2015 Masters Tournament Explained

2015 Masters Tournament
Dates:April 9–12, 2015
Location:Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Course:Augusta National Golf Club
Par:72
Field:97 players (55 after cut)
Cut:146 (+2)
Purse:US$10,000,000[1]
Winners Share:$1,800,000
Champion: Jordan Spieth
Score:270 (−18)
Previous:2014
Next:2016
Map:USA#USA Georgia
Map Relief:yes
Map Label:Augusta National
Coordinates:33.503°N -82.02°W

The 2015 Masters Tournament was the 79th Masters Tournament, and the first of golf's four major championships, held April 9–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.[2] Jordan Spieth led wire-to-wire and shot a record-tying 270 (−18) to win his first major at the age of 21, four strokes ahead of runners-up Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose, both major champions.[3]

This was the final Masters appearance for two-time champion Ben Crenshaw.

Course

See main article: Augusta National Golf Club.

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1Tea Olive445410Camellia4954
2Pink Dogwood575511White Dogwood5054
3Flowering Peach350412Golden Bell1553
4Flowering Crab Apple240313Azalea5105
5Magnolia455414Chinese Fir4404
6Juniper180315Firethorn5305
7Pampas450416Redbud1703
8Yellow Jasmine570517Nandina4404
9Carolina Cherry460418Holly4654
Out3,72536In3,71036
Source:Total7,43572

Field

The Masters has the smallest field of the four major championships. Officially, the Masters remains an invitation event, but there is a set of qualifying criteria that determines who is included in the field. Each player is classified according to the first category by which he qualified, with other categories in which he qualified shown in parentheses. Golfers who qualify based solely on their performance in amateur tournaments (categories 6–11) must remain amateurs on the starting day of the tournament to be eligible to play.[4]

Robert Streb was the only professional in the field who was appearing in his first major. Twelve other professionals were appearing in their first Masters: Erik Compton, James Hahn, Brian Harman, Morgan Hoffmann, Brooks Koepka, Anirban Lahiri, Shane Lowry, Noh Seung-yul, Brendon Todd, Cameron Tringale, Bernd Wiesberger and Danny Willett. Mikko Ilonen and Ben Martin were appearing in their first Masters as professionals. Each of the amateurs was appearing in his first major, apart from Bradley Neil who had played in the 2014 Open Championship.

Craig Stadler was absent for the first time since 1978. The 1982 champion, he had appeared in 38 Masters, including 36 consecutively.

Two-time champion Ben Crenshaw played in his 44th and final Masters.[5]

1. Past Masters champions

2. Last five U.S. Open champions

3. Last five Open Championship champions

4. Last five PGA Championship champions

5. Last three winners of The Players Championship

6. Top two finishers in the 2014 U.S. Amateur

7. Winner of the 2014 Amateur Championship

8. Winner of the 2014 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship

9. Winner of the 2015 Latin America Amateur Championship

10. Winner of the 2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links

11. Winner of the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur

12. The top 12 finishers and ties in the 2014 Masters Tournament

13. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2014 U.S. Open

14. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2014 Open Championship

15. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2014 PGA Championship

16. Winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the FedEx Cup, between the 2014 Masters Tournament and the 2015 Masters Tournament

17. All players qualifying for the 2014 edition of The Tour Championship

18. Top 50 on the final 2014 Official World Golf Ranking list

19. Top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking list on March 30, 2015

20. International invitees

Par 3 contest

Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Kevin Streelman won the par 3 contest on Wednesday in a playoff over Camilo Villegas, after both finished at 5-under par.[8] Five holes-in-one were recorded, tying the record for most in one day first set in 2002. Villegas made two, while Jack Nicklaus hit his first ever hole-in-one at Augusta National. The others were recorded by Trevor Immelman and Matías Domínguez.[9] Opting out in the previous ten years, Tiger Woods played in his first par 3 contest at the Masters since 2004.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Jordan Spieth recorded nine birdies on his way to a round of 64 (−8), one off the course record, and a three-shot lead.[10] Spieth is the fourth player to open the Masters with a round of 64 or better, and the first since Greg Norman shot 63 in 1996.[11] Rory McIlroy, looking for his third consecutive win in a major and the career grand slam, opened with a round of 71 (−1), as did defending champion Bubba Watson. Four-time champion Tiger Woods, playing in his first tournament since February, shot 73 (+1).[12]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 64 −8
T2 67 −5
Ernie Els
Charley Hoffman
Justin Rose
T6 68 −4
Russell Henley
T8 69 −3
Bill Haas
Ryan Palmer
Webb Simpson

Second round

Friday, April 10, 2015

Jordan Spieth increased his lead to 5 shots after 36 holes with a bogey-free round of 66 (−6). His total of 130 established a new tournament record and tied the major championship record, while his 5-shot lead matched the Masters record for largest lead after two rounds.[13] Dustin Johnson became the first player in Masters history to record three eagles in a round and moved into a tie for third place.[14] [15]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 64-66=130 −14
2 67-68=135 −9
T3 69-68=137 −7
70-67=137
67-70=137
6 70-68=138 −6
7 67-72=139 −5
T8 69-71=140 −4
74-66=140
74-66=140
70-70=140
Amateurs: Conners (+5), Meth (+6), Murdaca (+7), Domínguez (+8), Harvey (+13), Neil (+13), Yang (+15)

Third round

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Jordan Spieth established a new Masters record for lowest 54-hole score after a round of 70 (−2) gave him a four-shot lead after the third round. His total of 200 broke by one stroke the record previously held by Raymond Floyd in 1976 and Tiger Woods in 1997. Spieth got as low as 18-under during the round, tying Woods for lowest score in relation to par in tournament history, before a double bogey at the 17th.[16] Justin Rose birdied five holes on the back nine, including four in a row, to equal the best round of the day with a 67 (−5) and move into second place. Phil Mickelson also shot 67 and moved into third place.[17]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 64-66-70=200 −16
2 67-70-67=204 −12
3 70-68-67=205 −11
4 67-68-71=206 −10
T5 70-67-73=210 −6
71-71-68=210
74-66-70=210
70-70-70=210
73-69-68=210
T10 69-68-74=211 −5
71-70-70=211

Final round

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Summary

Jordan Spieth equaled the tournament scoring record after a round of 70 (−2) gave him a four-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose and his first major championship.[18] Beginning the round four and five shots behind, respectively, Rose and Mickelson were only able to get within three shots at any point in the round. Spieth's total of 270 tied Tiger Woods in 1997 for lowest score in Masters history, and he became the first wire-to-wire Masters champion since Raymond Floyd in 1976.[19] He got as low as 19-under after a birdie at the 15th, the first in Masters history to do so, before missing an 8-foot par putt at the 18th that would have broken the record.[20] For the week, he recorded 28 birdies, three more than the previous tournament record set by Mickelson in 2001.[21] [22] [23]

Final leaderboard

Champion
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10!Place!!Player!!Score!!To par!!Money (US$)
1 64-66-70-70=270 −18 1,800,000
T2 Phil Mickelson (c) 70-68-67-69=274 −14 880,000
67-70-67-70=274
4 71-71-68-66=276 −12 480,000
5 71-70-70-66=277 −11 400,000
T6 69-68-74-68=279 −9 335,000
70-67-73-69=279
73-72-67-67=279
T9 67-68-71-74=280 −8 270,000
Zach Johnson (c) 72-72-68-68=280
75-70-68-67=280

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par454343454443545344
Spieth −17 −17 −18 −18 −17 −17 −16 −17 −17 −18 −18 −17 −18 −18 −19 −19 −19 −18
Mickelson −11 −12 −12 −12 −11 −11 −11 −12 −11 −12 −12 −12 −13 −12 −14 −14 −14 −14
Rose −13 −14 −14 −14 −14 −13 −13 −13 −12 −12 −12 −12 −13 −14 −15 −15 −15 −14
McIlroy −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −10 −10 −11 −11 −11 −12
Matsuyama −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −6 −7 −8 −8 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −11
Casey −4 −6 −6 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −5 −5 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −9
Johnson −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −8 −9 −9 −9 −10 −9 −10 −10 −10 −8 −8 −9
Poulter −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −7 −7 −6 −6 −7 −7 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Harig . Bob . Masters to dish out $10 million total, $1.8 million to winner . ESPN . April 12, 2015.
  2. Web site: 2015 Masters Golf Tournament . about.com . June 22, 2014 . July 12, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140712191035/http://golf.about.com/od/majorchampionships/l/bl2015masters.htm . dead .
  3. News: Morley . Gary . Masters 2015: Jordan Spieth smashes records to win first major title at Augusta . CNN . April 12, 2015.
  4. Web site: 2015 Tournament Invitees . Masters . April 13, 2015.
  5. Of Course Ben Crenshaw's Masters farewell included a totally surreal moment . Shackleford . Geoff . April 10, 2015 . Golf Digest . April 14, 2015.
  6. News: Tim Clark out of Masters due to elbow . ESPN . Associated Press . April 1, 2015.
  7. Web site: Leishman WDs from the Masters Tournament . PGA Tour . April 8, 2015 . Brian . Wacker.
  8. News: Jack Nicklaus hits hole-in-one in Masters par-three contest . April 8, 2015 . The Guardian . April 9, 2015.
  9. Web site: PGA Tour . Streelman wins Par 3 Contest in playoff . April 8, 2015 . April 8, 2015.
  10. News: Jordan Spieth's first-round charge puts Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods in the shade . April 9, 2015 . The Daily Telegraph . James . Corrigan . April 10, 2015.
  11. News: Masters 2015: round one – as it happened . April 9, 2015 . The Guardian . Scott . Murray . April 10, 2015.
  12. News: ESPN . Jordan Spieth takes 3-stroke lead after near-record 1st round . Associated Press . April 9, 2015.
  13. News: Harig . Bob . Jordan Spieth (-14) sets 36-hole record at Masters . ESPN . April 10, 2015.
  14. Web site: Ballengee . Ryan . Yahoo Sports . Dustin Johnson soared to Masters record three eagles on Friday . April 10, 2015.
  15. News: Masters 2015: round two – as it happened . April 10, 2015 . The Guardian . Scott . Murray . April 13, 2015.
  16. News: Masters 2015: round three – as it happened . April 11, 2015 . The Guardian . Scott . Murray . April 13, 2015.
  17. News: ESPN . Jordan Spieth sets 54-hole Masters record at 16 under, up by 4 . April 11, 2015.
  18. News: Jordan Spieth marches to first Masters title with imperious display . April 12, 2015 . The Daily Telegraph . James . Corrigan . April 13, 2015.
  19. News: Gallery: Spieth first wire-to-wire Masters winner since 1976 . NBC Sports . April 12, 2015.
  20. News: Masters 2015: final round – as it happened . April 12, 2015 . The Guardian . Scott . Murray . April 13, 2015.
  21. News: ESPN . Jordan Spieth leads Masters wire to wire for 1st major win . Associated Press . April 12, 2015.
  22. News: Masters 2015: Jordan Spieth wins first major with dominant display . April 12, 2015 . BBC Sport . April 13, 2015.
  23. News: Jordan Spieth: how I won the Masters, hole-by-hole . April 13, 2015 . The Guardian . Andy . Bull . April 13, 2015.

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