TOUR REPORT
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took over. With Mr. Major, Brooks Koepka,
briefly grabbing the lead on Sunday and Louis
Oosthuizen chasing all day long, Mickelson
had every opportunity to choke, but he didn't.
He made massive memories by holing a sand
shot for birdie at the fifth, pounding a 366-yard
drive (longest of the week) at 16, where he also
made birdie, and emerging from a mob scene of
fans at 18 to become golf's oldest major cham-
pion. With no top 10s since, I'm still shaking
my head as to how this happened.
u u u
4) Rising Sun flies
at Augusta National
Following a 77-minute rain delay on Saturday
at the 2021 Masters, Hideki Matsuyama went
from nil to nuclear. He birdied 11, 12 and 16 and
eagled 15 to go from two shots back to a four-
shot lead. That same back nine nearly destroyed
him on Sunday.
Xander Schauffele almost caught Matsuyama
with four straight birdies (12-15). Then the X-
Man rinsed his tee shot and made triple at 16.
The Z-Man, unheralded Will Zalatoris, also
gave spirited chase.
Hideki made a hideous decision at 15, going
for the green in two and finding water when he
held a three-shot lead, but he wobbled in with
just enough reserves to win by one.
Few players have ever faced such scrutiny,
such pressure, with the rabid Japanese media
swarming their country's top players. To be-
come the first man from Japan to win the Mas-
ters, or to win a major, meant that Matsuyama
had to withstand much more than the X-Man
and the Z-Man.
u u u
5) Welcome back,
Jordan Spieth
It's tough leaving off Xander Schauffele's
heroic up-and-down to win Olympic Gold in
Tokyo, but this is my list, and I'm picking my
favorite comeback story for 2021: Jordan Spieth
and everything he accomplished.
Down and possibly out after three lousy
seasons, the three-time major winner bounced
back at January's Waste Management Phoenix
Open, holing chip shots and putts like Spieth of
2015 to tie for the third-round lead.
The atmosphere was electric, the limited gal-
leries roaring. Spieth didn't win, but it set him
up for a third-place finish the next week at Peb-
ble Beach, a fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invita-
tional and then finally a breakthrough 'W' at the
Valero Texas Open. Sweet relief. A tie for third at
the Masters and a runner-up at the British Open
meant one thing: One of the most popular, excit-
ing players in golf was back – truly back.
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Phil Mickelson became
the oldest winner of a
major with his victory at
the PGA Championship.
