Now that the Masters is behind us, it’s time to take stock of the entire week from Augusta National.
It was a solid Masters overall – I’ll give it a B+ overall – as Rory McIlroy made history by becoming the fourth winner of the green jacket.
These are my individual grades for every element of the 90th Masters I could think of.
Rory vs. Scottie (A)
We didn’t necessarily get the head-to-head drama on the back nine on Sunday, but the macro picture of the Rory McIlroy vs. Scottie Scheffler battle is that they’ve each won two of the last five Masters.
Who will be the first master one to three?
And then there’s the career trajectory. McIlroy is at six majors and leads Scheffler by two, but McIlroy is more than six years older.
They are in a race to establish themselves as the best players in the history of the game.
Par 3 Contest (D+)
Where do we even begin?
Get Jason Kelce out of there. Get Kevin Hart out of there. This is supposed to be a fun family outing, not a celebrity/influencer event where Jelly Roll is getting lessons on the range.
Yes, the TV ratings were strong – but the Masters shouldn’t sink that low.
Course Setup (B)
We got a little bit of everything from a course setup standpoint, but we ended up in a good spot.
Thursday felt like a US Open as the afternoon wave of players was hit by strong conditions.
On Friday and Saturday, the Masters artificially softened the course as the temperature rose and the wind came to a standstill. Players took full advantage of the open greens.
Sunday felt like a mix of the two, as some players were able to get behind it, but the par value still remained strong.
Generally, good shots were rewarded and bad shots were punished. The only complaint is how much the course changed throughout the tournament, despite the weather forecast being pretty consistent.
Golfers LIV (D)
Aside from Tyrrell Hatton who made it to T3, no other LIV player finished in the top 30 of this 91-player tournament.
Jon Rahm left early with an opening-round 78 and Bryson DeChambeau caught two triple bogeys to miss the cut.
Temper Anger (D-)
Robert MacIntyre was scolded for going off course and then posted a gnome of his AI with the middle finger. Then Sergio Garcia was scolded in the course for taking out a piece from a tee box and breaking his driver.
Worrying is harsh, but I love public reprimands from green jackets.
Sunday Drama (B-)
We had drama on the front nine on Sunday as McIlroy, Scheffler, Justin Rose, Cameron Young and others jockeyed for position.
But the dream scenario of a five-man playoff died around the 12th hole when McIlroy took control of the tournament.
Justin Rose (A-)
My heart goes out to the 45-year-old Roza, who had a great shot to finally win a green jacket, but finished with a 2-over 38 on the back nine.
It is extremely impressive that he is able to manage his way around the ANGC. I find myself rooting hard for him.
My pre-tournament predictions (F)
I said this could be an open Masters where the favorites are not in the running.
Help. The two best players in the world finished first and second.
Collin Morikawa (A)
What a heavy performance from Morikawa.
It was questionable whether he would do it this week, and it was clear he wasn’t at 100 percent. Morikawa spoke openly about his back problems and how it affected him mentally.
Going 68-68 on the weekend is solid, solid work.
TV coverage (C-)
A rarity in the modern era of the Masters, the TV coverage was decidedly bad this year.
Despite having very few commercial breaks — but perhaps more than usual — CBS had a strange Sunday that was out of character for this tournament.
Sam Burns was a co-leader of the Masters, paring that second hole. They didn’t show his poor putting, but they did have time to show that Hideki Matsuyama missed his eagle putt on No. 13.
This was a microcosm of the day. CBS trailed long after Scottie Scheffler’s run and then completely botched the 72nd hole when it took an absurdly long time to find where McIlroy and Young’s second shots had ended up.
It didn’t feel like there was that much gravitas on the tour.
However, on the other hand…
Master Application (A)
There have been occasional glitches in the app this year, but it’s still an incredible piece of technology.
I left the house for 20 minutes on Sunday and being able to catch every shot from every player is so convenient.
And each of the streams available were produced/announced brilliantly throughout the tour.
Shoutout to the Instagram roundup videos the Masters unveiled this year. Really awesome and creative stuff.
There were some outstanding results from the social media team throughout the week. Greetings.
Goods collection videos (F)
No. No. We are not doing that.
The Masters merchandise operation as a whole needs to be reined in as gnomes, dumb hats, over-the-top purchases and Disney identification have become standard fare.
Part of that is down to the Masters and part of it is uncontrollable. It’s hard to stop people from buying 30 of everything and making TikToks.
But you can remove them all.
What did you think of this year’s Masters?
Let me know below in the comments.
Top Image Caption: The 90th edition of the Masters was strong. (GETTY IMAGES/Hector Vivas)
