One pro’s Masters dream became another’s heartbreak

Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where the Final Four plus the Masters means we should wish a Happy Jim Nantz Season to all who celebrate. To the news …

GOLF STUFF I LIKE

Trying hard.

On Monday, Michael Kim withdrew from this week’s Valero Texas Open.

It must be the best WD of his life.

That’s because on Sunday at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, Kim chased down a prize that had seemed for years to be far out of reach.

Kim began the final round in a fight for a very important place in the Official World Golf Ranking. Just a few years ago Kim was fighting his way back inside the top 1000. But now? He needed to climb from No. 52 to No. 50 to earn a spot in the Masters tournament field via Sunday’s cutoff. Slip to No. 51? He’d be out. No Masters. Opportunity missed.

So how much was he thinking about that trip to Augusta coming down the stretch?

“Oh, I’m sure I made some pretty nervy swings on the back nine there thinking about it,” he said. Things got even stranger when he cracked his driver. He bogeyed 15. He bogeyed 17. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be? But Kim buckled down for a clutch seven-foot par putt at No. 18 to post 69 and a T32 finish. That left him in limbo, and so he had just one question when he spoke to reporters afterwards.

“What’s Ben Griffin at?”

Griffin had started the week at World No. 53, one spot behind Kim. He made a Sunday charge, staying bogey-free and stiffing his final shot of the day — a tee shot at the par-3 9th — to set up a birdie for 65 and T18.

How often was he thinking about the Masters?

“Just about every shot,” he admitted. “It was a really solid round, I think it gives me a chance. We’re just going to have to see where the cards fall.”

Kim has been to the Masters once, in 2019. He was there by virtue of winning the John Deere Classic the previous season but he was also in the throes of what would turn out to be a years-long slump; he shot 76-78 at Augusta National and beat just four players.

Griffin has never played the Masters. He’s played just four major championships. And although he’s become a reliable presence on the PGA Tour, there’s something special about Augusta National. Even for the pros.

“It’s been a dream since I was a little kid to be there,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Both Kim and Griffin then headed to Twitter to check the most reliable real-time source on the matter: a mysterious OWGR guru who goes by “Nosferatu.”

Later that evening, when the results finalized, Nosferatu released their findings: Kim was in. Griffin had needed one more birdie putt to fall. He wound up No. 51, less than a hundredth of a world ranking point outside the Masters margin.

Kim posted a celebratory message to Twitter. Griffin responded.

“That was crazy. Congrats man!! You’ve been on a heck of a run.”

He’s right. Kim has been playing the best golf of his career since the start of February; in eight starts he has seven made cuts, five top-15s and three top-sixes. He’s a deserving member of the field. As for Griffin? He still has one more way in. The winner this week in San Antonio gets the final spot at Augusta National.”

“Go win Valero and I’ll see you there!” Kim wrote back.

Playing for something special — that’s golf stuff we like.

WINNERS

Who won the week?

Min Woo Lee won for the first time in his PGA Tour career; while his five-shot lead dwindled to one by the end of the day, he hung on with a two-putt from behind the 18th green to seal the victory. He used the word “proud” repeatedly in his post-round presser; he credited “the six inches between [my] ears” with getting it done this time. He jumped from World No. 55 to No. 22 with the victory and he and his sister Minjee become just the third pair of siblings to ever win on the PGA and LPGA Tours.

Hyo Joo Kim shot eight-under 64 on Sunday to force a playoff and then beat Lilia Vu on the first extra hole with a birdie to win the Ford Championship. The win is the seventh of her LPGA Tour career.

Eugenio Chacarra, playing his first professional season since leaving LIV, won the Hero Indian Open on a sponsor exemption — essentially reopening his pathway to professional golf on the DP World or PGA Tour in the process. He’s up to No. 168 in the world.

And Steve Allan won the Galleri Classic for his first PGA Tour Champions title; it was his first professional victory since the 2002 Australian Open.

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ALSO-WINNERS

Still, these guys are good, too.

The two golfers who finished T2 in Houston each left the tournament feeling pretty damn good. One is the defending Masters champ, the World No. 1 and the best golfer in the world. The other is trending up, both on and off the course, and threw down his best showing since beginning his battle with a brain tumor over a year ago.

Scottie Scheffler found something encouraging in his final start before his title defense at the Masters. “Definitely better,” he said, asked how he felt about his game. “I liked the way my swing started to feel over the weekend. I felt like I holed a good amount of putts this week, especially under pressure on the back nine today. Felt like I hit my lines really well and did some good things out there. So definitely some positive momentum going into next week.”

And Gary Woodland was exhausted — but over the moon — after finishing off a final-round 62 with a kick-in birdie. Woodland said how thankful he was post-round to have his family there. He added that he was blown away by support from the fans.

“This week was unbelievable, to be honest with you. The fans were absolutely amazing,” he said. “I battled some fatigue and stuff out there and they pushed me, they really did. I fed off their energy. Their love and support really carried me especially over the weekend.”

Scheffler and Woodland share a coach, Randy Smith. This week they shared a T2. They share the course record at Memorial Park after each shot 62. And they got matching checks for $845,000. Not bad for a few day’s work.

SHORT HITTERS

Five pros dialing in for Augusta National.

Scheffler says he’s feeling ready — particularly after a hot finish on Sunday. “Good iron shot into 15, good iron shot into 16, good one into 17. I did some things that I really liked under the gun,” he said. “Good pitch shot on 18 as well to still give myself a chance.” Now comes some practice at home with Smith, “like I normally would,” he said, and then a trip to Augusta next Sunday.

Wyndham Clark said he left the week feeling “definitely better” about his chances at the Masters after a T5 finish. He was tinkering and testing, he admitted, switching between three different types of ball. He committed to one on the weekend and shot 64-64.

“I’m just happy, I feel like my game’s in a solid spot and now it’s just about executing and getting the ball in the hole,” he said.

Rory McIlroy made a bundle of birdies and, after a middling first-round 70, shot 66-65-64 to finish T5, too. The only worry came in a post-round interview with NBC Sports’ Kira Dixon: “My right elbow’s been bothering me a little bit, so maybe just get some treatment on that, make sure that’s okay going into Augusta,” he said. Uh oh!

Ludvig Åberg enters this week’s Valero Texas Open as the tournament favorite. He missed the cut at the Players Championship but is just two starts removed from winning the Genesis Invitational; last year’s Masters runner-up will look to find some form in San Antonio.

And 2023 green jacket winner Jon Rahm comes in as LIV Golf’s narrow Masters favorite, just ahead of defending U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau. They’ll tee it up in LIV Golf’s first U.S. event of the 2025 season in Miami at Trump Doral.

ONE SWING THOUGHT

From Woodland: Setup, setup, setup.

What have Woodland and Smith been working on that helped propel him to his best finish in years? The simple stuff.

“We just tried to simplify things, trying to get back to being athletic at setup and kind of seeing the shot and just reacting to the shot,” he said post-round. “Instead of playing golf swing and thinking too much about my golf swing, trying to see the shot and then just react. Ninety-five percent of the stuff we work on is setup-related.”

RYDER CUP WATCH

The U.S. Open champ surges.

Houston brought mostly subtle changes to the Ryder Cup pecking order, so let’s note one on each side.

Wyndham Clark leapt to No. 13 in the U.S. team ranking thanks to his first top-five finish since last April. It can be a bit feast-or-famine with Clark — but when he’s good, few are better.

The Hojgaard twins were paired together for the first two rounds in Houston — a Warming Up-inspired group, we like to think — and Rasmus played his way into weekend contention while Nicolai missed the cut. Rasmus, who wound up T32, is No. 3 in the rankings at the moment, while Nicolai barely registers at No. 49. That’s a reminder: We still have a long way to go.

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ONE BIG QUESTION

How will LIV Miami go?

This week, LIV will have everything going for it. While its early-season tournaments have been played in a variety of time zones and on a variety of Fox’s channels — mostly on FS1 or FS2 — this week they’ll down in the golfing hub of South Florida with a wave of hype, a new group of creators on their side, a familiar venue and even reportedly attendance from the sitting U.S. President. Sunday’s final round will air on Fox, the big one, against a solid, if unspectacular, PGA Tour field in San Antonio. The question, then: how many people will watch, in person or on screen?

ONE THING TO WATCH

Masters plans.

Get hyped with a super smash cut of some of this generation’s greatest major champions talking about how they approach Augusta National. From a selection of Warming Up interviews — think Brooks, Bryson, Xander, Freddie, Phil — check it out:

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NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday Finish HQ.

The weather has been excellent, the birds are chirping, the threat of tornadoes passed without incident and and the pride of Washington, Joel Dahmen, shot 67-66 on the weekend to crack the top 20. Life is good in the golfing PNW.

We’ll see you next week!

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.