Ranking the Key Moments From the 2023 Masters, Including Rahm, Rory, Phil and a Very Cool Video
Your world has been shaken. The Masters was played and, against all odds, didn’t go to a Monday finish. (Good thing there wasn’t a playoff, though!)
You were treated to a double dose of the back nine on Sunday.
Now we return to our regular programming, the PGA Tour. (Don’t sound so disappointed. Masters Sunday was emotionally draining. The Ranking needs time to recharge.)
Meanwhile, we look at what rocked most in a memorable week …
10. The trunk slammers. It’s not what you think. Three trees were felled at Augusta National during a Friday afternoon storm, narrowly missing fans around the 17th tee. It was the biggest tree event at Augusta since The Eisenhower Tree went down in an ice storm a few years ago. Luckily, nobody was hurt when this trio crashed down. Nobody who wasn’t a tree, that is.
9. The Louisiana Purchase. When Augusta National bought a chunk of neighboring Augusta Country Club, it was undoubtedly the most important land transaction since the aforementioned Louisiana Purchase from France, which gave us Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and parts of other major plains states. Without it, pigs and corn would be in short supply. The Masters built a new tee that added 35 yards to the par-5 13th hole. It returned tee shot landing areas to where they were in the 1990s, and did make going for the green in two “a momentous decision,” as founder Bobby Jones wanted. Wet conditions and a north wind on the weekend helped make the hole play longer. Mission accomplished.
8. The dash for cash. Let’s see if The Ranking has this right: The Masters is the most glamorous, biggest major championship of them all. It raised its purse to $18 million last week, with winner Jon Rahm taking home $3.24 million. This week, the RBC Heritage Classic returns to Hilton Head Island. It is one of the newly christened elevated events. Its purse is $20 million and the winner gets $3.6 mill. No Masters champ would swap the green jacket and the prestige for the Heritage’s extra $360k. Is it possible the PGA Tour overreacted to the LIV Golf threat with these massive purse increases? Or were they necessary in the effort to stamp out the competition? Discuss.
7. The world according to Jim. It’s true that CBS announcer Jim Nantz usually plans his climactic sports calls ahead of time. “Rahm wins the Masters marathon!” was not bad. It rates a little better than last year’s “Scheffler outshines them all!” The Ranking believes neither measures up to Joe Buck’s beer commercial parody home-run call: “Ortiz hits it back, way back and—slamma-lamma ding-dong!”
6. The Great Trunk Slam. With only 88 players in the field and the cut to low 50 and ties for the weekend, the Masters is the easiest cut to make in major championship golf. Nobody who’s been No. 1 in the world lately could possibly miss this cut, right? Well, Rory McIlroy missed and became a trunk slammer, a pro euphemism for missed the cut. He needs a Masters to complete a career Grand Slam and there were hopes after his late charge and runner-up finish last year. Those hopes were cruelly dashed—much like Chicago Cubs fans’ hopes each year—after last week. Observers wonder whether the course is in Rory’s head, if his swing looks better than it really is or if his wedge play and putting are still suspect at a course that puts a premium on those aspects. It’s been nine years since he won any major. The concern is approaching “uh-oh” level.
5. Luke Skywalker, drone pilot. The coolest new view of Augusta National came courtesy of a camera in a drone, if you saw the spot. The drone flew through Rae’s Creek like it was darting through the Grand Canyon, much like the “Star Wars” chase when Luke races his fighter through The Meridian Trench (The Ranking staff totally knew that and absolutely didn’t have to Google it) to fire the torpedo (Laser? Ray gun? Whatever.) so precisely that it blows up the Death Star. Nothing blew up in the Rae’s Creek adventure, unfortunately. Still, CBS took viewers someplace they’ve never been with that footage. Clever, it was.
4. Major Delays reporting, sir—sorry I’m late. The Ranking says go ahead and let Brooks Koepka have his Major Brooks nickname. Koepka’s fast 65-67 Masters start fizzled in Sunday’s wet conditions but he proved capable of winning more majors. Koepka beat everybody but two guys—Rahm, the winner, and Phil Mickelson, the player he shared second place with. That makes 14 top-5 finishes in his last 32 majors, including four wins. Koepka is back. One hundred percent back? To be determined.
3. The Tiger Report. The good news? Tiger Woods got the bad half of the Masters draw and the worst weather, yet still made the cut for a 23rd straight time, tying the Masters record held by Gary Player and Fred Couples. The bad news? Woods, limping badly and withdrew before Sunday’s final that would have forced him to play 28 holes. Few courses are tougher walks than Augusta National but The Ranking wonders how often (ever?) Woods will walk 72 holes in a major again.
2. Really Big Spain. The Masters got a deserving winner in Spain’s Jon Rahm. Watching those 320-yard straight drives makes it clear why Rahm’s game travels so well. Plus his short game and putting are outstanding. Spain’s great Seve Ballesteros won five majors during his colorful career. The Ranking sees Rahm matching or bettering that.
1. View to a thrill. Phil Mickelson tying for second at the Masters is as shocking to The Ranking as discovering that Jurassic Park is real. (It’s not? Are you sure that wasn’t a documentary?) Ranked 425th in the world before last week, Mickelson added to his legacy with an eight-birdie 65 in the closing round to finish second two days after predicting he was “ready to go on a tear.” No one saw this coming (except Phil, 52). It was every bit as exceptional as his 2021 PGA Championship win. The Ranking will thus recycle an old question with new excitement: Just what, exactly, will Phil do next?