Another Masters Tournament at Augusta National is now in the books, but this year’s tournament was anything but average.

The four-day tournament ended on a historic note after Hideki Matsuyama became the first-ever Japanese male to win the tournament. Matsuyama’s victory is a massive deal for Asian athletes, and many have expressed the significance of this moment on social media. Listening to the Japanese commentary really showed how important this was as they were incredibly emotional for every single shot Matsuyama took.

Matsuyama even got an endorsement on Twitter from Tiger Woods. Woods said he could not have been happier for Matsuyama and hopes that he can inspire a new wave of Asian golfers to compete at these massive tournaments.

Matsuyama finished -10 on his way to victory. He really started lighting up the course after a rain delay in the middle of his third round. From then on, there was only a little competition from the other golfers on the course.

One of the few people making Matsuyama sweat was 24-year-old Masters rookie Will Zalatoris, who finished -9. Zalatoris was my pick heading into the third round due to his unique and “new school” style of play. He does not take an overly long-time choosing club and reading the shot. He just trusts his game.

Overall, Zalatoris did play extremely well for his age and experience, and I can see him winning many future events.

Another competitor that kept it close to Matsuyama until the last few holes was Xander Schauffele. Schauffele finished -7 but was really in the mix until the 16th hole on Sunday. He was about one shot behind the lead for most of the last round until he triple-bogeyed the par-3 16th. This hole took him down to third place overall.

Perhaps the most surprising part of this tournament were the notably bad performances.

The 2020 Masters Champion, Dustin Johnson did not even make the cut this year after the first two rounds. Last year he posted a record win, shooting -20. This year he shot +4 after the first two rounds, which did not let him play Saturday and Sunday. This performance was surprising as he is ranked number one in the world. 

Another poor performance this weekend came from Bryson DeChambeau, who was heading into the tournament with a lot of confidence, even saying that the course was more of a par 67 to him. This proved to be false as he could not find the fairways. He finished tied for 46th with a score of +3.

In the end, the 2021 Masters was as great as ever. It is the best golf tournament every year, and this year did not disappoint. Although there were many great performances, the spotlight remains firmly on one man, Matsuyama. I suspect the golf world will be talking about Matsuyama’s historic win for a long time.

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