2004 Masters Tournament

2004 Masters Tournament

Tournament information
Dates	April 8 - 11, 2004
Location	Augusta, Georgia
Course(s)	Augusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour PGA European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,290
Field	93 players, 44 after cut
Cut	149 (+5)
Prize fund	$6,000,000
Winner's share	$1,170,000
Champion
Phil Mickelson
279 (-9)

The 2004 Masters Tournament was the 68th Masters Tournament held from April 8-11 at Augusta National Golf Club. Phil Mickelson won his first, long awaited major championship with a birdie on the 18th hole to defeat Ernie Els by one stroke. The purse was $6 million and Mickelson won $1.17 million.

Round-by-round results

First round

The first round was dominated by 23-year old, Justin Rose, who posted a five-under 67 on the day. American's Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas shot 69s, to finish second for the day at -3. Two time U.S. Open champion, Ernie Els was among a group tied for fourth at -2. Among the seven players tied at -1 was two-time Masters champion, José María Olazábal. Phil Mickelson shot an even par 72, and eight-time major champion, Tiger Woods shot a three-over 75. The winner of the last major (2003 PGA Championship), Shaun Micheel, finished with an even par 72. Play was suspended for roughly two hours due to rain, so 18 players had to complete their opening round Friday morning.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Justin Rose	England	67	-5
T2	Chris DiMarco	United States	69	-3
	Jay Haas	United States
T4	Ernie Els	South Africa	70	-2
	Alex Čejka	Germany
	Chris Riley	United States
	Darren Clarke	Northern Ireland
T8	K. J. Choi	South Korea	71	-1
	Charles Howell III	United States
	Bernhard Langer	Germany
	Colin Montgomerie	Scotland
	José María Olazábal	Spain
	Phillip Price	Wales
	Kirk Triplett	United States

Second round

After a first-round 67, leader Justin Rose put together another good round (71) to take the 36-hole lead at -6. José María Olazábal shot a 69 to close within two strokes of the lead in tie for second with Alex Čejka, who shot a two-under 70 on his day. Phil Mickelson, trying to remove the best player never to win a major championship label, moved into a share of fourth, alongside K. J. Choi, with a three-under 69 on the round. Davis Love III was one of two golfers to shoot the round of the day with a five-under 67. The score moved him into a tie for sixth with Ernie Els, Charles Howell III, Chris DiMarco and 1992 Masters champion, Fred Couples. Most notable golfers made the cut (+5), but the biggest name to fail to advance to the weekend was 2003 Open Champion, Ben Curtis.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Justin Rose	England	67-71=138	-6
T2	Alex Čejka	Germany	70-70=140	-4
	José María Olazábal	Spain	71-69=140
T4	K. J. Choi	South Korea	71-70=141	-3
	Phil Mickelson	United States	72-69=141
T6	Fred Couples	United States	73-69=142	-2
	Chris DiMarco	United States	69=73=142
	Ernie Els	South Africa	70-72=142
	Charles Howell III	United States	71-71=142
	Davis Love III	United States	75-67=142

Amateurs: Snedeker (+4), Wittenberg (+4), Smith (+6), Flanagan (+8), Wolstenholme (+9).

Third round

Phil Mickelson moved from fourth to take the 54-hole lead with a three-under 69, while the top three golfers after round two collapsed. Justin Rose shot a nine-over 81 to drop from -6 to +3, José María Olazábal shot a seven-over 79 to drop from -4 to +3, and Alex Čejka shot a six-over 78 to drop from -4 to +2. This collective meltdown by the top three not only allowed Mickelson to rise to the top, but Chris DiMarco as well. DiMarco finished tied for the 54-hole lead with a four-under 68. Paul Casey put together a 68 as well to move within two strokes of the co-leaders at the end of the day. Ernie Els continued his steady play with a one-under 71 to move into a three-way tie for third. Kirk Triplett and Fredrik Jacobson put themselves in contention as well moving into seventh and eighth respectively.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Chris DiMarco	United States	69-73-68=210	-6
	Phil Mickelson	United States	72-69-69=210
3	Paul Casey	England	75-69-68=212	-4
T4	K.J. Choi	South Korea	71-70-72=213	-3
	Ernie Els	South Africa	70-72-71=213
	Bernhard Langer	Germany	71-73-69=213
7	Kirk Triplett	United States	71-74-69=214	-2
8	Fredrik Jacobson	Sweden	74-74-67=215	-1
T9	Stewart Cink	United States	74-73-69=216	E
	Fred Couples	United States	73-69-74=216
	Jay Haas	United States	69-75-72=216
	Pádraig Harrington	Ireland	74-74-68=216
	Davis Love III	United States	75-67-74=216
	Nick Price	Zimbabwe	72-73-71=216

Final round

In one of the most exciting back nines in Masters history, Phil Mickelson out dueled Ernie Els to claim his first ever major championship and green jacket. Mickelson shot a final round 69, including an 18-foot birdie on the 18th hole to defeat Els. Els started the day at -3, and posted a five-under 67 a few groups ahead of Mickelson. His -8 seemed to be good enough to at least get him into a playoff with Mickelson. Els stumbled out of the gate with two bogeys in his first five holes, but quickly regained his form. He collected two eagles on his round at the par 5 8th and 13th. He also connected on a birdie at the 15th to put him at -8. Seeing his first major possibly slip away with a two-over on his front nine, Mickelson had to match Els's fire on the back nine. Mickelson would birdie five holes. Knowing Els had eagled the 13th, Mickelson would birdie the par 3 12th and par 5 13th. He would then briefly tie Els with his third-consecutive birdie at the par 4 14th. After a disappointing par at a birdie hole on the par 5 15th, Mickelson really had to buckle down on the final three holes. On the par 3 16th, Mickelson put the ball 20-feet above the hole. He would tie for the tournament lead with the dramatic putt. He remained tied heading to the final hole. When his second shot landed on the green, a championship winning putt was in front of him. As Mickelson made the putt, he jumped for joy as he won his first major title.

K.J. Choi finished third, which was his best major finish, with a three-under 69. Sergio García shot the round of the tournament with a six-under 66 to finish in a tie for fourth. Also in this tie for fourth was two-time Masters champion, Bernhard Langer, who shot an even par on the round. Four major champions, including two former Masters champions (Vijay Singh, Fred Couples, Nick Price, and Davis Love III) finished in tie for sixth at -2. Tiger Woods's streak of not winning a major continued to seven with a disappointing +2. First and second round leader, Justin Rose also finished the tournament with a +2.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Phil Mickelson	United States	72-69-69-69=279	-9	1,170,000
2	Ernie Els	South Africa	70-72-71-67=280	-8	702,000
3	K. J. Choi	South Korea	71-70-72-69=282	-6	442,000
T4	Sergio García	Spain	72-72-75-66=285	-3	286,000
	Bernhard Langer	Germany	71-73-69-72=285
T6	Paul Casey	England	75-69-68-74=286	-2	189,893
	Fred Couples	United States	73-69-74-70=286
	Chris DiMarco	United States	69-73-68-76=286
	Davis Love III	United States	75-67-74-70=286
	Nick Price	Zimbabwe	72-73-71-70=286
	Vijay Singh	Fiji	75-73-69-69=286
	Kirk Triplett	United States	71-74-69-72=286

Amateurs: Wittenberg (E), Snedeker (+12).

Quotes

• "Is it his time? YES! At long last!" -Jim Nantz's (CBS Sports) call as Mickelson sunk his birdie putt on the 18th hole to defeat Ernie Els and win the tournament.

External links

• Full results