Round 4 Notes – The Masters Tournament
Trevor Immelman's final round of 75 marks the eighth time in Masters history the champion has posted an over-par score in the final round. The 75 by Immelman matches Arnold Palmer's 75 in 1962 as the highest winning final-round score in Masters history. It is also the highest final-round score for a major winner since Vijay Singh (76) in 2004 at the PGA Championship:Over-par final rounds -- Masters champions:
Byron Nelson, 1942
Herman Keiser, 1946
Arnold Palmer, 1958, 1962
Gary Player, 1961
Jack Nicklaus, 1972
Craig Stadler, 1982
Trevor Immelman, 2008
Zach Johnson (2007) and Trevor Immelman (2008) showed there are several ways to win at Augusta National GC in terms of scoring. One year after Johnson set the record for most over-par on the par-4s for a champion (+8), Immelman (-10) broke Tiger Woods (-8) record for most under-par on the par-4s set in 2001.
Scoring Average: Johnson and Immelman
Zach Johnson (2007) Trevor Immelman (2008)
Par-3, 3.19 (+4) 3.31 (+5)
Par-4, 4.23 (+8) 3.75 (-10)
Par-5, 4.31 (-11) 4.81 (-3)
+1 total -8 total
A new streak was started in 2008 as the champion came from the final grouping. Last year, Zach Johnson became the first Masters champion to win without being in the final group on Sunday since 1990 when tournament winner Nick Faldo was in the penultimate group. The final Sunday pairing in 2007 Stuart Appleby and Tiger Woods.
The 3-stroke win for Trevor Immelman was the largest margin of victory at a major since Tiger Woods bested Shaun Micheel by five at the 2006 PGA Championship. At the Masters, it matched Tiger Woods (2002) 3-stroke win over Retief Goosen for the largest margin of victory since Woods' record-setting 12-stroke win in 1997.
Trevor Immelman DOES NOT win wire-to-wire -- he was the co-leader through 18 holes with Justin Rose before becoming the solo 36- and 54-hole leader before winning the Masters.
Trevor Immelman is the 24th different player (28 times total) to post three of four rounds in the 60s in Masters tournament history, and the 10th in history to open with three rounds in the 60s. The 10 players to open the Masters with three rounds in the 60s have a combined final-round scoring average of 74.0
Opening Three Rounds in the 60s
Player, Year Round 4 Finish
Trevor Immelman, 2008 75 W
Retief Goosen, 2002 74 2
Phil Mickelson, 2001 70 3
Fred Couples, 1992 70 W
Raymond Floyd, 1992 71 2
Craig Parry, 1992 78 T13
Seve Ballesteros, 1980 72 W
Ed Sneed, 1979 76 T2
Arnold Palmer, 1964 70 W
Gary Player, 1961 74 W
Trevor Immelman played the par-4 holes at the Masters this week 10 under-par. Over the past 25 years at Augusta, no player has played the par-4 holes better. The previous best had been Tiger Woods in 2001 at eight under-par. Woods won his second green jacket that year.
In what could have been an inauspicious start to his final round, Trevor Immelman recorded a bogey on the par-4 first hole. Immelman is the eighth 54-hole hole leader at the Masters to begin his final round with a bogey but the third to steady his round and go on to victory. Immelman joins Tiger Woods in 2001 and Bernhard Langer in 1993.
Miguel Angel Jimenez posted the round of the day during today's final round of the Masters by shooting a four under-par 68 in tough conditions. It's the second time this year that Jimenez has posted the low round on U.S. soil. Earlier this year in the opening round of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, Jimenez carded a seven under-par 65 which was good for low round along with Geoff Ogilvy.
With the wind kicking up in today's final round of the Masters, players found the going difficult, with the field scoring to a 74.67 average. Compared to yesterday's average of 72.58, the 2.09 stroke increase from round three to round four is the larger increase since 1999. In fact, it's the fourth largest increase in the history of the Masters.
High Scores
Season Round 3 Average Round 4 Average Increase
1999 71.86 74.96 3.10
1937 74.21 76.44 2.23
1958 72.77 74.93 2.16
2008 72.58 74.67 2.09
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