The Masters 2018 Review

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.

Masters 2018 champion Patrick Reed