Masters Day 4: Five things to watch
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s Masters Sunday, the finest golf day of the year. Get your pimento cheese and sweet tea set up and your couch spot staked out, because we’re in for an exceptional afternoon. Here’s everything you need to know going in:
1. Jordan Spieth vs. History. Spieth, the defending champion, has already set a new Masters record by leading in seven consecutive rounds dating back to last year. He’s now trying to win back-to-back green jackets, a feat pulled off only three other times in history: Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90), and Tiger Woods (2001-02). Pretty substantial company there. Can he do it? More on that in a moment.
2. Bernhard Langer vs. Father Time. Langer is a two-time green jacket winner (1985, 1993), and players of his age, 58, are generally here for little more than ceremonial reasons, rarely even making the cut. Langer not only made the cut, he’s sitting just two strokes back of the lead on Sunday. He doesn’t have the length off the tee that the younger bucks do, but he’s got precision and intelligence, and that could be the difference late on Sunday afternoon.
3. How Low Will Scores Go? There’s been little rain, and it will be cool Sunday, meaning the greens will be drier and thus faster. But without Saturday’s swirling, unpredictable, ball-slinging wind, low scores could be in abundance.
4. Spieth’s Saturday Stumble. Going bogey-double bogey on the final two holes didn’t just dent Spieth’s aura of invincibility on Sunday; it let a dozen golfers around and over par back into the hunt. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy are among those within five strokes of the lead. Spieth also showed a little vulnerability at Augusta for the first time in what seems like forever. The door’s open a tiny crack.
5. The Second Nine on Sunday. Those holes deep in the Georgia pines are where the Masters truly begins, and Sunday will be no exception. The Masters generally isn’t set up to punish golfers; Sunday pin plancements are tricky but not absurdly so. That means there are birdies and eagles to be found, particularly on the back nine. Augusta National loves to put on a good show, and several golfers going for the green in two on par-5s like 13 and 15 are exactly what everyone wants to see.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
