72 Saturday in the third round of the Masters after learning of the catastrophic wreck involving the Humboldt Broncos, a junior hockey team on its way to a playoff game.
“It shows you how short life is,” Hadwin said minutes after walking off the course, just as the rain started falling again on a grey, overcast day in Georgia. “You need to appreciate every moment. You need to appreciate the people around you.”
A tractor-trailer truck slammed into a bus carrying the Broncos, a wreck of such devastating proportions that a doctor compared it to an airstrike . The impact was especially profound in a vast but close-knit country united by its love of hockey.
“We obviously don’t have that many people,” Hadwin said. “When something like this happens, a lot of people are enveloped in that hockey world. It touched a lot of people, a lot of friends of people. It’s difficult.”
Hadwin, who was born in the western Canada town of Moose Jaw, did not play hockey growing up. He said his small size – even now, at age 30, he’s just 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds – prompted his parents to steer him away from the rough, fast-paced game.
“I’m actually not considered Canadian,” he quipped. “But they still accept me sometimes.”
As a youngster, Hadwin stuck mostly to baseball and soccer. He didn’t get serious about golf until he was a teenager, taking lessons from his father, who is a teaching professional. He went on to play U.S. college golf at Louisville, earning his spot on the PGA Tour in 2015.
But Hadwin certainly understands the place that hockey holds in Canada, and how much the country is impacted by a crash that also left 14 people injured. The staggering toll is even more poignant on a team where the players are between 16 and 20 years of age, presumably with most of their lives still in front of them.
“It puts hockey into perspective,” said Hadwin, a Vancouver Canucks fan who is playing the Masters for the second time. “It puts golf into perspective.”
Other sports joined the hockey world in a state of mourning .
“Obviously this is something that transcends just one nation and one sport,” said John Axford, a reliever for the Toronto Blue Jays, who were in Texas to play the Rangers. “There are people all over the world that are feeling for these kids and their families and their friends and the entire community of Humboldt. It’s hard to talk about, in all honesty.”
Axford remembered plenty of long bus rides playing youth baseball and as he moved through the minor leagues. Even in the majors, teams need buses to get between the hotels and the stadiums while on the road.
“I was thinking about it last night on the bus on the way home from the game,” Axford said. “As an athlete, you spend a lot of time travelling to and from events, and when you start playing in higher leagues, you’re taking longer bus trips. That bus becomes a second home, a second locker room, a second place for you and your teammates and your brothers in arms there to learn, about each other, about the game, to talk, to laugh, to just enjoy life.
“It really hits home.”
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Patrick Reed became famous playing for his country. He won for himself Sunday and became a Masters champion.
It was never easy, just the way Reed likes it.
Rory McIlroy came after him early. Jordan Spieth roared to life with a final-round charge and briefly caught Reed with a 35-foot birdie putt. The last challenge came from Rickie Fowler, who birdied the last hole to leave Reed no room for error.
Reed never flinched throughout a raucous afternoon at Augusta National.
Clinging to a one-shot lead, his 25-foot putt down the slippery slope on the 18th green ran 3 feet by the hole as Reed pressed down both hands, begging it to stop. From there, the 27-year-old Texan calmly rolled in the par putt for a 1-under 71 and a one-shot victory.
“To have to par the last hole to win my first major, it definitely felt right,” Reed said from Butler cabin, right before Sergio Garcia helped him into a green jacket.
The loudest cheers were for everyone else. Reed earned their respect with two big birdie putts on the back nine, one crucial par putt and plenty of grit. He also had a little luck when his 80-foot putt across the 17th green hit the hole, keeping it only 6 feet away. He made that for par to stay in control.
Reed won for the sixth time in his PGA Tour career, though he was best known for the trophies he shared at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. He is ferocious in match play, especially the team variety, and his singles victory over McIlroy at Hazeltine in the 2016 Ryder Cup led to the nickname of Captain America.
Captain America is now the Masters champion.
“He’s not scared. I think you guys have seen that previous from the Ryder Cups and the way he plays,” said Fowler, who closed with a 67. “He won’t back down. I don’t necessarily see him as someone that backs up and will let you come back into the tournament. You have to go catch him.”
Fowler did his best with three birdies in a four-hole stretch, and an 8-foot birdie on the final hole. It still wasn’t enough. Fowler was runner-up for the third time in a major. He left the scoring cabin when Reed tapped in for par.
“Glad I at least made the last one, make him earn it,” Fowler said with a grin as he waited to greet the newest major champion.
“You had to do it didn’t you?” Reed told him as they exchanged a hug. “You had to birdie the last.”
Spieth put up the most unlikely fight and was on the verge of the greatest comeback in Masters history. He started nine shots behind going into the final round, and was inches away on two shots from a chance at another green jacket.
His tee shot on the 18th clipped the last branch in his way, dropping his ball some 267 yards from the green. His 8-foot par putt for a record-tying 63 narrowly missed on the right. He had to settle for a 64.
“I think I’ve proven to myself and to others that you never give up,” Spieth said. “I started the round nine shots back and I came out with the idea of just playing the golf course and having a lot of fun doing it and try to shoot a low round and finish the tournament strong and see what happens, if something crazy happens.”
McIlroy, meanwhile, will have to wait another year for a shot at the career Grand Slam.
Trailing by three shots to start the final round, he closed to within one shot after two holes. That was as close as he came. McIlroy’s putter betrayed him, and he was never a factor on the back nine. He closed with a 74 and tied for fifth.
The gallery was clearly behind McIlroy, even though Reed led Augusta State to a pair of NCAA titles and briefly lived in Augusta.
He was met with polite applause on the first tee. The throaty cheer was for McIlroy, and it looked as though the 28-year-old from Northern Ireland atone himself from shooting 80 in the final round and losing a four-shot lead.
Reed scrambled for a bogey on the opening hole. He failed to get up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 second as McIlroy had a 4-foot eagle putt to tie for the lead. McIlroy missed badly, a sign of what would to come. He missed four putts inside 10 feet on the front nine, and he missed a 3-foot par on the 14th.
Different about this victory for Reed was the fuchsia shirt he wore as part of a Nike script. Reed always wears black pants and a red shirt because that’s what Tiger Woods does, and Reed has long modeled his mental game after Woods. “Be stubborn,” he once said about learning by watching Woods.
Reed went to the back nine with a four-shot lead over four players, and they all had their chances. That included Jon Rahm, the 23-year-old from Spain, whose chances ended when he went after the flag on the par-5 15th and came up short in the water. He shot 69 and finished fourth.
Reed’s only bogey on the back nine was at No. 11 from a tee shot into the trees. He answered with a 25-foot birdie on the 12th, and a shot into 8 feet at No. 14 for a birdie that broke the tie with Spieth. He made all pars from there. That’s all he needed.
He became the fourth straight Masters champion to capture his first major.
Reed once claimed after winning a World Golf Championship at Doral that he was a top 5 player in the world, which subjected him to ridicule. This victory moves him to No. 11. It also comes with a green jacket, which earns far more respect and notoriety.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot an impressive 3-under 69 on Thursday in the first round of the Masters to enter into a seven-way tie for fourth, three shots back of leader Jordan Spieth.
Here are three things to know before he tees off at 2 p.m. Eastern time for the second round at Augusta National.
BACK NINE HIGHS AND LOWS
Aside from a birdie on the par-4 No. 9, Hadwin was at even par through the front nine in the first round at historic Augusta National. The back nine, however, was more eventful. He birdied the 10th and 12th holes, then bogeyed the par-4 No. 14, but followed it up with back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16. A bogey on 18 dropped him into the tie for fourth. Had he made that shot, he would have been in a three-way tie for second with Americans Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.
HEART IN VANCOUVER
Despite playing in the first major PGA event of the season, Hadwin was focused on the last game in Vancouver for Canucks superstars Henrik and Daniel Sedin. The Swedish twins announced their retirement earlier in the week.
“If it werent for this tournament called The Masters, I would be there to send off the Sedins. Guess this view will have to do! Congrats on an incredible career on the ice and for being even better people off of it! The city of Van was lucky to have you!” tweeted Hadwin late Thursday, adding a photo of the game on his laptop computer.
SECOND TIME’S THE CHARM
This is Hadwin’s second consecutive year at the Masters. Last season he finished tied for 36th at 6-over par. His best round was the fourth where he fired a 2-under 70 to move up the standings. On Friday he’s playing with Patrick Reed, who missed last year’s cut, and Charley Hoffman, who tied for 22nd at 2 over.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta National went nearly 80 years before having female members. Now the club is inviting its first female competitors.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur begins next year, a 54-hole event for top amateurs from around the world who will become the first women to play a tournament at the home of the Masters.
Fred Ridley, who took over as club chairman in October, said the new tournament will expand Augusta National’s goal to inspire young people, following in the footprint of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, the Latin America Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt competition for children.
He said the Augusta National Women’s Amateur was for a “segment of our sport that is … vital to the future of golf.”
“We believe this event will have a long-lasting impact on the game,” Ridley said.
Women have long played at Augusta National, but it wasn’t until the fall of 2012 that the club invited its first women as members _ former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore. The latest member is former USGA president Diana Murphy.
“I’ve said many times that our country is a story of our great institutions evolving and becoming more inclusive over time,” Rice said. “This is one of the great institutions, not just American institutions but international institutions, so it’s evolved and it’s become more inclusive, and that’s very exciting.”
Ridley said the opening two rounds would be held at Champions Retreat in Augusta, with the final round moving to Augusta National on Saturday, April 9, extending the week at the Masters. The finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt would be on Sunday, followed by practice rounds for the Masters.
But the announcement caused one conflict.
The first LPGA Tour major of the year, the ANA Inspiration, typically is the week before the Masters in Rancho Mirage, California. The tournament invites leading amateurs, meaning they would have to choose between playing with the best on the LPGA Tour or a tournament with a final round at Augusta National.
“We have no intentions of competing or taking away from the ANA Inspiration,” Ridley said. “We think that to have one week where the future greats of the game and the current greats of the women’s game are all competing on a big stage, it’s just very exciting.”
He said he has spoken to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, and that Whan “understands our motivations for doing this.”
Whan was on site at Augusta National, where cellphones are prohibited, and unable to respond to a request for comment. But the LPGA issued statement.
“We have a real opportunity currently to make the weekend prior to the Masters a celebration of women’s golf unlike anything we have experienced previously,” the LPGA said. “While this announcement may create some initial challenges for our first major, navigating multiple opportunities for women’s golf is a good problem to have.”
The 72-player field will be determined by winners of recognized amateur events around the world and by the women’s world amateur ranking. There will be a 36-hole cut to the low 30 scores before moving over to Augusta National.
Ridley said tickets would be sold by lottery, which is sure to attract by some margin the largest crowd for an amateur event simply for the opportunity to walk the grounds of Augusta National in the spring.
The winner will get a five-year exemption to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, provided she remains an amateur.
But she won’t get a green jacket.
“The green jacket certainly is an iconic part of the Masters,” Ridley said. “We plan to have a very distinctive award for the winner of this event, and we think in time that will become iconic. I can assure you it will be very, very nice.”
Annika Sorenstam was among those in the audience when Ridley announced the new tournament.
“Look at the big picture,” Sorenstam said. “Little girls knowing they have a chance to play on the biggest stage? That would send me to the range.”
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the Masters:
75 years ago (1943)
Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts decided after the 1942 Masters to stop the tournament for the rest of World War II. According to the Augusta Chronicle, the club’s greenskeeper raised turkey and cattle on the grounds while the club was closed. Roberts said in his autobiography that the cattle destroyed several azalea and camellia bushes and ate the bark of several young trees. There were plenty of WWII connections to the Masters. Jones was commissioned as a captain in the Army Air Corps, and his unit landed at Normandy a day after the D-Day invasion. Leading the Normandy invasion was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became a member at Augusta National during his two terms as U.S. president.
50 years ago (1968)
The 1968 Masters is best remembered for five words: “What a stupid I am.” Roberto de Vicenzo birdied the 17th hole in the final round to take a one-shot lead over Bob Goalby, only to bogey the last hole. The Argentine was so angry at his bogey that he didn’t properly check his card, which was kept by Tommy Aaron, and he signed for a 4 on the 17th instead of a 3. Under the rules, he had to accept the higher score, giving him a 66 instead of a 65. And instead of an 18-hole playoff the next day, Goalby was the winner by one shot. Goalby closed with a 66 to finish at 11-under 277. De Vicenzo had won the British Open a year earlier, but this scorecard blunder remained his most famous moment until his death last year.
25 years ago (1993)
Bernhard Langer won the 1993 Masters for his second green jacket, closing with a 2-under 70 for a four-shot victory over Chip Beck. His first Masters victory in 1985 was remembered for Curtis Strange twice going for the green when he had the lead and finding water. The 1993 Masters featured Beck choosing to lay up when he was trailing. Langer had a three-shot lead when Beck laid up on the par-5 15th from 236 yards away. He made par, while Langer followed with a birdie to stretch the lead. There was one other similarity to Langer’s victories. He was harshly criticized in 1985 for saying “Jesus Christ” in the Butler Cabin interview while expressing surprise at Strange’s lead. The controversy led to Langer becoming a Christian, and when he won in 1993, he said it again because it was Easter. “I sometimes joke that I’m the only one to mention ‘Jesus Christ’ in Butler Cabin twice,” he said.
20 years ago (1998)
Mark O’Meara became the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1960 to birdie the last two holes for a one-shot victory in the 1998 Masters, which also was the last year the Augusta National gallery witnessed a Jack Nicklaus charge. O’Meara holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 67 to beat Fred Couples and David Duval, and at 41 he became the oldest first-time winner of the Masters. Couples had a wild back nine with a double bogey on No. 13 and an eagle on the 15th. Duval missed birdie chances on the 17th and 18th for a 67. He was in Jones Cabin watching O’Meara when Augusta National chairman Jack Stephens told him: “Don’t worry, David. Nobody ever makes that putt.” O’Meara made the putt. Nicklaus, 58, birdied four of his first seven holes and pulled within three shots of the lead, causing so many roars that even Tiger Woods in the group ahead backed off putts. But he had to settle for a 68 and tied for sixth.
15 years ago (2003)
“The Green Jacket is going north of the border!”
Mike Weir of Sarnia, Ont., captivated an entire country, becoming the first Canadian and left-handed golfer to win The Masters tournament. The Canadian Golf Hall-of-Famer missed the cut a week prior to The Masters, which eventually helped him get back to his fundamentals.. Playing over a condensed three days due to rain, Weir leaned on his accuracy and short game to put himself in position to win. Weir forced a playoff with Len Mattiace, a then two-time TOUR winner, back at the 10th hole. With Mattiace struggling, Weir had a safe two putts to win, becoming the 2003 Masters champion.
Weir captured the ’03 CareerBuilder Challenge as part of a three-win season — including the Masters — en route to being named the Lou Marsh Award winner as Canada’s athlete of the year. He’s the last golfer to win the honour.
10 years ago (2008)
Four months after Trevor Immelman had a tumor removed from his diaphragm, the South African won the 2008 Masters by three shots over Tiger Woods. And it wasn’t even that close. Immelman had a five-shot lead with three holes to play until hitting into the water for double bogey at No. 16. He closed with a 75 and joined Arnold Palmer in the record book with the highest closing round by a Masters champion. Only four players broke par in the final round. For Woods, it was his second straight year finishing as the runner-up at Augusta National in his bid for a fifth green jacket. Among those who had a chance were Brandt Snedeker, who briefly tied for the lead with an eagle on No. 2, and Steve Flesch, whose hopes ended with a tee shot into Rae’s Creek at No. 12.
5 years ago (2013)
Adam Scott won the 2013 Masters in a playoff over Angel Cabrera, and Australia had a Masters champion after more than a half-century of trying. Scott thought he had it won with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, only for Cabrera to stuff his shot into 3 feet for birdie as Scott was signing his card. They both made par on the first extra hole, and Scott ended it with a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 10 on the second playoff hole. Greg Norman, who knew nothing but hard luck at Augusta National, was watching from Florida and said when it was over, “I’m over the moon.” It was a wild week for Tiger Woods, who was on the verge of taking the lead on Friday when his wedge into the 15th hole hit the pin and went back into the water. Woods took his penalty drop in the wrong place, which was pointed out by a rules expert watching on TV. The rules committee at the Masters failed to act on the information, and when it was clear a penalty was involved, the committee gave Woods a two-shot penalty and allowed him to stay in the tournament despite having signed for an incorrect score. Woods finished four shots behind.
With a whirlwind year behind him, Adam Hadwin feels better positioned to take a second shot at the Masters.
The 30-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., made his first appearance at Augsta National last year fresh off his first PGA Tour victory in early March – and just before a flurry of events in his personal life that included his wedding.
He ended up finishing tied for 36th, but he believes a more low-key schedule in advance of this week’s tournament will help him to put in a bigger performance.
“The year has flown by,” he said over the phone prior to travelling to Augusta, Ga. “Things have settled down since last March. We’re taking it a bit easier with not as many things going on off the golf course. Things are easier to control and handle but life’s good.”
Thanks to three top-10 finishes, Hadwin has already earned more than US$1.1 million this season. His best result was a tie for third at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January. Hadwin also finished in the Top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings last season.
Although Hadwin didn’t fly to Georgia for a practice round before this week, he said he is playing better overall than at the same point last year and this should help at Augusta National, where golfers need to have all facets of their game in top form.
“You need to hit some good shots, you need to get up and down and you probably need to make some tough five- or 10-foot putts to keep rounds going,” he said. “It’s definitely a plus going in (to the Masters) playing a little better.”
A year ago, he recognized he was struggling with his iron game, but he has tightened that up this year.
“Consistent ball-striking has taken the pressure off some other areas in my game,” he said. “It’s allowed me to stay patient and if I don’t make a few putts here and there, I’ll just keep hitting it well and giving myself chances.”
Mike Weir, who is celebrating the 15th anniversary of his 2003 Masters victory this year, makes up the other half of this week’s Canadian contingent.
Hadwin said he and Weir will play an 18-hole practice round together and will be paired in the Par-3 Contest. The 30-year-old plans to lean on his veteran compatriot for expertise around the Augusta National’s greens, which are notorious for being some of the most difficult on Tour.
Weir, from Bright’s Grove, Ont., was an assistant captain at last September’s Presidents Cup, where Hadwin was a member of the International team. Weir told The Canadian Press in January that he was impressed with Hadwin’s attention to detail, work ethic and “inner fire.”
“He wants to be great,” said Weir at the time.
Ultimately, Hadwin is looking forward to continuing his run of good play and to follow in Weir’s footsteps by becoming the second Canadian to capture an elusive green jacket.
“(My) game is in a really good spot right now,” he said. “I feel like I’m a better player this year than last year, and certainly there are no personal distractions this year heading in. I’ll be more rested and ready to play.”
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The mantra of practice makes perfect was the storyline for Toronto’s Vanessa Borovilos on Sunday at the Drive, Chip & Putt finals at Augusta National.
Borovilos, playing in her third championship, won the Girls 10-11 age division by the slightest of margins with a one-point victory in the 10-player field.
“You have to practice a lot to win or to do well here,” said Borovilos in a greenside interview with Golf Channel.
Borovilos finished 5th in 2016 and 4th in 2015. She plays out of Credit Valley Golf & Country Club and credits Brooke Henderson and Jordan Spieth as her favourite athletes.
With the win, Borovilos becomes the second Canadian to win a division at the Drive Chip & Putt finals—Savannah Grewal captured the 2017 Girls 14-15 division.
Local qualifying began in May, June and July, held at more than 260 sites throughout the United States. The top-three scorers per venue, in each of the four age categories in separate boys and girls divisions, advanced to 50 subregional qualifiers in July and August. Two juniors in each age and gender division then competed at the regional level in September and October, held at some of the top courses in the country, including several U.S. Open and PGA Championship venues.
The top finisher from each regional site’s age/gender divisions – a total of 80 finalists – earned a place in the National Finals.
The Canadian equivalent—Future Links, driven by Acura Junior Skills Challenge National Event— will be contested on July 21 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. Borovilos finished 2nd in the 2017 Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event at Glen Abbey Golf Club.
Learn more here.
