The 2024 Masters Tournament: What We Saw

With the 88th renewal of the Masters Tournament now alongside the first 87 in the historical records, with Scottie Scheffler winning for the second time in three years, both by four shots, here are some of the other interesting golf that transpired over Augusta National last week: 

Scheffler birdied 14 of Augusta National's 18 holes at least once, except for 4, 5, 7, 11 and 17. He played 4, 7 and 11 each 2-over-par for the week. He played played 13 3-under-par with an eagle, two birdies and a bogey, while playing 2, 3, 8, 15 & 16 each 2-under-par. 

Only Nicolai Hojgaard had more birdies (21) than Scheffler, with his demise coming from posting 17 bogeys and 2 doubles. 

Ludvig Aberg played the second hole 4-under-par with four birdies, played No. 9 and No. 13 each 3-under-par with three birdies on each, and the fifth hole 2-under-par. He played No. 15 3-over, No. 11 2-over with Sunday's double-bogey, and Nos. 3, 14 and 18 1-over-par. 

Aberg was one of 5 players who did not 3-putt once all week, along with Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Luke List, Jose Maria Olazabal

Rory McIlroy simply never got going. McIlroy was over-par for the day (+1, +3, +1, +1) each time he reached the 8th tee. He played the par-5s in 5-under for the week, but 13 and 15 were puzzles for him as he played those two holes even-par for the week, with three pars and a bogey on 13, and three pars and a birdie on 15. 

Defending champ Jon Rahm tied Max Homa for most greens hit (51), but also had the second-most 3-putts (8). Rahm had the worst putting week of the 60 players who made the cut, requiring 130 putts for the week. Tony Finau had 129, Shane Lowry 126. 

Tom Kim led the field with 9 3-putts, Rahm second with 8, with 3 players carding 6 (Tony Finau, Shane Lowry, and amateur Neal Shipley)

No surprises in the Driving Distance category, as Rory McIlroy led the 60 players who made the cut with an average drive of 317.62 yards. Bryson DeChambeau checked in second at 316, with Min Woo Lee third (312.00), Tony Finau fourth (311.50), and Nicolai Hojgaard fifth (311.0), while 23 of the 60 averaged 300 yards or more. The 6-foot-8 amateur Cristo Lamprecht of South Africa averaged 323.75 yards and Wyndham Clark averaged 319.75 before both missed the cut.  

While the Driving Distance stat does not account for club selection, Jose Maria Olazabal laid claim to the shortest hitter off the tee, averaging 260.88 yards. Phil Mickelson was next at 272.88.

Tiger Woods hit only 31 greens in regulation, fewest in the field. No other player hit fewer than 34. 

Tommy Fleetwood make four consecutive pars on six of Augusta National's 18 holes, Nos. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 14. On the par-3s, Fleetwood made 11 pars and one birdie - on 16 on Saturday. 

Patrick Cantlay was even for the tournament before finishing double bogey-bogey-bogey, dropping from a potential T9 to T22.

Tony Finau also ran out of gas on Sunday. After rounds of 71-78-72, Finau birdied the second hole Sunday to move to 4-over, inside the top 25, only to play the final 13 holes in 9-over for a final-round 80 and a T55 finish. 

Augusta National's back nine played way more volatile than the front, with 112 double-bogeys, 12 triples and two quads, while the front nine only saw 45 double-bogeys, 6 triples and no quads. The front nine, however, saw 13 of the 21 eagles carded during the week. 

Cameron Davis & Nicolai Hojgaard led the field with 10 birdies apiece on Augusta National's par-5s. 

Camilo Villegas made a tournament-high 5 birdies on par-4s on Sunday. 

Corey Conners led the field with six birdies on the par-3s. 

Seventeen players were derailed by triple bogeys: 

Denny McCarthy 2 (7 on par-4 10th Saturday, 7 on par-4 17th Saturday)

Christo Lamprecht (8 on par-5 15th Thursday) 

J.T. Poston (6 on par-12 Thursday) 

Brian Harman (6 on par-3 16th when first round resumed Friday)

Viktor Hovland (8 on par-5 2nd Friday)

Santiago de la Fuente (7 on par-4 3rd Friday)

Sahith Theegala (7 on par-4 3rd on Friday)

Tom Kim (7 on par-4 11th Friday)

Zach Johnson (6 on par-3 12th Friday)

Danny Willett (7 on par-4 18th Friday)

Phil Mickelson (7 on par-4 3rd Saturday)

Adam Scott (7 on par-4 10th Saturday)

Ryan Fox (7 on par-4 17th Saturday)

Grayson Murray (7 on par-4 17th Saturday)

Matt Fitzpatrick (6 on par-3 4th Sunday)

Tiger Woods (7 on par-4 5th Sunday)

The two players who carded quadruple bogeys were: 

Jordan Spieth (9 on par-5 15th in the first round resumed Friday morning)

Nicolai Hojgaard (7 on par-3 12th on Sunday).