US Masters golf betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook

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US Masters Golf betting odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook

US Masters   The Masters Tournament, which is commonly referred to as The Masters or The US Masters (outside the United States), is one of four major championships in men's professional golf and the first of the four to be played each year.   The final round of the Masters is always scheduled for the second Sunday in April. Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held every year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA. The Masters was started by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones, who designed Augusta National with legendary course architect Alister MacKenzie.   The Masters is an official money event on the PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour and the Japan Golf Tour.   In line with the other majors, winning the Masters gives a golfer several privileges which make his career more secure. Masters champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship) for the next five years, and earn a lifetime invitation to the Masters.

They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for five years. In 2007, the prize fund was US$7.25 million.

 

History

 

Early years

 

The first Masters Tournament was held on 22 March 1934, and was won by Horton Smith. Bobby Jones saw his involvement in founding the tournament as a service to golf, but demurred at calling it the Masters Tournament, preferring the more modest Augusta National Invitation Tournament. That name was used for five years before Jones relented and the present name was adopted in 1939. The first tournament was played with current holes 10 through 18 played as the first nine, and 1 through 9 as the second nine (although front and back are more commonly used, the Masters is well known for insisting on referring to the "first" and "second" nines), then reversed permanently to its famous layout for the 1935 tournament.

 

Gene Sarazen hit "the shot heard 'round the world," holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle to force a 36 hole playoff which he subsequently won by 5 strokes to win the 1935 Masters. The Tournament was not played from 1943-45, due to World War II. To assist the war effort, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds. The now traditional Par 3 contest, which takes place on the Wednesday before the tournament begins, was first played in 1960.

 

1960s

 

In 1961, Gary Player became the first non-American Masters champion. In 1975, Lee Elder became the first African-American to qualify for the Masters.

 

Arnold Palmer

 

Arnold Palmer dominated the Masters from 1958 to 1964, winning the event four times during that span. His second Masters was the stuff of a legend. Trailing Ken Venturi by one shot in the 1960 event, Palmer drilled his drive down the fairway on the 400-yard downwind 17th, pitched with an eight-iron to the green, where the ball sat down too quickly, leaving him a 25-foot putt. Twice Palmer lined up the putt, then struck it boldly for a birdie. At the 18th, he took out a six-iron and drilled the ball into the teeth of the wind onto the green. Palmer made a 3-foot birdie and he instantly became not only a golf legend, but a legend at the Masters.

 

 

While Palmer was in his prime, a young Ohio State golfer emerged who would make the Masters his playground: Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus won his first green jacket in 1963, with a key birdie on the par-3 16th hole. Two years later, he shot a then-course record of 271 (17 under par) for his second Masters win, leading Bobby Jones to say that Nicklaus played "a game with which I am not familiar." The next year, Nicklaus won his third green jacket in a grueling 18-hole playoff. He won again in 1972, but his fifth win in 1975 was one of the best. Locked in a duel with Tom Weiskopf on the 16th hole on the final day, Nicklaus hit a nice shot to the green, then before a worldwide television audience, made an incredible 40-foot birdie en route to his fifth Masters victory.

 

Gary Player

 

Gary Player became the first non-American to win the Masters in 1961, after Arnold Palmer, the defending champion, scored a double bogey on the final hole. Player won again in 1974, but by 1978 many golf writers considered him a has-been, but that brought out the best in him. At age 42, Gary Player fired a final round 64, including a six-under-par 30 on the second nine to capture his third Masters victory.

 

1968

 

The most controversial ending to a Masters event happened in 1968. Roberto de Vicenzo signed a scorecard (scored by playing partner Tommy Aaron) which incorrectly listed a 4 instead of a 3 on the 17th hole. This extra stroke cost him a chance to be in an 18-hole playoff with Bob Goalby, who won the green jacket.

 

1980s-1990s

 

Non-Americans collected eleven victories in twenty years in the 1980s and 1990s, by far the strongest streak they have had in any of the three majors played in the United States since the early days of the U.S Open. Jack Nicklaus became the oldest player to win the Masters in 1986 when he won for the sixth time at age 46. In 1997, headlines were made around the world when Tiger Woods won the Masters by twelve shots at age 21, in the process breaking the tournament four-day scoring record that had stood for 32 years.

 

Greg Norman

 

During this era, no golfer suffered the slings and arrows of Augusta more than Greg Norman, with two episodes standing out in particular. In 1987, Norman lost a sudden-death playoff to an unlikely local hero named Larry Mize. Mize holed out a remarkable 45-yard pitch shot to birdie the second playoff hole (#11) and win the Masters. In 1996, Norman tied the course record with an opening round 63, and had a six stroke lead over Nick Faldo entering the final round, but folded under the pressure. Norman shot a 78 while Faldo scored a 67 to win five shots.

 

2000s

 

More recently, the club was targeted by Martha Burk, who organized a failed protest at the 2003 Masters to pressure the club into accepting female members. The 2003 tournament was won by Mike Weir, who became the first Canadian to win a major championship, and the first left-hander to win the Masters. The following year, another left-hander, Phil Mickelson, won his first major championship by sinking a 15 foot putt on the 72nd hole to beat Ernie Els by a stroke.

 

Course measurement adjustments

 

As with many other courses, Augusta National's championship setup has been lengthened in recent years. In 1998, the course measured approximately 6925 yards from the Masters tees. It was lengthened to 7270 yards for 2002, and again in 2006 to 7445 yards; 520 yards longer than the 1998 course. The changes attracted many critics, including the three most successful players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed that the "shorter hitters are going to struggle." Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed, stating, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course". After a practice round Gary Player defended the changes saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I've played it.... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit [in his prime]".

 

Grass

 

Originally, the grass on the putting greens was the wide-bladed Bermuda. The greens lost speed, especially during the late 1970s, ironically after the introduction of a healthier strain of narrow-bladed Bermuda, which thrived and grew thicker, slowing the speed of the greens. In 1978, the greens on the Par-3 course were reconstructed with bentgrass, a narrow-bladed species that could be mowed shorter, eliminating grain. After this test run, the greens on the main course were replaced with bentgrass in time for the 1981 Masters. The bentgrass resulted in significantly faster putting surfaces, which has required a reduction in some of the contours of the greens over time.

 

Just before the 1975 tournament, the common beige sand in the bunkers was replaced with the now-signature white feldspar. It is a quartz derivative of the mining of feldspar and is shipped in from North Carolina.

 

U.S. Masters winners of the last 17 years

 

Year	Champion	Country	To par	Margin
2007	Zach Johnson	United States	+1	2
2006	Phil Mickelson	United States	-7	2
2005	Tiger Woods	United States	-12	Playoff (2)
2004	Phil Mickelson	United States	-9	1
2003	Mike Weir	Canada	-7	Playoff (2)
2002	Tiger Woods	United States	-12	3
2001	Tiger Woods	United States	-16	2
2000	Vijay Singh	Fiji	-10	3
1999	José María Olazábal	Spain	-8	2
1998	Mark O'Meara	United States	-9	1
1997	Tiger Woods	United States	-18	12
1996	Nick Faldo	England	-12	5
1995	Ben Crenshaw	United States	-14	1
1994	José María Olazábal	Spain	-9	2
1993	Bernhard Langer	Germany	-11	4
1992	Fred Couples	United States	-13	2
1991	Ian Woosnam	Wales	-11	1
1990	Nick Faldo	England	-10	Playoff (2)

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