1. The greens at Augusta National have been the subject of lively debate. It will never be known exactly how fast they have been on the stimpmeter, but a greenkeeper of widely recognised prestige in Spain assures Tengolf that in no case did they reach 13. Why was that decision taken? We will probably never know, but one thing must be clear: if they did not reach 13 it is because the authorities at Augusta National did not want them to. Could they have done it? Yes, they could. Especially this year, dry and without rain. For that reason it may be that this is not a one-off decision, but a trend that will continue to be confirmed in future editions.
2. It is certain that in 2027 the list of players taking three weeks off between THE PLAYERS and the Masters will grow, replicating Rory’s plan, who during that period, over those three weeks, was in Augusta for at least ten different days. We have no doubt that this will be the case.
3. Tyrrell Hatton has now strung together a fourth place at the 2025 US Open, a 16th at the 2025 Open and a 3rd at the 2026 Masters… He has certainly shaken off the label of a great player who could not quite deliver in the majors. We already know what the next step is. The hardest, of course, but without doubt within the reach of the brave Englishman.
4. Each year Jake Knapp will feel the weight of Fred Couples’s prophecy that Knapp will win the Masters come what may. A lovely compliment from Couples, considering he is essentially an outsider, but also a disservice.
5. Justin Rose strung together two bogeys on holes 11 and 12, Amen Corner, which proved decisive. The Englishman later pointed out that the tee shot on the 12th had flown only two yards further than necessary… In reality, if we scrutinise that shot and measure to the centimetre where that ball landed, it turns out it likely flew nine, perhaps even ten yards more than Rose had expected, who had simply planned a shot to the centre of the green… Either he was a club short or there was probably an excess of adrenaline. Ah, the details, so pesky and decisive.
6. And while we’re on Rose, he is the only one to have posted four rounds under par in this Masters, but we are still waiting for someone to string together four rounds under seventy strokes. It has only happened once in history: Cameron Smith carded 67, 68, 69 and 69 in the 2020 edition to finish second… But since that edition, the one during the pandemic and the tournament in November, carries an asterisk, we are still waiting for the brave soul to do it in April.
7. In the days before the tournament began Tengolf published an extensive feature about the younger siblings of the Grand Slam Career, which explained, among other things, that only sixty players in history had at least one top 5 in each of the majors. Well, there are now 61. Cameron Young’s third place puts him into that exclusive club, since the New Yorker only lacked a top 5 at the Masters. He had already been runner-up at the Open (2022), third at the PGA (2022) and fourth at the US Open (2025). Given his development it should not take too long before he manages to win one, but better that neither Couples nor anyone else predicts it…
8. Collin Morikawa has had a difficult week in Augusta, he confessed, as he could not get the spectre of the spasm he suffered at THE PLAYERS out of his head and felt constrained on almost every swing. In the par 5s, for example, he had hardly ever been able to go for the green in two for that reason, he also explained… And funny enough: Morikawa had played six editions of the tournament before this year and had never made more than one eagle over the four rounds (he made an eagle in 2020, another in 2022 and another in 2025), exactly the same number he made in 2026, one eagle, the one he made on Saturday at the 15th, holing out from the fairway. That’s how capricious golf is.
9. Jordan Spieth continues to move closer to his best version, little by little. Not in a hurry, and it finally seems steady. In a month, at the PGA, it will be he who has the possibility of completing his Grand Slam Career… Perhaps it is still too soon to analyse it as a real possibility. At least let’s wait to see what he does this week at the RBC Heritage, at Harbour Town, the tournament and the course where he secured his last victory, back in 2022.
10. Max Homa, another one who is returning very gradually. He reached World No. 5 three years ago and his ninth place in this Masters has left him more or less on the cusp of the top 100…
11. And let’s finish with Adam Scott. The Australian, almost casually, has this week in Augusta strung together his 98th consecutive major. He has played every one since the 2001 Open and it is the second-best streak in history, only behind the 143 consecutive that His Majesty Jack Nicklaus played. Unless proven otherwise, and certainly that will never happen, the great Oso Dorado must always be mentioned sooner or later in major weeks. His trail, his legacy, is indelible.
