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Spieth claims historic Masters win
Rory versus Tiger an afterthought at Masters
Rose revived after strong Masters showing
Mickelson finishes career "Seconds Slam"
Spieth claims historic Masters win
AUGUSTA, 12 Apr 2015 (AFP) - Jordan Spieth won a historic Masters triumph for the ages Sunday, deftly handling the final-round tension to hold off Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose and win his first major title by four shots.
Writing an epic conclusion to a week of domination at Augusta National, the 21-year-old American fired a two-under par 70 to finish on 18-under 270, matching the 72-hole tournament record set by Tiger Woods in 1997.
"It's the most incredible week of my life," Spieth said. "It's a dream come true. I'm still kind of in shock a little bit."
Spieth claimed the green jacket symbolic of Masters suprmeacy and the top prize of $1.8 million at the $10 million event by denying two of golf's top major champions another crown.
"It was very nerve-wracking today," Spieth said. "With two major champions right behind me, I couldn't let up."
England's Rose, the 2013 US Open winner and Spieth's last-pair playing partner, shot 70 to share second on 274 with 44-year-old US left-hander Mickelson, a five-time major winner who shot 69.
"I played a good solid round but I needed something exceptional. I just didn't quite get it," Mickelson said. "I just got outplayed. Jordan played great."
Top-ranked Rory McIlroy, seeking a third consecutive major win to complete his career Grand Slam, was fourth on 276 after a 66, one stroke ahead of Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.
Woods, a 14-time major champion, fired a 73 to share 17th on 283, his best finish since 2013 and a sign that the worst of his physical and shotmaking woes might be behind him.
"Considering where I was... I'm really proud of it," Woods said of his effort.
Spieth was a runner-up to Bubba Watson last year in his Masters debut after squandering a front-nine lead on Sunday, but this time responded four times when dropping a shot to his rivals, restoring his margin each time on the very next hole.
"Every time I thought there was a chink in the armor, he would come up with a big putt," Rose said.
Spieth, who will jump from fourth to second in the world rankings, became the second-youngest winner in Masters history, five months older than Woods when he won his first major in 1997.
Also, Spieth became only the fifth wire-to-wire winner in Masters history, joining Craig Wood in 1941, Arnold Palmer in 1960, Jack Nicklaus in 1972 and Ray Floyd in 1976.
"It was awfully impressive," McIlroy said of Spieth's performance.
Starting with a four-stroke lead after setting the 36- and 54-hole Masters scoring records, the youngest 18-hole leader in Masters history answered every stumble quickly.
Three times on the front nine Rose trimmed Spieth's lead to three shots and each time the Texan boosted his edge back to four on the very next hole.
When Rose made bogey at nine and Spieth followed with a 23-foot birdie putt at 10, the lead was six shots over Rose and Mickelson.
Spieth's birdie at 10 was his 26th of the tournament, breaking the Masters mark of 25 set by Mickelson in 2001, and he added two more at the par-5 13th and 15th for good measure.
Spieth dropped a shot at the par-3 12th and Mickelson birdied the par-5 13th to pull within four. But Spieth birdied 13 to restore a five-shot edge.
Mickelson eagled the par-5 15th, blasting in from a greenside bunker, and Rose birdied 14 to join him on 14 under, both four back of Spieth with four to play.
Again Spieth responded. He went over the green at 15 but pitched to seven feet and made the birdie putt to reach 19 under par, the first time any player at any point in any Masters was so far below par.
Rose birdied to stay four back but he and Spieth parred 16 and 17 and made bogey on 18, Spieth missing a five-foot par putt at the last which would have given him the tournament record alone.
McIlroy went four under on the back nine to surge into fourth, his best Masters finish.
"I played well," McIlroy said. "I'm happy with how the weekend went. I'll take a lot of positives from it."
Woods missed every front-nine fairway and was favoring his right wrist after blasting an approach off pine straw and hitting a tree root at the ninth.
"A joint went out of place but I popped it back in," Woods said.
Woods showed at age 39 that he can contend in a major, although he said of his next start, "It's not going to be for a while."
Woods has not won the Masters since 2005, has not won a major since the 2008 US Open and has not won any tournament since the 2013 WGC event at Firestone.
Rory versus Tiger an afterthought at Masters
AUGUSTA, 12 Apr 2015 (AFP) - It was a match within the contest -- a clash of titans -- Rory McIlroy versus Tiger Woods, together at last on Sunday at the Masters.
Only fly in the ointment was that from the start it looked like it would be for second place at best -- with McIlroy and Woods both a whopping 10 shots behind third round leader Jordan Spieth.
That left them needing the greatest comeback in Masters history to stop Spieth, surpassing the record eight-shot rally by Jack Burke in 1956.
Neither of them looked like pulling off that feat.
"I'm happy with how I finished, just obviously left myself with a bit too much to do after 27 holes of this tournament and that's what really cost me," McIlroy said.
The two biggest names in world golf oddly had only ever played two rounds of major golf together previously.
That came when they were flung together for the first two rounds of the US Open at Merion in 2013.
On that occasion they both shot 73-70, but neither was a factor at the weekend when Justin Rose won his first major.
Woods was in his customary final-day red and McIlroy wore a bright yellow top and white slacks as they strode onto a packed first tee outside the iconic Augusta National clubhouse.
First blood went to McIlroy who walloped a huge 354-yard drive down the left-hand side of the fairway. Woods, as he does often at Augusta, pulled it left, reaching the adjacent ninth fairway.
But they both came off the first green with pars and both then missed good birdie opportunites at the par-five second.
With Spieth and second place Justin Rose birdieing the first at the same moment, what had been a mountain to climb had already become mission impossible.
It was all about personal targets, with 39-year-old Woods out to show again that he is getting back to his best after a wretched start to the year and 25-year-old McIlroy looking to better his previous best Masters finish -- a tie for eighth last year.
And then there was the quest for bragging rights over who came out tops when they went head to head over the finest arena in golf.
Who knows with many more majors to come and then there is always the Ryder Cup.
By the turn, some of the fans were peeling away to take in the final two pairings coming up behind -- Phil Mickelson in the penultimate and Spieth and second-placed Rose in the main attraction.
McIlroy, who had been hoping to become just the sixth player to win all four Grand Slam titles coming into the tournament, finally nabbed a birdie with a superb approach to the seventh.
Woods was then left grimacing in pain when he injured his right wrist in hitting his approach shot from on top of pine straw at the ninth.
He went out in 37 to 34 for McIlroy.
The former world number one looked in bad trouble going down the 10th but he settled down again to tackle the famed trio of holes called Amen Corner.
With most eyes on Spieth's successful efforts to hold off any challengers, Woods and McIlroy worked their homewards with the Northern Irishman coming in with an equal best of the day 66 to take fourth.
Woods, meanwhile, closed with a 73 and was tied for 17th at five under.
It was a frustrating day in some ways for two golfers used to being involved in the business end of tournaments.
But both were able to leave Augusta National with heads held high.
"Considering where I was at Torrey (Pines) and Phoenix, to make the complete swing change and rectify all the faults and come here to a major championship and contend, I'm proud of that part of it," Woods said.
Rose revived after strong Masters showing
AUGUSTA, 12 Apr 2015 (AFP) - The long European wait for another Masters winner goes on following Justin Rose's near miss at Augusta National on Sunday.
The Englishman, already a major champion with his 2013 US Open triumph, was handily placed overnight alone in second with four shots separating him from leader Jordan Spieth, a 21-year-old American who previously had played just four competitive rounds at the fabled Georgia layout.
And Rose got off to the best of possible starts with birdies at the first two holes to pile the pressure on Spieth.
But each time Rose thrust at the Texan, he found a way to respond and Rose got no closer to him than three shots.
A missed five-footer for par at the last meant that he ended up in a tie for second with Phil Mickelson, still four shots adrift of the elusive Spieth.
That was his best showing in a Masters in 10 campaigns at Augusta National and his 14-under par total is his best by a healthy nine strokes.
"Obviously, there's two ways to look at it," Rose said.
"I'll take 14-under-par -- and I'll take that next year and I'll take that the year after and I'll take it the year after, so I have to take a lot of confidence from that.
"But you've got to play it on the day, too. I felt like a couple times there were a few moments out there where I could have done better and I'll learn on that and think about that.
"But Jordan didn't really open the door, and I didn't really expect him to. He's played with the lead now, it feels like, for the last month, and he's obviously got very comfortable doing that. He was clutch with the putter again today."
Rose also had the satisfaction of finally finding his form after a troubled start to the year that saw him miss the cut three times in six tournaments. His best finish had been a tie for 37th place at last week's Houston Open.
He had fallen out of the world top 10 and was low in confidence, but now believes that he can build on his play this week for the rest of the year.
"I'm really excited about the rest of the year now. It's a good momentum starter for me," he said.
"I tried to really tell myself that this year for me is going to be about April to September, when the big tournaments come around, and that's when I want to play well.
"You look at Rory (McIlroy)'s year last year, it was all about how he played in the summer. I was trying to keep telling myself it's a long year. Very happy it turned around this week in a major championship."
Rose had plenty of European company on the final Masters leaderboard.
McIlroy was fourth, and Paul Casey and Ian Poulter were tied for sixth.
But still Jose Maria Olazabal's win in 1999 is the last by a Europan player and the last of Nick Faldo's three triumphs in 1996 is the last and only win to date by an Englishman.
Mickelson finishes career "Seconds Slam"
AUGUSTA, 12 Apr 2015 (AFP) - Phil Mickelson settled for completing a career Second-Place Slam with his runner-up effort Sunday at the Masters, but the five-time major champion's confidence is high as he seeks the real Grand Slam.
The 44-year-old American left-hander, who had managed only one top-10 effort in his past 31 starts, fired a three-under par 69 in the final round at Augusta National, matching England's Justin Rose for second on 14-under 274, four strokes behind Masters winner Jordan Spieth.
"I feel like this is the way I've been playing but not scoring like this. This is the first week that I've got the score out of myself that I thought I should," Mickelson said.
"I plan on taking the next couple of weeks to work on my game and get it sharp and hopefully use this as a springboard for the rest of the year because I feel like my game has really come around. This week, I played some good golf and hopefully I'll continue the rest of the year."
It was Mickelson's 10th career runner-up finish in a major but his first at Augusta National, where he collected green jackets in 2004, 2006 and 2010. His other career major runner-up efforts include second at the 2001 and 2014 PGA Championships, the 2011 British Open and a record six US Opens, most recently in 2013 at Merion.
But Mickelson, whose other major wins include the 2005 PGA Championship and 2013 British Open, will make his second run at the career Grand Slam in June at the US Open in Chambers Bay -- a bid for which he is already preparing.
"I'll spend a little bit of time at Chambers Bay," Mickelson said. "But really, I think that when I played well and won at Muirfield in 2013, I really didn't spend an inordinate amount of time on the golf course. I just got my game sharp, and I think I'll probably take that approach more with Chambers Bay.
"I'll go and see the course. I'll spend some time there, but really I'll be trying to get my game sharp heading into that week.
"My tactic the last two weeks heading into here was try to make a lot of birdies because I knew that I had to come out here and make a lot of birdies, fire at pins, get good distance control, short game is sharp and make putts.
"But heading into the US Open, I'll have a different tactic. I'll try to play more of a controlled style game, getting the ball in play, getting short game sharp, that's always important, trying to play more of a strategic style."
Mickelson, ranked 22nd, is a major runner-up for the fourth time in five seasons and has finished in the top 10 in 10 of his past 24 major starts since the start of 2009.
"I don't have probably a great explanation other than I really focus on those events," Mickelson said of his performances. "I really work for them with the idea that these are the events that I'm trying to play well in now. I want to zero in on the four or five biggest events."
This effort following his runner-up showing to world number one Rory McIlroy at last year's PGA Championship at Valhalla marks the first time in his career Mickelson has had back-to-back second places.
Mickelson's total was his second-lowest 72-hole total at Augusta National, two strokes more than his win in 2010.
Masters final scores
270 - Jordan Spieth (USA) 64-66-70-70
274 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 70-68-67-69, Justin Rose (ENG) 67-70-67-70
276 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-71-68-66
277 - Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-70-70-66
279 - Dustin Johnson (USA) 70-67-73-69, Paul Casey (ENG) 69-68-74-68, Ian Poulter (ENG) 73-72-67-67
280 - Charley Hoffman (USA) 67-68-71-74, Zach Johnson (USA) 72-72-68-68, Hunter Mahan (USA) 75-70-68-67
282 - Kevin Na (USA) 74-66-70-72, Bill Haas (USA) 69-71-72-70, Kevin Streelman (USA) 70-70-70-72, Ryan Moore (USA) 74-66-73-69, Rickie Fowler (USA) 73-72-70-67
283 - Tiger Woods (USA) 73-69-68-73, Sergio García (ESP) 68-74-71-70
284 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 72-69-71-72, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 73-73-70-68
285 - Russell Henley (USA) 68-74-72-71
286 - Patrick Reed (USA) 70-72-74-70, Keegan Bradley (USA) 71-72-75-68, Mark O'Meara (USA) 73-68-77-68, Ernie Els (RSA) 67-72-75-72, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 72-69-73-72, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 75-70-70-71
287 - Jason Day (AUS) 67-74-71-75, Webb Simpson (USA) 69-75-72-71, Morgan Hoffmann (USA) 73-72-72-70, Jonas Blixt (SWE) 72-70-70-75, Steve Stricker (USA) 73-73-73-68
288 - Brooks Koepka (USA) 74-71-71-72, Ryan Palmer (USA) 69-74-74-71, Chris Kirk (USA) 72-73-72-71, Bae Sang-Moon (KOR) 74-71-72-71, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 74-71-76-67
289 - Danny Willett (ENG) 71-71-76-71, Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 70-74-72-73, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 71-70-73-75, Adam Scott (AUS) 72-69-74-74, John Senden (AUS) 71-74-72-72, Cameron Tringale (USA) 71-75-69-74, Bubba Watson (USA) 71-71-73-74, Jimmy Walker (USA) 73-72-74-70
290 - Matt Kuchar (USA) 72-74-72-72, Lee Westwood (ENG) 73-73-70-74
291 - Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 74-70-73-74
292 - Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71-75-74-72, Jason Dufner (USA) 74-71-74-73
293 - Erik Compton (USA) 73-72-74-74
294 - Darren Clarke (NIR) 74-71-77-72, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 71-74-76-73
295 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 75-70-79-71
297 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 75-70-80-72