Last week Augusta National hosted the 79^th Masters Golf tournament in Augusta Georgia. This tournament, perhaps the most prestigious in golf, is a fan and player favorite alike.

The tournament began on April 8^th with the ceremonial first drive by Masters’ legends Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player who are great friends and were great rivals during the 1960s and 1970s as well, exemplifying the true spirit of the Masters. With the first drive finished, it was time for the real excitement to begin. Over 100 PGA professionals took to the course along with 6 armatures that qualified to play. Among those plays was Tiger Woods, who returned to play in the Masters after a self-imposed leave of absence from the sport that only lasted a little over 2 months. However, Tiger did not make a huge statement on the course on the starting Thursday; it was newcomer Jordan Spieth that stole the show. From the first round of the tournament it looked as though Jordan Spieth would be the player to beat. At the end of the day on Thursday Spieth stood at -8 with Charley Hoffman and a few others trailing him by three at -5. Spieth’s incredible drives and consistency on the greens earned him a top spot the whole tournament and leading by at least three strokes the whole time. The trend was the same all throughout the tournament; Spieth stayed on top and second runners came and went.

World Number One Rory Mcllroy delivered a rather disappointing performance given his rank. The 25 year old Ireland native was favorited to win the Masters this year, ended the tournament at 4^th place behind veteran Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, and Jordan Spieth. Mickelson, unlike Mcllroy did better than originally projected. A 3-time Masters champion, Phil had found himself in a slump leading up to the tournament. However, Phil found his game on Saturday and Sunday as he sunk several tough putts for birdies to put him in higher on the leaderboard.

As Masters Sunday arrived in Augusta, Spieth was hoping to not repeat what happened last year in the same tournament. In 2014 Spieth came within one shot of Bubba Watson and a green jacket. This year was clearly different; Spieth sealed his win with a 4 stroke distance between him and the second place, held by Mickelson and Rose. Spieth ended his 4 day play at -18, a Masters record and one stroke shy of the lowest all-time score at any major. The 21 year old became the second youngest winner at Augusta National (the first is Tiger Woods in 1997 at a few months younger). To finish out the tournament, the way it has always been done, last year’s winner, Bubba Watson, presented the winner with an iconic green jacket. This year was one of many firsts, especially for Jordan Spieth, but the Maters atmosphere stayed the same because it is “a tradition unlike any other”.