It was set to be a momentous Masters. One of the most highly-anticipated in recent history. So many storylines. So many superstars. So many fan-favourites. Then Patrick Reed won.

Reed Reigns

Reed won against the odds, but also against the fans. McIlroy was his nearest contender going into Sunday; three behind at -11, and the Northern Irishman was chasing his career grand slam. When the pair stepped up to the first tee, it was immediately obvious who the fans were rooting for. Rory received a deafening cheer, whilst Reed received little more than a sportsmanlike customary round of applause.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson's shared warm-up round highlighted the two players that fans most wanted to see donning the green jacket, but it was not to be for either man. Tiger carded a final round of 69 and Mickelson a final round of 67, but the damage was already done. Successive above-par rounds of 73, 75 on Thursday-Friday left Tiger +4, before an even-par 72 and the aforementioned 69 to close on 1-over for the week. Mickelson started brightly with a 2-under 70, but then shot 79, 74 to drop way back heading into Sunday.

Tony Finau did provide us with a feel-good story, though. The 28-year-old was all set for his first official Masters start and sunk a hole-in-one during the Par 3 Contest to celebrate. However, celebrations soon turned sour when the American dislocated his ankle amidst the excitement... only to pop it back into place immediately and reel off a 4-under 68 the next day with a makeshift swing. Finau then went 74, 73 but finished with six consecutive birdies between 12-17 for a final day 66 and a T10 result.

Resilient Reed

He'd never shot a single sub-70 round at Augusta before, then he shot three on the bounce between Thursday and Saturday. Rory McIlroy appeared to have the best shot at knocking Reed off his perch (and making a lot of fans happy), but of course that man Jordan Spieth had something to say about it. The 2015 champion rattled off five birdies on the front nine and four on the home stretch to make Reed sweat. His only bogey of the day came at the 18th, meaning fell just short of the course record (63) and second-place Rickie Fowler. Whilst not quite on Spieth's level, Fowler's -5 culminated in a birdie at the last- sparking the biggest cheer of the day- meant Reed had to make par to avoid a playoff. Whether that cheer was for Fowler or against Reed is for you to interpret, but I will say that Reed sparked the quietest reaction to a Masters-clinching putt of all time.

The Leaderboard

Patrick Reed's consistency was the difference. Runner-up Rickie Fowler was also consistent, though, with his worst round being a par on Friday. Third-place Spieth fluffed his lines with a 2-over 74 on Friday, whilst Jon Rahm managed to recover from an opening round of 75 to shoot 68, 65, 69 and finish fourth. Rory's final day collapse saw him tie for fifth with Cameron Smith, Bubba Watson and Henrik Stenson. Dustin Johnson finished strongly for T10, whilst Justin Rose was England's highest finisher with -6 for T12; one stroke ahead of Paul Casey in T15 and two ahead of Tommy Fleetwood in T17, which he shared with Justin Thomas.

Highlights & Lowlight

It was ultimately not the champion or the Sunday shootout we'd all hoped for. That said, we did see some sublime golf over the course of the week.

I've already mentioned Finau's comeback for the ages, the crowd's reaction to Rickie Fowler's final-hole birdie and Jordan Spieth's incredible final round. Spieth shot 66 on Thursday, featuring some quite unbelievable golf. Doug Ghim claimed the low-amateur title and sunk THREE eagles en route. Two came in the first round and he also holed-out from the bunker for birdie with his last shot of the tournament. Charley Hoffman hit the only ace of the tournament on the 16th on Sunday.

We'd like to avoid lowlights, but unfortunately we can't avoid mentioning last year's champion Sergio Garcia, who found the water five times to card a record 13 shots on the par-5 15th. He crashed out at 15-over with an 81, 78 scorecard.

Credit: @TheMasters - Official Twitter account of The Masters

Patrick Reed - What's in the Bag?

Driver: PING G400 LS Tec

Fairway Wood: Nike VR Pro Ltd. Edition

Irons: Titleist 716 T-MB (3-iron), Callaway X Forged 2013 (4-iron), Callaway MB-1 (5-PW)

Wedges: Artisan Golf, Titleist Vokey SM5

Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro 3

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Great Expectations

Augusta National doesn't exactly present as an opportunity to post low scores. In fact, four of the last five tournaments have seen winners post single-figure scores. And, need I remind you, it was only in 2007 that Zach Johnson won with +1 on his scorecard. And yet, this year, we're all expecting something special from someone special. Why? Because there are too many special players for that not to happen.

Phil Mickelson has three Masters titles and is coming off the back of a WGC win, yet is eighth favourite with the bookies. That sounds crazy... until you see the players with lower odds. You've got Rory McIlroy chasing a career grand slam, Jordan Spieth looking to repeat his -18 2015 win, World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, World No. 2 Justin Thomas, four-time champion Tiger, last year's runner-up Justin Rose and two-time champion Bubba Watson. And that doesn't tell half the story. Oh man, we're in for a treat!

The Big Guns

‘Lefty’ point-blank told us he is chasing fifty PGA Tour wins after his WGC-Mexico win a month ago. Fighting talk from a man who knows how to win at Augusta and has proven himself still capable of winning the big events. At 16/1 it would be a real crowd-pleaser.

Speaking of crowd-pleasers, imagine if Tiger won! Can you imagine it? Of course you can, he's done it four times already. Recent performances from Rory at the Arnold Plamer Invitational, Spieth at the Houston Open and Justin Thomas at the… well, everything, have boosted Tiger’s odds to 14/1.

Lefty and Tiger raised eyebrows by practicing together earlier in the week, but this strikes me as savvy from both men. It’s not just the crowds that will be behind the two legends heading into the tournament; the statistics make for good reading too. Lefty ranks in second and Tiger eleventh for Strokes Gained: Putting, whilst Mickelson is fourth and Tiger fourteenth in Strokes Gain: Approach-The-Green. Quality in these areas will come in handy at Augusta.

Of course Spieth, Rory, DJ and JT simply can’t be ruled out, but if I was a betting man (Me? Betting? Never!) I would steer clear because the prices just don’t warrant a sufficient risk/reward ratio.

You can find last year’s champion Sergio Garcia at 28/1 despite topping the PGA Tour charts for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and Strokes Gained: Approach-The-Green. I personally feel it’s too much of a stretch for him to go back-to-back, but I felt it was definitely worth dropping that one in there.

English Invasion

NINE Englishmen will be heading to Augusta. Let that sink in.

It will be nice to see amateur Harry Ellis on the big stage. Danny Willett returns following his shock win in 2016 and will be joined by fellow countrymen Matthew Fitzpatrick and Ross Fisher.

Ian Poulter has taken the long road to Augusta. After an heartache at the WGC Match Play he somehow manged last-gasp qualification with a playoff win at the Houston Open.

Moving towards the players who can actually win (sorry lads), we have a two-time runner-up (including last year in a playoff) in Justin Rose, who hasn’t finished outside the top-25 here since 2004 and is in fine form this year. He is, without question, England’s best hope.

That said, I’ve heard Paul Casey’s name thrown around a lot pre-Masters. Three top-10 finished on the trot on this famous course and a recent win at the Valspar Championship… I can see why. Casey is Mr Consistent, but I’ve not sure he’s got the edge to win this tournament. A good bet to place though.

Two names that have barely been mentioned are Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrell Hatton. Both made their Masters debut last year and neither made the cut, but a lot has happened since then. I can’t see Fleetwood being in contention this year, but he deserves more credit than he’s getting. Hatton, on the other hand, has a genuine shot at a top-10 finish.

In Conclusion…

Rose is definitely England’s best chance of a winner, but if you’re looking for big odds I think Tyrrell Hatton each-way is what you’re looking for.

With regards to a winner, I’m going with Phil Mickelson. His form is good, his game suits this course and by-god does he know how to win.

Credit: @PGATOUR - Official Twitter account of the PGA Tour

Enjoy!

Written by Joe Carabini

Joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com

Poulter Pulls Through

It's funny what pressure can do to people. At the WGC Match Play Ian Poulter was told his progression to the quarter final had secured qualification to the Masters... until ten minutes before teeing off, when he was infamously informed otherwise. Belatedly discovering he needed to beat Kevin Kisner to crack the OWGR top 50 and qualify for the Masters, Poulter crumbled to an 8&6 loss. The English veteran was understandably unhappy; casting doubt over whether he'd even compete at next week's Houston Open, where he'd need to win against all odds in order to qualify.

Many were surprised by Poulter's collapse under pressure against Kisner. After all, Ian Poulter with the Miracle at Medinah (Odyssey #7) putter in his hands is something of a symbol for overcoming pressure against American opposition on the golf course. But Poulter did compete in Houston. And Poulter won in Houston. And Poulter will play in the Masters.

How it Happened

Poulter opened with a +1 73 on Thursday and confessed to having already started packing his bags before the seemingly inevitable missed cut on Friday. But an incredible -8 not only made the cut but suddenly launched him into contention. A -7, -5 weekend followed. An incredibly professional performance from rookie Beau Hossler saw him post -19; narrowly missing a long birdie putt which would have secured victory on the final hole. However, Poulter still needed to sink a 20-yard clutch putt to force the playoff. Of course he duly delivered with his trusty Odyssey putter.

Despite, Poulter's sublime three days of golf, the playoff was ultimately decided by Hossler's errors as the inexperienced American went bunker-bunker-water to post +3 on the par-4 18th. Poulter two-putted for par.

Who's Ready for the Masters?

Whilst Poulter's miraculous qualification grabbed the headlines, Jordan Spieth went below-par every day to finish T3 with -16, which he declared 'mission accomplished for the week'. Henrik Stenson finished -14 for T6; one stroke ahead of T8 Matt Kuchar. At the other end of the scale, Rickie Fowler's opening -6, -4 had him in contention until a triple-bogey on the par-5 13th on Saturday began back-to-back 73 for a +2 weekend and T43 finish. A stroke behind Fowler was Justin Rose (T52), who went 68, 69, 72, 72 for the week, meaning he never went over par. Despite the disappointing finishes, Fowler and Rose can definitely take positives from their respective -8 and -7 scorecards.

The plot thickens.

Ian Poulter - What's in the Bag?

Driver: Titleist 917 D2

Fairway Wood: Titleist 917 F2

Hybrid: Titleist 816 H2

Irons: Titleist 716 T-MB (4-iron), Titleist 718 AP2 (5-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7

Putter: Odyssey White Hot #7

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Credit: @GolfDigest - Official Twitter account of Golf Digest

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com