AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The record will show that Sergio Garcia won his first major on his 74th try on the 73rd hole of the 81st Masters tournament.

But most who were watching on Sunday will tell you that he won the tournament on the 13th hole when he and Justin Rose both made pars.

Two pars decided the tournament?

It makes sense if you relive Sunday...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Seve Ballesteros would have so loved this Masters, played over this heaven on earth on what would have been his 60th birthday.

Wasn't it two-time Masters champ Ballesteros, dead far too young in 2011, who put Spanish golf on the map? Didn't his genius lie in his ability to turn car wrecks into victory parades? Wouldn't he have ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Justin Rose had one arm in his first Masters green jacket.

He had withstood a charge by Sergio Garcia to take a one-shot lead with a birdie at No. 16. But his drive on 17 went into the pine trees on the right. He got his second shot into the bunker that is in front of the green, blasted out to 7 feet, but missed the par putt to ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday, just as Sergio Garcia's sword fight with Justin Rose broke out in earnest and the Masters' back nine was fully engaged, in the twosome just ahead, Rickie Fowler was doing this:

Drive through the pine grove off No. 11 left rough; recovery shot off a gallery-mushed lie over the green; chip up and two ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- What a leaderboard heading into the final round of the Masters.

Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia at the top.

Rickie Fowler one stroke back.

And, most menacing, two shots back is Jordan Spieth, who has never finished lower than second at Augusta National Golf Club.

Sunday's final round will bring with it the kind of drama this ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Old Man started hot with birdies on his first two holes.

Could Phil Mickelson do it again at the Masters? Could he put himself in position to win his fourth green jacket?

The answers, emphatic "No's" (we may couch as "Not yet"), came quickly.

After reaching 2 under, the 46-year-old carded one more birdie, three bogeys and ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Six holes down and 12 to play, Justin Rose was going backwards.

While the leaders had gone off five shots ahead, Rose was 1 over par for his third round and the Masters seemed to be going forth without him. About then, he and caddie Mark "Fooch" Fulcher had a chat Saturday afternoon.

"We kind of knew we were being tested at ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A day after Charley Hoffman fired possibly the most impressive first round in recent Masters history, things returned to normal Friday at Augusta National Golf Club.

There's a leaderboard that even the casual golf fan can get excited about, with four players tied at four-under-par 140.

There's the rebel. Sergio Garcia, labeled ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- This is not to say the first round of the Masters lacked for panache, but the tournament could have powered its leaderboard with a 10-watt portable generator.

The weekend finds that the scenery has changed and a host of the world's top-ranked players are now fully engaged.

First-round leader Charley Hoffman is a nice guy you ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- On an afternoon Phil Mickelson might have commanded the lead in the Masters, an old ally let him down.

"I struggled with the putter today and a lot of it was wind-aided," Mickelson after shooting a 1-over 73 that included three bogeys on the day's final five holes. "It's easy if you have to hit them. The wind is having more of ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tea Olive, the first hole at Augusta National, may have its name changed to Poison Ivy after the first two rounds of the Masters.

No one wants to get near it, and by the time you are finished you feel like one big rash.

"That may be one of the hardest starting holes in golf," said William McGirt, who bogeyed it Friday. "...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Rickie Fowler's 5-under-par 67 put him in position for a strong run at a Masters championship on Friday.

Fowler is tied for the 36-hole lead with Sergio Garcia, first-round leader Charley Hoffman and Masters rookie Thomas Pieters at 4-under-par.

They are two strokes ahead of William McGirt and three up on a group that includes ...Read more

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The biggest shot on the first day of the Masters might have been the one that was never taken.

The most memorable shot -- take your pick, there were plenty of them -- was by a 40-year-old journeyman from San Diego who seemed to be playing a different game on a different course.

Charley Hoffman was meandering through the early ...Read more