The 2021 Masters will go down in history as one of the best.
Hideki Matsuyama won the 2021 Masters Golf Tournament by one stroke over up and coming Will Zalatoris.
Hideki had at one point a 6 stroke lead over the field coming down the stretch but a late rally by Xander Shauffele and Will Zalatoris closed the gap to two strokes with three holes to play.
Xander had closed to within two of Hideki and had the honors and momentum on the 16th tee.
Xander chose an 8 iron and in his own words he “flushed it” but it wasn’t enough to carry the water.
He ended up with a triple bogy six and when Hideki tapped in his bogey 4 the tournament was still close.
This put Hideki at -11 and Zalatoris at -9.
With the eyes of Japan upon him Hideki would have to par at least one of the two finishing holes to win.
He striped his drive down the middle on 17, knocked it on the green and made a par.
On 18 Hideki found the center of the fairway, knocked it pin high in the right bunker, blasted to 6 feet and two putted for victory.
Well done and congratulations to Hideki Matsuyama from Japan!
10 takeaways from the 2021 Masters Golf Tournament
- Hideki joins the an elite club of 7 low amateurs at the Masters who went on to win the tournament. Joining Tiger, Phil, Jack and Arnie.
- Augusta National is still a great test of golf despite the way the game has changed.
- Will Zalatoris could be a huge star on and off the golf course.
- Jordan Spieth is back.
- Bryson DeChambeau continues to be flummoxed by Augusta.
- The Masters can be exciting even without Tiger Woods presence.
- You have to love Jack Nicklaus and his yellow sweater.
- Xander showed tremendous heart and fortitude throughout his round and then gave a magnificent interview afterward.
- It’s time for Justin Thomas to start stepping up in the Majors more often.
- Bernhard Langer clipped Patrick Cantlay by 1 shot over two rounds. There’s hope for us old guys after all.
