On Sunday at Augusta National it looked like Angel Cabrera might snag his third major championship and second green jacket. He was in control on the front nine, but as we've seen many times before, the wheels started to loosen as he headed to the back nine.
A bogey on the 10th was understandable, but it was his second shot on the par-5 13th that really did him in.
Cabrera's ball found Rae's Creek, and his reaction says it all.
They say the key to playing well at Augusta National is taking care of business on the par-5s, and Bo Van Pelt did just that this week on No. 15.
Van Pelt made birdie there the first three days, and on Sunday had to lay up short of the water instead of going for the green in two. No worries, as Van Pelt knocked his third shot in the hole for an eagle, his first of the week.
Van Pelt has played well at Augusta National the last couple of years, and this eagle helped him finish in the top-25 for the third straight year.
One of the best Sunday pin positions at Augusta National is the par-3 16th, where the green jackets always cut the hole just off the hill that runs through the middle of the green.
It's been the site of 15 hole-in-ones in the history of the Masters, and the site of one of the greatest chip shots ever by Tiger Woods in 2005 and on Sunday it nearly gave us another highlight.
Freddie Jacobson's tee shot on the par-3 caught the necessary ridge and nearly disappeared for the hole-in-one, lipping out and resulting in just a birdie. Jacobson was trying to join Jamie Donaldson as the only people with a "1" on the scorecard this week, but just missed.
Sundays at the Masters always bring us fireworks, but usually it isn't this early. That wasn't the case with Jason Day, who made a lengthy birdie putt on the first hole and then found the greenside bunker on No. 2.
Day plopped his second shot out of the sand, and watched it roll directly in the hole for an eagle, putting the Australian at 8-under for the tournament and tied for the lead.
How important is a good start on Sunday at Augusta National? Huge, considering there are so many names at the top of the leaderboard, and Day couldn't have started out better.
Of course, his bunker shot couldn't surpass what Louis Oosthuizen did here a year ago, with that double-eagle in the final round that propelled him into a playoff with Bubba Watson.
Getty ImagesMasters Sunday is finally here, and while it's a little bittersweet to know that by this evening we will have to go a full year to get back to Augusta National, the excitement is palpable and the winner is still in the air. What do each of the leaders need to do to snag this green jacket? We take a look.
Tiger Woods, 3-under, four back -- If it wasn't for the two shot penalty, Tiger would be just two back on this packed leaderboard and in a very good position to win his first ever major championship coming from behind on Sunday. With the Friday situation, Woods sits four back and must get some momentum going early if he wants to put fear in the leaders. The key to a Tiger win on Sunday? A really special back nine, similar to what we say from Phil Mickelson in 2004. The pins on the back nine par-5s are very accessible and Woods will need to make the turn two or three under to have a chance, but it will be the 13th and 15th that make it or break it for the four-time Masters champion. If
Read More »from What do the leaders need to do on Sunday to snag the 2013 Masters title?AUGUSTA, Ga. - In a Masters that just keeps getting stranger, it's a former Olympic skier, of all things, who's now your clubhouse leader in the battle for weirdest moment of the weekend.
On Saturday, news broke that a television viewer had called in a violation on Tiger Woods for play on Friday; a subsequent investigation penalized Woods two strokes. And then, late Saturday evening, the following tweet showed up.
No problem Masters tournament happy to call in and help. You always have to keep an eye on those cheaters ;)yhoo.it/Zh7TBu
— Thomas Vonn (@ThomasVonn) April 13, 2013
That there is Thomas Vonn, former Olympic skier and ex-husband of Lindsey Vonn. You know, the Lindsey Vonn who's now Tiger's girlfriend. The same Tiger who, as you may have heard, admitted to cheating on his wife of many years.
Yeah. This is, well ... kind of awkward. But still funny. Nice job of making us both laugh and cringe, sir. (Oh, and thanks for the link, too.)
Now all we need is a comment from Tiger's ex
Read More »from Lindsey Vonn’s ex tweaks Tiger Woods on Twitter
Bubba Watson joins the Green Jacket crew. (Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Late Sunday afternoon, on the putting green just past Augusta’s 18th green, Bubba Watson will perpetuate one of the great traditions in sports when he slips Augusta National’s fabled green jacket onto the shoulders of the 2013 Masters winner. It’s a fine piece of clothing, this green jacket, and you can’t have one any more than you can have a Super Bowl ring or the Stanley Cup trophy. But where did the jacket come from? What are its legends? And is there a way you actually could get your hands on one? Read on:
Where did the green jacket come from?
The single-breasted, brass-buttoned jacket dates to 1937, when Augusta National purchased the jackets in bulk from the Brooks Uniform Company in New York City. The idea was to give club members an easily-identifiable visual style during the tournament.
How are current jackets made?
Hamilton Tailoring Co. has made the jackets for the last 40 years. Each jacket takes about a month to produce and uses about 2 ½ yards of cloth.
Brandt Snedeker — Getty Images
• Brandt Snedeker, coming into the Masters with a big question mark following some health issues, posted his third straight round under par at Augusta National to find himself in the final group. Snedeker's 3-under 69 was bogey-free, and the current FedEx Cup champion will be searching for his first major win on Sunday at the Masters.
• The Australians are trying to buck the trend of never winning a green jacket, with Adam Scott, Jason Day and Marc Leishman all right behind leaders Snedeker and Angel Cabrera heading to Sunday.
[Watch: Breaking down Snedeker's and Cabrera's day]
• Tiger Woods stole the headlines early on Saturday with the news that he would receive a two-shot penalty for an illegal drop on Friday. It was a huge debate at Augusta National, with some thinking Woods should be disqualified and not just deducted shots, but the ruling bodies decided against forcing him to leave early.
• It was a solid start to the round for Tiger Woods with a birdie on the first, a hole
Read More »from Masters Saturday recap: Snedeker seeks first major as Angel Cabrera goes for two green jackets
Tiger Woods — Getty ImagesThere has never been a golfer as mentally tough as Tiger Woods. The man has battled injury, controversy and his fair share of Sergio Garcias to snag 14 majors and 77 PGA Tour titles. We've all questioned parts of him at times; his decision to change his golf swing, change coaches and obviously his personal life decisions, but until Saturday at Augusta National nobody ever questioned his integrity on the golf course.
That is basically the long and the short of what happened when Woods landed a two-shot penalty, and near disqualification, as he pushed along at the 2013 Masters. Dialed in on Friday at Augusta, Woods got one of the worst breaks of his career when his ball careened off the flagstick on No. 15 and into the drink. What happened after was the part that had everyone buzzing on Saturday morning as the gates opened at Augusta National. Woods had taken a favorable drop that some thought might end in disqualification, but it didn't and Tiger was allowed back on the golf course to
Read More »from Tiger Woods posts third-round 70 at Augusta National in the midst of controversy
Tianlang Guan. (Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga. - For a brief moment, Tianlang Guan was Augusta's cause célèbre, a 14-year-old amateur who'd captured the sympathy of the golf world when Augusta National tagged him with a controversial slow-play penalty. But he made the cut on the number, and for a brief moment, all was forgiven.
Then came the Tiger Woods possible-DQ scandal, and Guan suddenly became yesterday's news, literally and figuratively. The slow-play penalty was a sidelight to the possible disqualification of the world's No. 1 golfer, and Guan was left to do what he came here to do: play golf.
And he did, better than you or I ever could at Augusta but not well enough to make much of a dent in the leaderboard. He carded five bogeys and finished the day with a 77, leaving him at +9 for the tournament and right at the bottom of the field that made the cut. The highlight, though, was a long — Guan estimated it at 20 yards — putt on 18 to save par.
Still, when he finished, he was parked between a couple notable
Read More »from Tianlang Guan settles back to earth, still playing in Masters at age 14Shane Bacon is the editor of Devil Ball Golf and Busted Racquet. A writer all …
Jay Busbee is a writer and columnist for Yahoo! Sports, as well as an avowed …
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