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      Hideki Matsuyama is Golf's Quiet Superstar

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      Shy, intense and obsessive about his golf game, Hideki Matsuyama has been quietly working toward his elite place in the sport for the past several years.AUGUSTA, Ga. — Hideki Matsuyama stood on the 18th green at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday evening, a winner of the Masters Tournament. There had been no skyward leap, no cathartic, celebratory climb into his caddie’s arms.Just a hat tip and some hugs — an understated, in-the-moment recognition of a seminal achievement for Matsuyama, the first Asian-born golfer to claim a green jacket, and for golf in Japan.“When the final putt went in, I wasn’t really thinking of anything,” he said, adding that he was happy for his caddie, Shota Hayafuji, because it was his first win.“And then, it started sinking in,” Matsuyama said, “the joy of being a Masters champion.”It was characteristic Matsuyama, the man who used a rain delay on Saturday to play games on his cellphone in his car, the golfer who for years has been unsettling opponents while seeming set on avoiding the spotlight.“He doesn’t talk a whole lot, and he’s really solid,” Justin Thomas said after his round but before Matsuyama’s triumph.“I think he’s quite an intense character, actually, even though we don’t really see that,” said Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters winner who has known Matsuyama for years. “I mean, and obsessive about his game.”“He played like a winner needs to play,” said Xander Schauffele, who was paired with him for the final round on Sunday. “He was like a robot.”Just under six feet and weighing close to 200 pounds, Matsuyama had been lionized in Japan, where he began to learn golf from his father, long before he rose to No. 2 in the world, even before his victory at Augusta National, which earned him $2,070,000. He played in the Masters for the first time in 2011, when he tied for 27th and was crowned the low amateur. He shot a 68 in the third round then, a trip through the course that he said was significant to building the fortitude he would need outside the amateur ranks.“It gave me the confidence that I could play here,” he said. “I could play professional golf as a career.”He joined the PGA Tour in 2013 and won a few tournaments before a breakout 2017, when he topped the leaderboard at three events and placed second at the United States Open.It was that year when his penchant for privacy became clear: He announced that he had married months earlier and that he and his wife had had a child.“No one really asked me if I was married, or, you know, so I didn’t have to answer that question,” he said at a tournament news conference then. “But I felt that after the P.G.A. would be a good time, because our baby is born and I thought that would be a good time to let everyone know.”The shyness remains. Asked over the weekend how he felt about the coronavirus pandemic having kept more journalists away from the grounds at Augusta National, he replied: “I’m glad the media are here covering it, but it’s not my favorite thing to do, to stand and answer questions. And so with fewer media, it’s been a lot less stressful for me, and I’ve enjoyed this week.”But in the years before a full ascent into golf’s elite, particularly in Japan, Matsuyama was a promising young player in search of guidance, Scott remembered.“I found back then he was really interested to learn everything he could,” Scott recalled of his interactions with a younger Matsuyama during the 2013 Presidents Cup, the first of four in which Matsuyama would compete.“Just someone who’s got a desire to do well is what it looked like,” Scott said later. “He wasn’t afraid to ask the questions, and I think that shows. As timid as some people can be, the desire to do well overshadows the language barrier or being shy or anything like that.”Until Sunday, however, he had been in something of a slump, even though he was leading the Players Championship in 2020 when the rest of the tournament was canceled as the coronavirus gained a greater foothold in the United States.This year, Matsuyama said, he had a coach with him from Japan who was helping him to improve his game.“He’s been a great help, a great benefit,” Matsuyama said on Saturday. “Things that I was feeling in my swing, I could talk to him about that.” He added: “He always gives me good feedback. He has a good eye. It’s like having a mirror for my swing, and it’s been a great help for me. We worked hard, and hopefully now it’s all starting to come together.”On Sunday evening in Augusta, it did. More

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      Hideki Matsuyama of Japan Is the First Asian-Born Winner of the Masters

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      Matsuyama led the final round from start to finish at Augusta National, becoming the first Asian-born man to win the Masters.AUGUSTA, Ga. — Hideki Matsuyama’s first swing in the final round of the 85th Masters was an unsightly banana-shaped slice that would have looked familiar on the nerve-racking first tee of any golf course in the world.Matsuyama, who entered Sunday’s fourth round with a four-shot lead, had not slept much Saturday night, and the walk Sunday afternoon from the practice range to the golf course was more disquieting.“When I got to the first tee it hit me,” Matsuyama said. “I was really nervous.”But Matsuyama hunted down his wayward opening drive in the left woods and decisively chose an intrepid course, smashing his ball from a bed of wispy pine straw through a slender gap between two trees. Matsuyama’s caddie, Shota Hayafuji, yelped, “Woo,” which elicited a toothy grin from the typically undemonstrative Matsuyama.Matsuyama chipped a shot on the 18th hole from the bunker.Doug Mills/The New York TimesEven though he bogeyed the first hole, the tone for his day was set.A former teenage golf prodigy in Japan who has long been expected to break through on golf’s biggest stage, Matsuyama, 29, fearlessly charged the daunting Augusta National Golf Club layout on Sunday to build a commanding lead. Even with three unsteady bogeys in the closing holes, he persevered with a gutsy final-round 73 to win the 2021 Masters by one stroke and become the tournament’s first Asian-born champion.Matsuyama, who finished 10 under par for the tournament, is also the first Japanese man to win a major golf championship. Will Zalatoris finished second, and Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth tied for third place at seven under par.Matsuyama’s groundbreaking victory will make him a national hero in golf-crazy Japan, which has had a rich history of producing world-class male golfers who have come close to winning a major championship over the past several decades but have fallen short. Two Japanese women have won major golf championships. Matsuyama’s breakthrough comes at a time of unrest over racially targeted violence against Asian and Asian-Americans.Matsuyama started off the day 11 under par and remained in front the entire day.Doug Mills/The New York TimesThe new face of Japanese golf is shy and tight-lipped, so much so that when he was married and had a child in 2017 he kept it hidden from the golf world for seven months. Sunday, after receiving his ceremonial green jacket beside the 18th green, Matsuyama stood motionless, his arms at his sides as news photographers took his picture. Urged to look celebratory, he raised both arms overhead and meekly smiled. Emboldened by the winsome reaction it elicited, Matsuyama widened his grin and jabbed his fists in the air twice.Led to a news conference, Matsuyama was asked if he was now the greatest golfer in Japanese history.“I cannot say that I am the greatest,” he answered through an interpreter. “However, I’m the first to win a major, and if that’s the bar, then I set it.”Will Zalatoris, a Masters rookie, finished second in his tournament debut.Doug Mills/The New York TimesMatsuyama was more interested in answering what effect his victory might have on young Japanese golfers.“Up until now, we haven’t had a major champion in Japan, maybe a lot of young golfers thought it was an impossibility,” he said. “Hopefully this will set an example that it is possible and if they set their mind to it, they can do it, too.”Matsuyama, who had the low score for an amateur at the 2011 Masters, was ranked as high as second in the world four years ago, but suddenly fell into a slump. Until Sunday, he had not won a tournament since 2017 and his ranking had slipped to 25th worldwide.But after a sparkling 65 in the third round Saturday — he had an eagle and four birdies in his final eight holes — Matsuyama came into the final round with a heathy cushion atop the leaderboard. He was steady at the start on Sunday, even after the opening-hole bogey. He rebounded with a birdie at the second, then reeled off five pars and cruised into the back nine with a comfortable five-stroke lead.But as often happens on a Masters Sunday, odd, unforeseen things ensued.At the par-5 15th hole, Matsuyama sized up a second shot in the fairway that was 227 yards from the flagstick. He said he “flushed” a 4-iron but his golf ball rocketed off the green and scooted into the water behind the hole. It was no small misstep, not with his playing partner Schauffele about to birdie his fourth consecutive hole. Matsuyama did not lose his poise or persistence. Taking a penalty stroke, he prudently chipped to the fringe of the green and two-putted for a bogey.Schauffele was trailing by only two strokes when the duo stepped on the 16th tee. Still chasing the leader, Schauffele said he felt he had to go for another birdie, but his aggressive tee shot was short of the green and trickled into a pond.Schauffele said the notoriously swirling Augusta National winds double-crossed him, a familiar rejoinder, and likely an accurate one.“I hit a good shot; it turned out bad,” Schauffele, who made a triple bogey on the hole, said. “I’ll sleep OK tonight — I might be tossing around a little.”The turn of events made the Masters rookie Zalatoris the closest pursuer to Matsuyama, especially after Zalatoris made a lengthy, downhill par putt on the 18th hole to finish the final round at nine under par, just two strokes behind Matsuyama.With two holes left to play, Matsuyama hit a brilliant drive in the middle of the 17th fairway, launched a perfect wedge shot to the middle of the green and two-putted for par. At the 18th hole, he hit another perfect drive but his approach shot faded and landed in the greenside bunker to the right of the green. His recovery from the sand stopped six feet from the hole, but two putts still gave him the championship.The second place finish by Zalatoris, who is in his first year on the PGA Tour, will raise his profile in the golf community considerably, especially in combination with his result at the 2020 United States Open where he tied for sixth. Leaving the 18th hole Sunday, Zalatoris, 24, received a standing ovation from the fans ringing the green.“Absolute dream,” Zalatoris said. “I’ve been dreaming about it for 20 years.” He added: “I think the fact that I’m frustrated I finished second in my third major says something. Obviously, my two majors as a pro, I finished sixth and runner-up. I know if I keep doing what I doing, I’m going to have a really good chance in the future.”Matsuyama also received a hearty, long ovation as he left the 18th green on Sunday. When he sank his final putt and the victory was assured, Matsuyama, unlike most golfers in that situation, had no visible reaction.“I really wasn’t thinking anything,” Matsuyama acknowledged. “Then it started to sink in, the joy of being a Masters champion. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like, but what a thrill and honor it will be for me to take the green jacket back to Japan.” More

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      High Finishes at the Masters Are Becoming Familiar to First-Year Players

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      Will Zalatoris, who finished second at the Masters, one stroke behind the winner, is only the latest first-year player to contend for a green jacket.AUGUSTA, Ga. — As an undergraduate at Wake Forest, Will Zalatoris received an invitation familiar to members of the golf team: Come play at Augusta National Golf Club. When he did in 2017, he recalled recently, he stood on the bridge straddling Rae’s Creek and gazed around Amen Corner.He has now crossed the bridge at No. 12 again and again, and at his father’s urging, he has looked back each time. But on Sunday, in the final round of his inaugural appearance at the Masters, the walk was as a 24-year-old contender for the winner’s green jacket — and as the latest embodiment of how one of golf’s grandest spectacles has become more favorable to its first-time entrants.Zalatoris faltered by the narrowest of margins on Sunday as Hideki Matsuyama putted into history for a one-stroke victory to become the first Asian-born player to win the Masters. But Zalatoris became the first Masters rookie since 1982 to stand alone in second place, a slot most frequently filled across the generations by more experienced players, including those bearing surnames like Nicklaus and Mickelson and Woods.What was once a rarity at a tournament that began in 1934 is often feeling like the norm. Until 2011, a player in his Masters debut had placed second in the tournament, alone or in a tie, just five times. Since then, it has happened five more times, including in the 2020 and 2021 tournaments.Zalatoris started the day with consecutive birdies to try to gain on the eventual champion, Hideki Matsuyama.Doug Mills/The New York TimesThe 42-year legend of Fuzzy Zoeller, the last player to win the tournament on his first attempt, will linger among Augusta National’s hills and pines for at least another year. But a wrinkle for the sport and its future is that golf’s newest names are consistently proving hugely formidable at the most venerated of American tournaments, one where experience is deeply prized and jitters can attack even those players with plenty of it.His age notwithstanding, Zalatoris has been preparing for years: He told his parents on Saturday that he had a memory from over the years of every hole at Augusta National, from misery-inducing No. 5 to the hole in one factory, relatively speaking, that No. 16 can be. His craving to play well at Augusta National — his sense that he could play well at Augusta National — could be at least partly traced to Tiger Woods, the five-time winner who was absent this year.“He’s our trendsetter for the game,” Zalatoris said. “I think that’s part of the reason why so many kids come out early, is we saw him be fearless at a young age and we come out and play fearless. And then on top of that, we were interested in watching the tournament year in, year out.”There could be other reasons, too, for the surge in fortunes among players in their debut. In 2017, Phil Mickelson proffered that Augusta National’s greens, which were particularly vicious this tournament, had become more amenable for first-time players, perhaps easing their path toward the top of the leaderboard.Zalatoris acknowledged the crowd as he left the course.Doug Mills/The New York Times“The course has been lengthened, and the greens aren’t the only defense,” Mickelson, who first won a Masters title on his 12th try, said then. “What that allows you to do is miss it in a spot that normally would be bad but get away with it because the greens are more receptive. I think that that allows players who have not played here many times, who maybe put it in the wrong spots, but are able to recover because the greens will receive shots that they didn’t use to receive.”Still, an admirable finish in a player’s first year does not promise imminent success at Augusta.Sungjae Im, for instance, missed the cut this year after being one of the runners-up in 2020. Jason Day, the second-place finisher in 2011, still has not won the tournament, just like most of the first-timers who finished second at the Masters. Adam Scott, who earned a ninth-place tie in his first outing in 2002, did not crack the top 10 again until 2011.“The first year I played here I knew nothing really, and I finished ninth,” Scott, who won the Masters in 2013, said last week. “And then I just started finding out where all the trouble was the years after that. It took me a while, and I really didn’t play good tee to green until about 2010, which was nine years in, and kind of got my confidence back over the next couple years.”Then again, Jordan Spieth, who finished three strokes behind Matsuyama for a tie for third in this year’s tournament, won on his second try. He marveled over Zalatoris.Jordan Spieth started shaky but ended up in a tie for third in the tournament. Doug Mills/The New York Times“Having seen him progress and his confidence level just continue to progress over the last year and a half, I’m not surprised,” Spieth said Sunday. “It is very difficult this weekend to come out in the position he was in in the final group on Saturday and to — it’s just a different feeling. Then in this wind, to control his high ball flight and to make putts on these greens when you don’t see other greens like this, especially in windy conditions, I thought it’s extremely impressive.”At sunset on Sunday, Zalatoris was mulling his 279 shots over the tournament, contemplating which ones he could have done better — “that’s just golf every single week” — but was nonetheless relishing a small spot in history. He earned a standing ovation as he approached the green at No. 18 after a day of glancing at every leaderboard he could.“I just took as many mental images in my mind because I’ve watched this tournament for as long as I can remember,” he said, “and the fact that I was a part of it is pretty special, and the fact that I contended is even cooler.”There is, after all, next year.“I know if I keep doing what I’m doing,” he said, “I’m going to have a really good chance in the future.”By then, though, there could be another first-year player climbing the leaderboard. More

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      Hideki Matsuyama Charges Into the Lead at the Masters

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      After a 78 minute rain delay the golf course was far more forgiving with significantly slower greens, and Matsuyama will head into Sunday’s final round 11-under par.AUGUSTA, Ga. — The third round of the Masters tournament began Saturday with a gusting wind that bedeviled the field and seemed to make the firm, already crusty Augusta National Golf Club greens more parched, speedy and vexing.Then, just before 4 p.m., a rainstorm with the potential for thunder and lightning sent the golfers scurrying to the safety of the clubhouse. After a 78 minute suspension of play, players returned to a golf course that was far more forgiving with dampened, significantly slower greens. The wind had all but disappeared.Sensing the reprieve, many in the field attacked.Leading the charge was Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who shot a sparkling 65 by playing his final eight holes in six under par. At 11 under par for the tournament, Matsuyama, 29, will take an authoritative four-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. Four golfers are tied for second: second-round leader Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Marc Leishman and Masters rookie Will Zalatoris.If Matsuyama, the 2017 P.G.A. Tour rookie of the year and a runner-up to Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters, can retain his lead on Sunday, he will become the first Asian to win the Masters. He is the first Japanese player to hold the lead at the end of any Masters round.Hideki Matsuyama watched his chip shot on the 18th green.Doug Mills/The New York TimesMatsuyama said he felt relaxed during the weather delay because the last shot he hit before the suspension of play — a drive off the 11th tee — was his worst swing of the round.“I thought I can’t hit anything worse than that,” he said through an interpreter. “Maybe it relieved some of the pressure. I did hit it well after the delay.”That is an understatement. Matsuyama, who is ranked 25th in the world, put on a superlative display of ball striking that may someday make up much of the highlight reel of the 2021 Masters.Matsuyama began Saturday with six successive pars and caught Rose with a birdie on the seventh hole. Then he poured it on, beginning with his approach to the elusive 11th green that resulted in a converted 12-foot birdie putt. Matsuyama’s tee shot to the tricky par-3 12th settled only eight feet from the hole for another birdie. After three successive pars, Matsuyama eagled the par-5 15th hole when his second shot — a towering, precise 5-iron — landed four feet from the flagstick. His birdie putt on the par-3 16th was even closer, which Matsuyama banged home confidently. The 17th hole was more of the same after two exceedingly accurate shots from the tee and the fairway.Hideki Matsuyama, left, and Xander Schauffele both made eagles on the 15th hole.Doug Mills/The New York TimesThe most nervous moment Matsuyama had on the back nine was when he flew his second shot 20 yards over the 18th green, but a nifty bump-and-run pitch left a tap-in par putt.After the rainstorm, Matsuyama conceded he, “hit practically every shot exactly like I wanted to do.”If Matsuyama wins on Sunday, it would be the second victory for a Japanese golfer on the grounds in the last eight days. On Apr. 3, 17-year-old Tsubasa Kajitani, who is from Okayama, Japan, won this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur tournament.“It was fantastic,” Matsuyama said of Kajitani’s victory. “I hope I can follow in her shoes and make Japan proud.”Matsuyama had seven P.G.A. Tour and European Tour victories from 2014 to 2017. He said there were a variety of reasons he has been winless for the last few years, but noted that this year he began traveling with a Japanese coach, Hidenori Mezawa, which he called a “great benefit.”“Things that I was feeling in my swing, I could talk to him about that, and he gives me good feedback,” Matsuyama said. “It’s like having a mirror for my swing. Hopefully now it’s all starting to come together.”A weather warning went out and play was suspended as severe thunderstorms approached.Doug Mills/The New York TimesJordan Spieth waited to putt on the 18th green as inclement weather passed over Augusta National Golf Club.Doug Mills/The New York TimesBefore the weather delay, most of the second-round leaders played inconsistently or downright struggled. Rose, who began Saturday with a one-stroke lead at seven under par, opened with consecutive birdies on the first two holes but then had successive bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes. Rose rallied to shoot even par the rest of the way. Brian Harman, who trailed Rose by one stroke to begin his round, slumped to a 74 that left him at four under par for the tournament.The most roller coaster outing was turned in by Jordan Spieth, who in the second round had moved to within two strokes of Rose. On the seventh hole on Saturday, Spieth sent his approach shot over the green then flubbed a chip shot and hit an overly aggressive bunker shot that led to a double bogey. He was in even worse trouble on the next hole when his tee shot was so far left it appeared he was almost replaying the seventh. Buried in the woods, Spieth lofted an iron shot over a tall stand of pine trees that landed three feet from the eighth hole for an easy birdie. A chip-in birdie on the 10th hole followed, as did an eagle at the 15th, but those successes were offset by the earlier setbacks, and Spieth concluded with a round of 72, trailing Matsuyama by six shots.Zalatoris seemed the most at ease as the third round began with a string of pars and a nifty birdie on the par-4 third hole. But Zalatoris, 24, did not appear to adjust well to the slower green speeds after the rainstorm, and missed several birdie putt attempts on the back nine to shoot 71.Justin Rose and Will Zalatoris are two of four golfers tied for second place headed into Sunday.Doug Mills/The New York TimesCorey Conners, with a hole in one on the sixth hole, made the biggest early move up the leaderboard on Saturday to finish at six-under-par, just behind the gaggle tied for second.Schauffele, who was grouped with Matsuyama, shot an impressive 68 and still had time to exchange repartee in Japanese with his playing partner. Schauffele’s maternal grandparents lived in Japan and he said he has picked up some of the language.Or as Matsuyama said of his conversation with Schauffele: “We didn’t get a chance to talk a lot, but when we did, we exchanged some good Japanese jokes and had a good laugh.”Matsuyama and Schauffele are paired together again for Sunday’s final round, and are scheduled to tee off at 2:40 p.m. Eastern time. More

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      A Hole in One Pushes Corey Conners Up the Masters Leaderboard

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      The shot by the Canadian golfer was the sixth hole in one on No. 6 in tournament history.AUGUSTA, Ga. — The old man working near No. 2 knew. He had to have known, because everyone knew.The roar on Saturday afternoon had all the hallmarks of a classic moment being made at the Masters Tournament: the sharp lift of noise as something sensational unfolded somewhere on the 345 acres, the percussion when the possible became a certainty, and then the fading echoes among the pines.“Which hole?” the man asked.The answer, it turned out, was the sixth, where Corey Conners had picked up a pair of strokes with a hole in one, the sixth there in the history of the tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. His tee shot with an eight-iron, coming right after a bogey, had landed just beyond the bunker. The ball took three bounces, each one smaller than the last. Then physics took over in a week when Augusta’s greens have been compared to glass.It took perhaps four seconds for the ball to enter the cup from the time it struck the green — so fast that Conners had scarcely moved in the tee box. He raised his arms in exultation. He leaned backward and pumped his right fist. He accepted congratulations from Collin Morikawa, his partner for the day.“It didn’t seem like the wind was helping as much as I anticipated, but, fortunately, it flew far enough,” Conners, who entered Saturday at two under par on the tournament, said afterward. “I was trying to fly it somewhere over the bunker and get it to go in, get it to go close to the hole.”“I think I hit the pin with a little bit of steam,” he added, “but it was right in the middle, so pretty special moment.”He finished Saturday with a 68, four under par, and will be in contention when the tournament holds its final round on Sunday, thanks in no small part to his star turn on No. 6.“Every shot makes a big difference,” said Charles Coody, who won the Masters in 1971 and used a five-iron for a hole in one on No. 6 the following year. “He’s been playing well of late, so I’m quite sure he’ll have a good chance.”Augusta National’s No. 16 surrenders far more holes in one than any other on the course, and it gave up one on Thursday to Tommy Fleetwood. But the sixth hole has seen more than any spot but the 16th.“It’s fairly level over there when you’re hitting from the tee and everything,” Coody said of the sixth hole on Saturday, when he watched the tournament on television. “You’re hitting into just a little of the upslope, which helps you hold the green a little better.”Conners, a 29-year-old Canadian with a single P.G.A. Tour victory to his name, has had, like so many golfers, a complicated relationship with Augusta National. In his first appearance, in 2015, he missed the cut but showed promise: a first-round 80, a second-round 69. Four years later, he tied for 46th after a misery-filled final round. In November, when the pandemic-delayed Masters was played, he scored a 65 in the second round, crucial to tying for 10th in the end.This year’s conditions were far different.“It’s got a lot more speed to it,” he said of the course on Tuesday. “The greens are rolling quicker. Had to adjust some of the notes in my book to play a lot more break in the greens, and certain spots around the green where you maybe had a chance in November, you don’t have much of a chance right now.”He had just finished a practice round with Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters winner and the only son of Canada ever to win one of golf’s major tournaments. Weir regaled Conners with tales of victory — and offered a few tips, one of the traditions of the Masters.But on Saturday, the afternoon after the cut, Weir was no longer in the field. It was Conners’s turn to stir a roar. More

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      Scenes from the First Rounds of the Masters

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      AUGUSTA, Ga. — Maybe it is the Masters tournament’s place as an annual rite of spring or its rich history, revisited this week for an 85th time. Perhaps it is because the tournament is the only major golf championship contested on the same golf course every year, which breeds a comforting familiarity. But the Masters stands out among sporting events — for its colorful grounds, for its gentle mix of old and new champions, and for the generations of attending families renewing traditions on the site. It is the rare athletic arena in the spotlight for only four days a year, but then maybe that is its ultimate charm.The Augusta National golf course was created on a former nursery, which contributes to its parkland aura, especially as the property was cultivated over several decades. Watching on television, it is hard to grasp how much the topography affects the competition and the viewing pleasure of attending fans as the hilly terrain naturally creates amphitheater-like viewing areas. It also heightens the challenge for the golfers, who traverse a compound full of intrinsic challenges, including a drop of 175 feet from the highest point on the property (the famed old-style clubhouse) to the lowest point (the devilish, small par-3 12th green).Framing the golf holes are 100-foot loblolly pine trees, flowering dogwoods and hundreds of flourishing azalea bushes. Add the brilliant white sand of Augusta National Golf Club’s bunkers and its manicured green fairways, and the setting has become one of the most distinctive and recognizable venues in American sports. — Bill PenningtonGroundskeepers watering the fairway on the second hole last week before a practice round.Cleaning a dining area for club members.Lee Elder, who in 1975 was the first Black man to play in the Masters, shook hands with Jack Nicklaus during a ceremony for the honorary starters at the first tee on Thursday.Running is usually not allowed at Augusta, but an exception can be made in some cases.Jordan Spieth’s ball skipped across the water on the 16th hole during a practice round.Dustin Johnson, the defending Masters champion, during the practice round on Wednesday. He missed the cut for this year’s final rounds.The azaleas are in full bloom around the 16th green.A dejected Justin Rose on the fourth tee during the second round on Friday.Bryson DeChambeau reflected in Phil Mickelson’s sunglasses at the 10th tee during a practice round on Wednesday.Spectators watching Spieth’s tee shot on the sixth hole.Spieth, foreground, and Collin Morikawa on the sixth green during the second round on Friday. Spieth shot four under par for the day. More

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      Rose Holds Slim Masters Lead as Johnson Misses the Cut

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      After shooting a 75 on Friday, Dustin Johnson, who won the Masters in November, became the latest defending champion not to advance into the weekend.AUGUSTA, Ga. — To most every player at the Masters Tournament, the 530-yard, water-guarded hole called Firethorn is a back-nine destination for earning back a stroke. To Bernd Wiesberger, that hole, No. 15 at Augusta National Golf Club, can teeter toward the nightmarish.In November, it dealt him a double bogey. On Thursday, his putt for eagle rolled and rolled and rolled across some of the firmest greens in Masters memory before it slipped clear into the drink. And so there Wiesberger stood on Friday, having gained four shots before coming upon the pine-lined nemesis that had left him “a little bit too excited” a day earlier.His first shot on Friday went 305 yards and landed in the rough. The second vaulted his ball beyond the tree canopy. The third moved him onto the green, positioning Wiesberger for a 6-foot putt that, mercifully, did not have him aiming toward water. Birdie.“I’ve been playing really solid golf yesterday and today, obviously,” said Wiesberger, an Austrian whose second-round six-under-par 66 matched Tony Finau for the day’s best score and by sundown had him in a six-way tie for sixth place that also included Finau. “Just today, I kept the mistakes off the card.”But there were plenty of other shots that went wayward elsewhere on the course as the cut, set for the second consecutive year at the lowest 50 scores plus ties, loomed.Dustin Johnson, the 2020 champion, struggled with his putting and, at five over par across two days, failed to move into Saturday’s third round. Rory McIlroy, who arrived at Augusta National in search of the Masters victory he needs to complete a career Grand Slam, logged a double bogey at No. 10 and did not advance. Brooks Koepka, who is ranked No. 14 in the world, faltered and did not make the cut, nor did Sungjae Im, who finished second in November’s tournament, which organizers had postponed from April because of the coronavirus pandemic.Johnson leaning to inspect the 15th green, where his ball went into the water.Doug Mills/The New York TimesAugusta National played far differently back then, offering players a soft course on which 43 golfers finished below par and Johnson won at 20 under, a tournament record. The grounds have proved far more vicious this week, with one player after the next declaring the greens — famously fast and firm — more perilous than they had ever seen them.Not that Augusta National was concerned. “We have the golf course where we want it,” its chairman, Fred S. Ridley, said this week.Justin Rose, who entered Friday with a four-stroke lead, remained atop the field after shooting a 72. But his advantage narrowed to a single shot on a day when he had three fewer birdies than in his opening round and doubled, to four, the number of bogeys.“I think it was just a classic day at Augusta National when you’re slightly off,” Rose said. “You can be a foot or two out on certain occasions and you end up struggling.”Will Zalatoris chipping to the ninth green.Doug Mills/The New York TimesWill Zalatoris, who is aiming to become the first person to win his Masters debut since Fuzzy Zoeller did it in 1979, birdied the final three holes to climb into second place, a shot behind Rose and alongside Brian Harman, who made birdie on No. 18 when his second shot rolled downward and set up a 10-foot putt that had just enough power.Marc Leishman and Jordan Spieth were tied in fourth place, while Cameron Champ, Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas joined Finau and Wiesberger in sixth. (Augusta National said Friday evening that Matthew Wolff, who was not in contention, had been disqualified after he submitted a scorecard with an inaccurate tally for No. 17.)Finau’s six-stroke swing into the tournament’s upper ranks began early in his round, when he sized up the second hole, a par-5 that, at 575 yards, is the longest on the course. He was 8 feet from the pin after a pair of strokes. His putt slid right, tracing a crescent on its way toward an eagle.With the predicted rain looking less likely before the start of Saturday’s round, Finau professed himself unbothered by the conditions that had thrilled and terrified others.Tony Finau after making a birdie on the sixth hole.Doug Mills/The New York Times“I really like the conditions fast and firm,” said Finau, who finished in a tie for fifth at the 2019 Masters, his best showing at Augusta National. “With my ball flight, I think it’s a big advantage. I put plenty of spin on it. I enjoy the golf course the way it’s playing — I guess I wouldn’t say enjoy, but I think it’s a good setup for me.”Johnson was another story: a defending champion who three-putted six times in two days, but whose demise this week was not quite sealed until late in his Friday round. His second shot on Friday at No. 15, the hole that had so frustrated Wiesberger, wound up in the water and fueled a bogey there. Two holes later, his second shot lifted him onto the green — before a pair of putts streaked past the pin. Adding to the turmoil, his first putt fell short on No. 18.“I don’t know,” he said afterward. “I just didn’t have a good beat on the speed the last two days.”He will still be at the club this weekend, of course, to drape the green jacket on someone else. It has happened recently: Johnson became the third reigning winner to miss the cut in five years, after Danny Willett and Sergio García stumbled.“I like this golf course,” Johnson said after his round. “I feel like I play it very well. I just didn’t putt very good. It’s pretty simple.” More