2024 Masters: Final Day Sunday
Posted on April 15, 2024
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Final Day Sunday at The Masters
Sunday was a warm, vibrant affair. The course was not as crusty as before, though played tough nonetheless. Pins were traditional and fairer to those trying to score, but it did not mean everyone fared better. Ultimately, there could only be 1 champion and Scottie’s 4 stroke victory cleared showed his dominance over the rest.
Scottie had made a mess of 7th and 11th holes, but made birdies on the 8th to 10th to soften the effect. That bogey on 11 was his last bogey of the day as he cruised home in 4th gear. No wild fist pumps, just measured and calculated play. He truly is a level above.
Collin started the day as the nearest challenger but his chase got fried with 2 doubles around Amen Corner. His double of the 9th was a 3 shot swing to boot with took the wind from his sails. He steadied coming home for a T3 which is his 3rd straight top 10 at Augusta and his best finish.
Instead the charge was left now to debutant ÅBerg who had shown great metal to get to 7 under at the turn and take the lead briefly until his own mess unravelled on the 11th with a double there. He smiled his way to calmness and made some birdies coming home to lock down solo 2nd in his first major with a 69 on Sunday!
Max was starting to make his move after a towering iron shot on the 10th that yielded a birdie followed by a beautiful shot into the 11th for a solid par, but that same adrenalin could not be controlled on the 12th, when an unplayable penalty led to a double and his ultimate derailing.
Scottie was resolute throughout with only moments of crashing, which he eventually blocked and prevailed. His ball control on the back 9 was stellar and no putting yips came to the surface. What a win! He becomes the 4th youngest to get to 2 Green Jackets (after this trio Jack, Tiger & Seve)
Once again, the stats held firm of being within 4 shots of the leaders and in the last pairing for the win. In the build up, Scottie was the clear favourite off the back of being no 1 and of course his ridiculous ball striking. But this week, his putter and short game came to the fore.
Overall, 11 scores in the 60s on Sunday compared to 2 on Moving Day shows the ease of the challenge lessoned and allowed someone to make a charge, but only a total of 8 players who would finish under par showed the strength of the course, lengthened in key areas that also faced fast and windy support.
Round of the Day
A sensational low round of the week came from small in stature, but heart like a Lion, Tom Kim. This was his first under par round of the week. A brilliant, early posted 66 beat the next best round by 2 shots. One of those next best was the Champ, with his 68, who was greeted by Kim as he finished for a bear-hug.
Shot of the Day
It was only a flick wedge from Scottie after a monster drive, but the timing was crucial to restore his lead and dominance at a time that he was faltering.
There were not many eagles from the chasers when they needed it down the stretch, a chip-in from Cambo on the 2nd was the only real momentum shifter.
Performance of the Day
Zala posted a 69, missed a few short putts, but importantly played his first 72 holes in a major since 2022 post his own back issues. His 69 vaulted him into another major top 10 and he will be hoping for a big year in 2024.
But alongside him, another injured warrior made his 24th consecutive cut at Augusta, The Big Cat limped home all weekend, but played all 72 holes.
The Leaders
The Chasers
The top 12s managed to lock their tickets into next year’s Masters which for AnotherCam, Schenk, Pavon, Hatton & Zala is gold, whilst the others already have exemptions via various other categories.
For a full view of the scores head to Masters Leaderboard and majorpunter leaderboard.
majorpunter Leaderboard:
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smitty from Ohio | Mark Smith | -30 |
| 2 | FJB | Taylor Bozel | -23 |
| 3 | DegenParty | Haden Smith | -21 |
| 4 | CamSmith’sStache | John Orr | -19 |
| T5 | Birdie Brigade | Kate Rodrigues | -18 |
| T5 | Redhotchili1 | John Reisner | -18 |
| 7 | D-Rocks Jocks 1 | Derek Fink | -17 |
| 8 | To The Trees | Clyde Botha | -15 |
| T9 | Lilys Boyz | Lilian East | -14 |
| T9 | Salix Slayers | Keith Van Niekerk | -14 |
Final Day Sunday was filled with drama.
There were some good scores for the punters and plenty of scores under par on the LEADERBOARD.
Smitty from Ohio came home in dominating form, crushing the opposition with a whopping 7 shot win.
The punters battled it out all for the podium and eventually it ended with FJB taking home 2nd place, ahead of the charging DegenParty & CamSmith’sStache who had made a Sunday charge with JDay’s coming to the party 69.
It was an exciting weekend at Augusta, a gruelling golf-feast, and ultimately a worthy winner came to the fore.
majorpunter Bottomboard:
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 | Bushveld Bandits | John Beck | +26 |
| 131 | Shanks very much! | James Hobson | +27 |
| 132 | Penny live @ Augusta | Jamo Sceales | +29 |
| 133 | No Asterisk Needed | Mike Adams | +34 |
| 134 | Gunslingers 2 | Pete Grey | +37 |
| 135 | Garry4e | Garry Fourie | +43 |
| 136 | Philemon | Philip Selwyn Smith | +45 |
| 137 | Buddy dream team | Craig Fourie | +55 |
| 138 | Marco's Masters Men | Marc Jury | +57 |
| 139 | PokeyAU3 | Preston Barnes | +61 |
Lots of big numbers littered the bottomboard.
PokeyAU3 took the honours for the bottom by 4 shots over Marco’s Masters Men who also limped home. It will need some head scratching to dust this one off and make a run at next month’s major.
We are looking forward to the next major, the PGA Championship at Valhalla where Jordan will have another chance to finally nail the Grand Slam. He had a nightmare at Augusta so like Rory don’t get your hopes up.
BK will be defending and the last major winner at famed Valhalla was Rory in 2014, which seems a lifetime ago.
For more news and information head over to majorpunter.