AUGUSTA Seventy-two holes is a ton of golf.
It feels like even more when there are multiple stoppages in play and a 29-hole marathon Sunday.
In the end, the best player on the planet won the biggest golf tournament on the planet.
There is so, so much to discuss.
Here are 18 parting thoughts from the grounds of Augusta National.
But lets rewind back just two months, when Jon Rahm reigned on top of the golfing world.
Hed just won the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.
Hed gotten back to world No.
1, where he belonged, and sat primed to rip off a historic season.
Rahm entered the week as the third favorite based on a gnarly case of recency bias.
But he reminded us that, as Eddie Pepperell put it, hes the one.
His well-rounded game has the deep respect of his peers, and hes long been tapped for all-time greatness.
When he turned pro after being world No.
1 at Arizona State, the consensus was he was already a top-10 player in the world.
Odds are hell be the favorite at each of the remaining three for the year.
Unless, that is, we fall victim to goldfish brain yet again.
Lets venture to avoid that by remembering: Jon Rahm is the one.
In hindsight, thehow will the LIV guys be able to stay elite?narrative looks pretty silly.
Hand up, guys like myself contributed to it.
Its not like they went from playing every single week to not playing at all.
As Dustin Johnson put it: I played a long time with all these guys.
Twelve of the 18 LIV players made the cut this week.
They had the 36-hole leader and the 54-hole leader in Brooks Koepka.
They had the runner-up in Phil Mickelson.
They had three guys in the top 6.
Turns out there hasnt been a Space Jam-like vanishing of ability.
Phil Mickelson is back, baby.
And, most importantly, he played great golf.
Mickelsons at his best when hes flashing smiles and cheesy thumbs-ups.
I had so much fun today, he said.
Jordan Spieth called his shot.
Not in a good way.
Its been leaving himself with far too much work to do.
2021, I was pretty far back.
A solid par on 12 preeceded a big ol push into the right trees on 13.
He had 226 to the hole off the pinestraw.
And he went for it.
It never cleared the water, and he needed four more after the drop for a painful double-bogey 7.
It was an awful decision at the time, and it remains an awful decision.
You really only have to step in two or three times a round, Tesori said of his craft.
This was one of those times.
He knows it, too.
When you’re that far back, you have to have everything go right, Spieth said Sunday.
It was close, but I should have done a lot better in those first three rounds.
I made a tremendous amount of mental mistakes.
Rumors of Tiger Woods demise are, once again, being greatly exaggerated.
Look, I get it.
Thats the nature of the pageviews business.
Headlines sell, and writing Tiger Woods off will definitely get clicks.
It couldnt be further from the truth.
Competitive golf has been Tiger Woods life since he was 3-years-old.
You argue its been to a fault.
Tournaments are his refuge.
Theyre where he feels most alive.
For him, a painful day inside the ropes beats any day at home.
Still, hes not masochistic, and withdrawing Sunday morning made perfect sense.
Tuesday marked the first time hes answered the can you win question with anything but an emotionless yes.
He heed and hawwd about having all the shots but not being sure he could hold up physically.
It does indeed seem theres been an internal softening of that hard-line position that its win or bust.
Hes used the word grateful umpteen times since hes been back.
Hes more than allowed to back off that old posture, and it seems he has.
Maybe he missed playing tournaments more than he thought he would.
There mightve been a time when Nicklaus said he wouldnt keep playing unless he thought he can win.
Its something you say when youre young, when you feel invincible, when you cant fathom the end.
Things change as you age.
Sam Bennett has some kind of moxie.
It shows itself in every part of his game.
Theres the violent club twirls.
Its most evident, though, at the podium.
Bennett said screw low amateurhe had a golf tournament he planned to win.
Then he subtly daggered Augusta National three times.
Lastly, about the speed of the greens: It’s already pretty slow and soft out there.
I mean, Scottie was saying the greens were significantly slower than they have been in the past.
It’s a soft golf course.
You gotta respect thecojones.
7.What a brutally difficult missed cut for Rory McIlroy to swallow.
Its never great missing the cut in the biggest golf tournament in the world as the No.
2 ranked player, but the context makes it even worse.
Rory seemed to exorcize his Augusta demons with his final-round 64 last year.
It wasnt just the number he shot; it was the carefree and aggressive way he played the back-nine.
I know the place just about as well as anyone, he said in his pre-tournament press conference.
That, plus a solo third in his last start before this week, which included beating world No.
1 Scottie Scheffler, had plenty believing McIlroy would finally complete the Career Grand Slam.
I’ve got all the ingredients to make the pie.
But I know that I’ve got everything there.
It’s just a matter of putting it all together.
He even got the right side of the draw!
Guys who didnt have to come back to finish in horrific weather Saturday morning had a roughly two-shot advantage.
Then, a disastrous five-over 77 that looked just as ugly as the score suggests.
His last three results at the Masters: CUT, solo 2nd, CUT.
It is Rahm and Scheffler, and there is a significant gap to No.
3 on the PGA Tour.
Speaking of disappointments…what on earth is up with Max Homa at the majors?
He was a super trendy pick coming into this week.
He won at Torrey Pines, a course thats hosted majors before.
He finished T6 at the Players Championship, a major-like test.
He teed it up this week as the No.
He went the other way, coming home in 73-72-78(!)
for a T43 finish, and hes now played 14 major championships without a single top 10 finish.
For how adored and revered he is in golf circles, Fred Couples only won one major championship.
Fifteen PGA Tour wins, including the Masters and two Players Championships.
Still, it feels like he deserved more.
Lets get Freddie in there when hes done playing.
Which, judging by this weeks performance, wont be for a little while.
Augusta National announced a new philanthropic initiative this year aimed at boosting public golf in the local community.
What a lame way to view the world.
And the initiatives Ridley announces on Masters Wednesdays arent the only work the club does.
Local charities apply for a grant and they give them money through that.
They do a lot of stuff behind the scenes.
They honored Lee Elder.
They did the HUB, the First Tee, the Patch.
How cool would it be for others to take the lead and bolster public golf in their community?
As for Augustas past…you cannot hold a son responsible for the sins of his father.
Perhaps youve heard, but there are no phones allowed on the grounds at Augusta National.
Reflexively, I reached in my pocket.
Then we just looked at each other like…uhhh, guess we just, like, dont know.
You also realize how useless 95% of what we do on our phones is.
The world hadnt changed when I got back to the media center an hour later.
(The answer, by the way, is Tennessee Tech).
Sam Bennett is perhaps the best example of this.
Its why he wasnt too bothered about foregoing whatever check hed receive had he been a pro.
I don’t know, he said with a smile, gesturing at all his logos.
NIL has been pretty good this year.
Watching him up there, I couldnt help but wonder just what amateurism means these days.
Theyre making money because theyre good at golf.
The Masters app is fucking incredible.
Weve been saying it all week.
It was such a flagrant error that it almost overshadows all the technological goodwill the tournament built up.
Great effort for the vast majority, but a critical mistake.
Communicating through headlines or tweets or transcripts is much, much different than looking someone in the eye.
This week brought all the boys back together.
There wasnt a hint of tension.
In fact, it felt more like a reunion.
They also seem to despise Greg Norman.
Most everyone in this ecosystem, outside of his LIV employees, feel that way.
Rory McIlroy has called for his ouster.
So has Tiger Woods.
We did not extend an invitation to Mr. Norman.
It really was to keep the focus on the competition.
2 and 33-year-old Rory McIlroy missing it.
Something about this golf course, says Jon Rahm.
There’s multiple options off the tee, multiple options into greens.
There’s not one style of golf.
you’re free to pretty much do it however is most comfortable for you.
And if you play good golf, you might be able to get it done.
It doesnt seem as open as it used to off the tee.
A fantastic first Masters for a fantastic kid.
It’s more likely that he’d need a captain’s pick from Zach Johnson.
(The OWGR, by the way, is quickly losing credibility.
It just is, but we wont get into that right now).
If thats the criteriathe 12 bestthen its hard to imagine Koepka shouldnt be in Rome.
Let us hope that week, like this one, transcends all the bullshit.
Youd all be stunned at how many journalists fall asleep in this media center.
Fired up to do this all again with you all next month at the PGA Championship in Rochester.
