THE MASTERS DAZZLING DOZEN

It had been a tough Saturday for Bryson Dechambeau but the Crushers captain revived his hopes with the perfect walk-off birdie. After blowing his tee shot into the pines and punching out, Bryson holed his wedge shot into the difficult back right pin position on 18 to at least give himself a chance of catching the leaders on Sunday.

Needing a final round charge to catch the leaders on Sunday, Cam Smith began in the best way possible when holing out from the bunker for an eagle. Alas, it was Cam’s only highlight on Sunday as he made 16 pars and one bogey on the final day.

The challengers were coming for Scottie on the front nine on Sunday, however, a stone-dead approach shot on the ninth hole set up a tap-in birdie and some breathing room at the top of the leaderboard.

The famously hot-tempered Englishman wasn’t happy after tugging his tee shot on the fifth hole left and having to chip out sideways in Thursday’s first round. However, Tyrell was a picture of serenity after holing his next shot for birdie.

Shane Lowry was heading south on Saturday but an eagle at the 14th hole righted the ship briefly. The Irishman drove it right off the tee but hit a perfect approach that was tracking towards the hole as soon as it hit the green. Lowry’s eagle was the first for eight years at the 14th hole.

While it probably won’t make the final cut of the Masters highlight reel this year, Xander Schaffele’s second shot into the 18th hole on Saturday was remarkable. He threaded a powerful low cut through the trees and branches, with the ball skipping onto the front of the green before running through. He saved par and revealed post-round that he told his caddy “it could be the best shot I ever hit in my life”.

After almost hitting a shank off the tee at the short par 3 16th on Friday, South Korea’s Ben An more than made up for it with a tasty chip-in birdie. An finished T16 to match his best result in a major.

The Dane was within striking distance of the first-round lead after chipping in twice. This one after missing the green at the 12th hole was particularly impressive.

Patrick Cantlay is well known as the slowest player on tour but things always speed up markedly when you don’t need to pull the putter out of the bag. Cantlay holed his approach on the 17th for an eagle in what was the shot of the day.

There were many highlights from the Masters champion but Scottie’s exceptional touch from the bunker behind the 12th green on Thursday showed just how complete the world No.1’s game is.

Finishing runner-up in your first major isn’t a bad way to kick off a career in golf and Ludvig Aberg’s monster breaker he holed on the eighth green was quite something. The resulting birdie saw him join the lead on Sunday and while things fell slightly apart a few holes later, you suspect it’s only just the beginning for the talented Swede.

While it wasn’t the result he was hoping for, Max Homa’s T4 at the Masters was his best result in a major. His brilliant shot into the 17th green in the first round set up a tap-in birdie that saw him jump to second on the leaderboard.