AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tyrell Hatton can’t wait to see his soon-to-be born daughter in white Masters coveralls next year at Augusta National.
That possibility became a reality on Sunday after Hatton was one of several players to receive an automatic invitation to next year’s Masters for finishing in the top 12 (including ties).
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“My wife is due in six weeks and I was thinking about how it would be cool to come back next year and our little girl will be pretty much 11 months,” said Hatton, who closed with a 66 — the same score he shot Friday — to finish tied for third at 10-under 278.
Players often dress their children in traditional caddie outfits for the Par-3 Contest on the eve of the tournament.
“Obviously you see all the other dads and their families and the little ones in boiler suits is so cute,” Hatton said. “Yeah, I wanted to experience that. Yeah, definitely a motivation for me to try and make some birdies and happy I managed to do that. Yeah, it was cool.”
Max Homa, Jake Knapp and Sam Burns were among the others to earn an invitation for next year.
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“I’m really proud of just the golf — my brain was so good,” said Homa, who finished in a tie for ninth, four shots behind champion Rory McIlroy.
Morikawa plays through injury
Collin Morikawa was thrilled to finish tied for seventh at 9-under 279 after dealing with a back injury and spasms.
Morikawa withdrew from The Players Championship last month after one hole because of back pain. He wasn’t at full strength coming into the Masters and shot 74 in the first round. He followed that up with three straight rounds in the 60s while clearly playing through discomfort that affected his swing.
“Trust me, it’s going to be one of the best tournaments forever,” Morikawa said. “I’m going to remember this one for many reasons, but just more how strong the mind is, to be able to go out and convince yourself that everything is going to be OK.”
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Morikawa made five consecutive birdies on the back nine Sunday to shoot his second consecutive 68.
Hovland goes low on Sunday but it could have been better
Viktor Hovland birdied seven of the first 13 holes Sunday, briefly threatening a run at the course record of 63 before settling for a 67.
“I’d say a couple of the pins are gettable and … obviously the wind direction is a little bit different, so some of the holes played easier,” Hovland said. “Maybe some of the other holes played a little bit tougher.”
Nick Price shot 63 in 1986 and Greg Norman did it a decade later. Nobody has matched the record since, and the lowest final-round score is 64.
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Hovland was at 7 under with good birdie chances still left at Nos. 15 and 16. He did in fact birdie the par-3 16th, but that was only after sending his second shot on the par-5 15th way past the green, down the hill and into the pond on the 16th. That double bogey pretty much ended his shot at history, and after a bogey on 18, he finished at 4 under for the week.
Hovland played three straight rounds under par after a 75 on Thursday.
Li makes a 10 and shoots 80
Haotong Li’s final trip through Amen Corner was a fiasco.
Li was 7 under for the tournament through 11 holes Sunday — not likely to win but at least in position for a solid finish. Then he made triple bogey on the par-3 12th and followed that up with a 10 on the par-5 15th.
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His tee shot on No. 12 hit the bank short of the green and rolled back down into Rae’s Creek. After a penalty drop, his next shot landed on the green but spun back into the water. He had to roll in a putt from off the green just to make a 6.
The 13th hole was somehow worse. After a poor drive, he hooked his second shot into the bushes left of the creek that runs down the left side of the hole. It took two tries for him to hack it out to the back of the green — leading to a lengthy wait for his playing partner, runner-up Scottie Scheffler — and then his putt raced past the hole and into the creek short of the green.
When he finally holed out for a 10, he raised both arms in the air in mock triumph. Li signed for an 80 after playing his first three rounds under par and finished in a tie for 38th.
Nos. 2 and 1 in the world finish 1-2
McIlroy and Scheffler finished 1-2 at the Masters, which marked the first time the top two players in the world have finished in the top two at a major championship since then-No. 1 Tiger Woods beat Phil Mickelson in the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.
Scheffler is No. 1 in the rankings and McIlroy is No. 2.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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