- Jordan Spieth won the green jacket Friday afternoon and played two weekend practice rounds as he absolutely dominated the field, becoming the first player since Raymond Floyd to go wire-to-wire at Augusta National and tying The Masters scoring record. Spieth was one of the favorites entering the week and played like it, as no one really had a chance to catch him after firing an opening round 64. His ball striking was unmatched and he sunk nearly every putt he looked at.
- Spieth looks unbeatable at the moment after winning The Masters in his second appearance as a 21 year old. Sound familiar? It is almost the exact path Tiger Woods took nearly twenty years ago, as he dominated the field as a 21 year old in his first Masters as a professional. It is way too early in his career to start calling him the "next Tiger Woods", but Spieth as a 21 year old looks very similar to Tiger Woods as a 21 year old. It should be noted that, after that record setting performance at The Masters, it took Tiger ten majors before winning his second one. There is no hurry for Spieth to succeed immediately. He has some time to start racking up majors.
- It was foolish of me and the rest of the golfing world to count out Phil Mickelson at The Masters. Sure, Phil has not played well the past two seasons, but his performance prior to the majors means absolutely nothing to Lefty, who has a way of turning on the switch when he needs to. I don't know if this means Phil is "back", per say, but it does mean that Phil's career isn't as dead and buried as people originally thought. In the end, it all leads back to the US Open. None of the results in events this season means nothing if he is able to complete the Career Grand Slam.
- Speaking of great golfers not caring about current form, Justin Rose's top finish seemed to come out of nowhere as his form was in very rough shape entering Augusta. Rose always seems to play well at The Masters, and a green jacket is in his future, but he couldn't have been on anyone short list entering the week. Sometimes, these players just know when to play well.
- A lot of people will be saying that Rory McIlroy is "disappointed" that he was unable to win the final leg of his Career Grand Slam, but that is not what I took out of this week for the World Number One. Rory has never really played well at Augusta - his back door top 10 last year was his first top 10 finish at The Masters, and who can forget him shooting 80 in the final round in 2011. The fact that he was able to put himself into contention should give him a huge boost of confidence. Not everyone is Tiger or Jordan - it takes a little time to learn how to play this golf course. Rory has plenty of opportunities to win his first green jacket, and each year he he gets better and better. Rory isn't going anywhere.
- There will be a lot of talk about the "future of golf" especially now that the top players in the world are a couple of twenty-somethings. I think there is a legitimate chance that Hideki Matsuyama will be part of that conversation by the end of the year. Hideki, who is older than Jordan Spieth by a little over a year, finished in the top 5 at Augusta National for the first time, and this was always a golf course I thought he wouldn't be able to compete at. This is Hideki's sixth top 10 finish this season, mixed in with only one missed cut. If Hideki can put himself in the conversation as one of the best players in the world, you would have every corner of the world represented in golf, which would be amazing for the game of golf.
- Tiger Woods should play in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. I know he won't, as he very rarely strays from his schedule, but he needs to play more tournaments as he's healthy and he's not qualified for the World Golf Championship events. His missed cut was nice, but he's not going to win if he doesn't play more.
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