Jon Rahm wins his first green jacket
April 20, 2023
The 87th edition of the Masters Tournament has concluded, and Jon Rahm took home the green jacket after beating out Brooks Koepka by four strokes.
Right out the gate, Rahm and Koepka were going at it, along with Viktor Hovland. All three were tied for the lead after round one at 7-under-par.
The other big news of day one was Tiger Woods shooting a 74. Woods went into the tournament having made the cut 22 consecutive times.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world, had a solid start to the tournament. Even with his trouble on the greens, Scheffler still posted a 68, putting him only three strokes behind the lead.
Round two was all Koepka, as he continued his stellar performance while also managing to finish before the bad weather came in and halted play.
After two trees fell and inclement weather suspended play on Friday afternoon, it resumed Saturday, meaning several groups had to stretch their 18 holes over two days.
As Koepka sat comfortably in the clubhouse, Rahm did his best to close the gap on the leaderboard. Rahm had a topsy-turvy final four holes, as he went birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey on 15, 16, 17 and 18. He finished the day at 10-under par through 36 holes, in sole possession of second place.
Woods made the cut for a record 23rd consecutive Masters’ cut, tying Gary Player and Fred Couples.
The bad weather continued during round three, suspending play again. Koepka was 13-under par through six holes, Rahm was second at 9-under par and amateur Sam Bennett was in third at 6-under par.
After two days of bad weather, the 87th Masters resumed Sunday under sunny and dry conditions, with golfers completing the third round in the morning before starting the fourth and final round in the afternoon.
“I thought Brooks Koepka was going to win at the start of the tournament,” said senior business management major Jakob Flores. “He was playing great until Sunday, and then he just choked the whole thing away.”
Rahm, who entered the final round trailing Koepka by two strokes, shot a 3-under-par 69 in the final round to finish 12 under par for the tournament and claim his first green jacket. It is Rahm’s second major tournament victory; he won the U.S. Open in 2021.
“The Masters is so special because of the beautiful scenery of the legendary Augusta National golf course,” said former GC golfer Luke Ninneman. “I’ve been watching The Masters since I was a kid, and the special feeling it gives me never goes away.”
“I got to go to a practice round once with my dad when I was younger,” said junior marketing major Jackson Kiser. “The whole experience was surreal. I recommend everyone go at least once in their lives.”
The Masters is, without a doubt, a very special golf tournament, and Rahm has officially marked his name in the history books. He now just needs to win the PGA Championship and the Open Championship to complete his Grand Slam.