The Masters Tournament is one of four major professional golf championships. The other three include the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship.
This year, the Masters took place from April 7-10. The winner was 25-year-old American Scottie Scheffler who finished 10-under par and is currently the number one player in the world.
“I don’t feel like number one, I feel like the same guy I was four months ago and I hope that doesn’t change,” Scheffler told The Spun by Sports Illustrated. “Winning golf tournaments isn’t easy, so knowing bad things will happen and being able to react to them in a positive way is important.”
This was Scheffler’s fourth win on the PGA Tour but only his first major championship win. As a Masters Champion, he received a $2.7 million prize, a gold medallion, a Sterling Replica of the Masters Trophy and the coveted Green Jacket.
According to the Masters website, the tournament was cofounded in 1934 by Bobby Jones, the amateur golf champion and Clifford Roberts, a New York investment banker. Together, in 1932, they created the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. where the tournament is played yearly.
15-time major champion Tiger Woods made his championship golf return at the Masters for the first time since his car crash in 2021 where he nearly lost his right leg.
“As a big Tiger Woods fan, I was so happy to see him back on the course, especially after his accident,” said sophomore Jake Cardinale, who is also a contributing writer for Spectrum.
Woods finished 47th out of 91 golfers, which was the lowest he’s ever finished in this tournament.
“To end up here and be able to play all four rounds, even a month ago, I didn’t know if I could pull this off,” Woods told CBS Sports. “I’ve got some work to do, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The next major event will be the PGA Championship from May 19 – 22 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
According to CBS Sports, this tournament wasn’t planned to be there until 2030. It was originally supposed to be at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, but the PGA of America Board of Directors voted to terminate the agreement after protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol last January.
This will be the eighth time Southern Hills has hosted a major championship and the fifth time it has hosted a PGA Championship. Woods won the last one that was held at Southern Hills in 2007.
Woods is still unsure whether he’ll be attending the PGA Championship. However, he already announced that he’ll be competing at the Open Championship in the United Kingdom in July.
“The fact that Tiger was able to play in the Masters was an incredible accomplishment,” said Cardinale. “I expect him to compete at the PGA Championship, although I don’t think he’ll score very well.”
Scheffler isn’t favored to win the PGA championship even though he’s coming off his first major win and is number one in the world. Spanish golfer Jon Rahm is favored to win the event.
Rahm is currently ranked number three in the world and tied for 27th place at the Masters. He has finished in the top ten in five of his last six major championships.