BOBBY JONES : WIKICOMMONS ; GARCIA AND ROSE : BIGSTOCK ; WOODS : PHIL ELLSWORTH / ESPN IMAGES |
People were saying it should have been a playoff — that he didn ’ t deserve to win . But a rule is a rule and Goalby didn ’ t do anything wrong . He played four great rounds and deserved to win . I was excited just to be in there , and then it was like a dark cloud over a sunny day .”
Still , Giles celebrated with his family that night before reality set in all too soon . “ I had 10 days of catching up to do in class ,” he said , “ and I wasn ’ t exactly a rocket scientist student .”
And so , he and Key drove back to Charlottesville that night . He actually made it to his first class Monday morning , though hardly any classmates or professors even knew what he ’ d accomplished .
As always , he ’ ll go back to Augusta this April , just as he ’ s done every spring since that glorious first visit a half-century ago . Up until last year , as an “ honorary invitee ” he ’ s often played in the Wednesday par 3 contest . Asked if he ’ d ever been paired again with Doug Ford , he had to laugh .
“ Probably wouldn ’ t have played ,” Vinny Giles said . “ But I heard he got nicer as he got older .”
Leonard Shapiro was the long-time golf writer for The Washington Post and a past president of the Golf Writers Association of America .
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FUN FACT
The co-creator of the Masters , Bobby Jones , was a lifelong amateur golfer . So it ’ s no wonder the season ’ s first major pays so much homage to amateurs around the world . Six amateurs are projected to be in the field when the Masters begins April 5 . Fifty years after Vinny Giles ’ run , who will take low-am honors in 2018 ?
DOC REDMAN Current U . S . Amateur champion
DOUG GHIM Current U . S . Amateur runner-up
HARRY ELLIS Current British Amateur champion
LIN YUXIN Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion
JOAQUIN NIEMANN Current Latin America Amateur Champion
MATT PARZIALE Current U . S . Mid-Amateur Champion
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2 ) The favorites : As of early February , Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth were 17-to-2 co-favorites . Johnson ’ s back kept him out of last year ’ s event , while a tough final-round 75 sunk Spieth .
3 ) Breakthrough time ? Justin Rose is a two-time Masters ’ runner-up who lost in a playoff to Garcia last year .
4 ) Sneaky bets : As of February , you could get Marc Leishman at 45-to-1 odds . Pretty tasty for an accomplished vet itching for a major breakthrough . … A pair of Patricks — Cantlay and Reed — were 70-to-1 picks . … You could do worse than picking Patton Kizzire , who has two wins in 2017-18 , at 140-to-1 .
5 ) Because you have to : Tiger Woods was getting 18-to-1 odds at press time . If he plays well at any point leading up to April 5 , expect it to go closer to 10-to-1 .
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