Rickie Fowler only wanted to make sure the wind didn’t blow him away over two tough rounds at the Masters. More than just survive on Friday, he posted a 5-under 67 that gave him a share of the lead for the first time in a major.
Golf
Charley Hoffman — one of only two players to break 70, along with William McGirt (69) — closed at 125-1 odds to win the Masters after opening at 150-1 odds in August.
Dustin Johnson withdrawing from the Masters was shocking enough. Then Charley Hoffman delivered a surprise of his own.
Charley Hoffman, who played on UNLV’s 1998 NCAA championship team, shot 7-under 65 on Thursday in one of the most impressive first rounds ever recorded at the Masters.
Dustin Johnson has withdrawn from the Masters after injuring his lower back in a fall at the home he was renting for the week.
On the 20th anniversary of Tiger Woods’ first Masters victory, the roar and shouts of “Tiger!” and the tearful embrace with his father, Earl, still feels like a dream sequence.
The Westgate sports book moved Dustin Johnson from the 11-2 favorite to the 7-1 co-favorite, and the William Hill sports book moved him from 6-1 to 7-1.
Masters favorite Dustin Johnson took a serious fall on a staircase Wednesday and injured his lower back, and his manager said it was uncertain whether the world’s No. 1 golfer would be able to play the tournament.
Ranked first on the PGA Tour in scoring average (68.8), Rickie Fowler has produced all season around the green, and green very well could be his color come Sunday.
Here are the Masters matchups and prop bets courtesy of Westgate sports book.
Handicapper Brian Blessing’s longer-priced play entering the tournament is two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, whom he bet at 35-1 odds.
Photographer J. Rick Martin, who has been taking photos of golf players for decades, moved to Las Vegas as a teenager when his father got busted for operating an illegal craps game in his hometown.
Butch Harmon played on the PGA Tour briefly, never winning the Masters, but did follow in his father’s footsteps and became a Hall of Fame golf instructor.
The odds on Tiger Woods winning a major this season are still at 25-1 at the Westgate but the odds are against the 41-year-old ever winning another PGA Tour event.
Tiger Woods won’t play in the Masters for the third time in the last four years, announcing Friday night on his website that rehabilitation on his back didn’t allow him enough time to prepare.