It stands, for now, as one of the most unlikely, if daunting, records in golf — no one, in the now 84-year history of the Masters, has ever broken 70 in all four rounds of a given year.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Jack Nicklaus won here six times and never did it. Tiger Woods (1997) and Jordan Spieth (2015) each finished 18 under and didn’t do it. No one has managed it while winning, or not. ” data-reactid=”14″>Jack Nicklaus won here six times and never did it. Tiger Woods (1997) and Jordan Spieth (2015) each finished 18 under and didn’t do it. No one has managed it while winning, or not.
This is a stingy tournament, one that has survived modern technology and changes in strategy to cling proudly to its history of befuddling, at least a little, everyone.
This being 2020, though …
There are still two (plus) rounds to go this weekend, but based on the results thus far, and the way the course plays in the cool, damp fall environment, the chances of the record finally falling is greater than perhaps it’s ever been.
“With these conditions, you have … to be aggressive,” Woods said. “There’s no reason why you can’t fire at a lot of the flags.”
As of the end of play on Friday, three players — Abraham Ancer, Cameron Smith and Justin Thomas — have shot in the 60s in their first two complete rounds. They lead the tournament at 9 under, joined by Dustin Johnson, who got there via a 65-70.
Red numbers were everywhere on the Masters leaderboard during Round 2. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
As many as six to eight more players could join them in the sub-70 club entering the weekend. Due to a weather delay Thursday and darkness that comes from playing this event in November for the first time ever, a slew of players were unable to finish their second round on Friday. They’ll finish early Saturday.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="That includes a dozen golfers who shot in the 60s in Round 1. Three of them, Jon Rahm (-5 for the day), Hideki Matsuyama (-4) and Louis Oosthuizen (-3) are all on pace; they’d need only to par in their remaining second holes when play resumes on Saturday morning.” data-reactid=”32″>That includes a dozen golfers who shot in the 60s in Round 1. Three of them, Jon Rahm (-5 for the day), Hideki Matsuyama (-4) and Louis Oosthuizen (-3) are all on pace; they’d need only to par in their remaining second holes when play resumes on Saturday morning.
Three others would only need to finish 1 or 2 under to join them.
While six or eight golfers might not sound like much, it is when it comes to this record.
In the last 20 Masters, just 18 players have broken 70 in both the first and second round. During that period, only once have more than two done so. Nine times during that stretch, no one accomplished it.
Just six players, most recently 2018 champion Patrick Reed, strung together three rounds in the 60s before hitting 70 or more on Sunday.
This is a record that’s rarely even challenged.
There’s more, though. This is, of course, not a normal Masters. As such, this isn’t the case of a lot of guys just getting hot. The course is hot because the weather and ground conditions of November have proven quite different than the traditional April date.
The turf, especially the greens, have been “so soft,” according to Justin Thomas. A heavy rain Thursday morning only aided in that. There’s also been minimal wind.
It’s why scores are so low. The way players were attacking the pin and thudding bombs onto the green, you’d think this had been renamed the Greater Augusta Open.
And with cool temperatures (and even a chance of rain on Sunday), that is unlikely to change dramatically.
“With the soft conditions, it’s easier to keep the ball on the greens,” Dustin Johnson said on ESPN. “Obviously, the conditions are going to stay relatively the same, they are going to stay soft so you need to be aggressive.”
Augusta National Golf Club sees all those red scores. There is no question they are not pleased. The record has taken on a life of its own after all these decades and there is pride in the concept that the same score Byron Nelson (-5 in 1937) or Ben Hogan (-8 in 1951) shot to win here carries over to modern times (even if the course has been lengthened and altered).
So the club is expected to do what it can to add teeth to the course.
“You’ve got to think Augusta National is going to get this place going this weekend,” Thomas said. “But at the end of the day, they can’t do anything about the weather.”
They can’t. This is what can happen when a pandemic pushes your historic event back seven months. The hallowed record may fall, of course, but it would come with a fall asterisk.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="More from Yahoo Sports:” data-reactid=”47″>More from Yahoo Sports:
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
