On a weekend where there's no Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, the Masters will get about as good a final pairing as we could have hoped for. Bubba Watson, the divisive superstar and 2012 winner at Augusta, will play alongside Jordan Spieth, the 20-year-old co-leader trying to become the youngest player ever to win the green jacket.
It was going to be hard for Bubba to keep the pace he set the first two days, and Saturday was one of the shakier rounds he's played all season. His putting stroke, which had been so steady this year, left him and he dropped shots on the first nine and threw them away on the second nine. Bubba can easily bounce back from the 2-over 74, and if he just played his worst round this week and he's still sharing the lead, then he'll probably be wearing another green jacket come Sunday night.
But Spieth definitely stole the buzz from Bubba heading into Sunday at Augusta. He's exceeded expectations for over a year now -- and really since he was 16 years old -- and somehow put himself in the mix on Sunday at the Byron Nelson. And while he keeps pushing the limit for his age, it's still jolting to see him come through and get to the final Sunday pairing in the biggest event of the year, his first Masters. Now the guy many think is the closest thing to a next Tiger Woods could break the absent world No. 1's record he set by winning the Masters at the age of 21 in 1997. A Spieth victory would maintain a quirky historical trend at the Masters:
1963, Nicklaus became youngest Masters champ. Seve did it 17 years later. Tiger 17 years after that. Spieth would be 17 years after Woods.
— Justin Ray (@JRayESPNGolf) April 12, 2014
A rookie also has not won the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, but along with Spieth, Jonas Blixt will have a great shot to end that drought on Sunday. Blixt is one shot back and he'll be off in the penultimate group, alongside Matt Kuchar.
Kuchar is just another big name and good story, the Georgia Tech product still grinding for that first major after several years as one of the game's top earners. Kuchar would have been in the final pairing if not for a slip-up on the last hole, where he gave shot back with a sloppy putt from the back fringe through the green. He's finished inside the top 10 the last two years, and has a long history at Augusta, dating back to his low amateur honors in 1997. He's another option to root for on Sunday.
Aside from that power pairing anchoring things, the most fun duo on Sunday will probably be Rickie Fowler and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Neither has won a major, and they're two of the most popular characters on Tour, despite the 25-year age difference. Jimenez is the "most interesting golfer in the world" and Fowler is critiqued as a #brand ambassador who makes tons of marketing money disproportionate to his one career win. They're both good stories to follow.
It's really an awesome set of pairings, and should be a huge boost to Sunday with no Tiger or Phil. Here's the full tee sheet for the final round at the Masters:
Tee time |
Players |
|
10:10 a.m. |
Larry Mize |
|
10:20 a.m. |
Stephen Gallacher |
Joost Luiten |
10:30 a.m. |
Brandt Snedeker |
Mike Weir |
10:40 a.m. |
K.J. Choi |
Sandy Lyle |
10:50 a.m. |
Francesco Molinari |
Nick Watney |
11:00 a.m. |
Oliver Goss |
Brendon de Jonge |
11:10 a.m. |
Thongchai Jaidee |
Thorbjorn Olesen |
11:20 a.m. |
Lucas Glover |
Billy Horschel |
11:30 a.m. |
Stewart Cink |
Darren Clarke |
11:50 a.m. |
Jose Maria Olazabal |
Vijay Singh |
12:00 p.m. |
Steven Bowditch |
Hunter Mahan |
12:10 p.m. |
Bill Haas |
Martin Kaymer |
12:20 p.m. |
Jamie Donaldson |
Louis Oosthuizen |
12:30 p.m. |
Bernhard Langer |
Henrik Stenson |
12:40 p.m. |
Rory McIlroy |
Jimmy Walker |
12:50 p.m. |
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano |
Russell Henley |
1:00 p.m. |
Chris Kirk |
Steve Stricker |
1:10 p.m. |
Jason Day |
Adam Scott |
1:30 p.m. |
Ian Poulter |
Kevin Streelman |
1:40 p.m. |
John Senden |
Gary Woodland |
1:50 p.m. |
Fred Couples |
Kevin Stadler |
2:00 p.m. |
Thomas Bjorn |
Justin Rose |
2:10 p.m. |
Jim Furyk |
Lee Westwood |
2:20 p.m. |
Rickie Fowler |
Miguel Angel Jimenez |
2:30 p.m. |
Jonas Blixt |
Matt Kuchar |
2:40 p.m. |
Jordan Spieth |
Bubba Watson |