2008 Masters Tournament


The 2008 Masters Tournament was the 72nd Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Trevor Immelman won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Tiger Woods, a four-time champion. Immelman led or tied for the lead after every round.

Field

The Masters has the smallest field of the major championships, with 94 players having earned invitations in 2008. Officially the Masters remains an invitation event but there is now a qualification process, although in theory the club could simply decline to invite a 'qualified' player. Here is a list of all players qualified to play in the 2008 Masters Tournament. Each player is classified according to the first category by which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses:
1. Past Masters Champions
Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Zach Johnson, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Phil Mickelson, Larry Mize, José María Olazábal, Mark O'Meara, Gary Player, Vijay Singh, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Mike Weir, Tiger Woods, Ian Woosnam, Fuzzy Zoeller
2. Last five U.S. Open Champions
Ángel Cabrera, Michael Campbell, Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Geoff Ogilvy
3. Last five Open Champions
Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton, Pádraig Harrington
4. Last five PGA Champions
Shaun Micheel
5. Last two of The Players Champions
Stephen Ames
Winners of the Players Championship get three years of Masters invitations. With the Players having moved from March to May, beginning 2007, there will be only two such champions who have earned invitations to the Masters in both 2008 and 2009. In 2010 and after, once again three Players champions will have earned invitations to the Masters.
6. Top two finishers in the 2007 U.S. Amateur
Michael Thompson
*
7. Winner of the 2007 The Amateur Championship
Drew Weaver
8. Winner of the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links
See number 6
9. Winner of the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur
Trip Kuehne
10. The top 16 finishers and ties in the 2007 Masters Tournament
Stuart Appleby, Paul Casey, Tim Clark, Luke Donald, Jerry Kelly, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Rory Sabbatini, Vaughn Taylor, David Toms
11. Top 8 finishers and ties in the 2007 U.S. Open
Nick Dougherty, Niclas Fasth, Scott Verplank, Bubba Watson
12. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2007 Open Championship
Ernie Els, Sergio García, Richard Green, Andrés Romero
13. Top 4 finishers and ties in the 2007 PGA Championship
Woody Austin, Arron Oberholser, John Senden
14. Top 30 leaders on the 2007 PGA Tour
Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Mark Calcavecchia, K. J. Choi, Stewart Cink, Steve Flesch, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, John Rollins, Adam Scott, Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker, Boo Weekley, Brett Wetterich
15. Winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, between the 2007 Masters Tournament and the 2008 Masters Tournament
Brian Bateman, Jonathan Byrd, Daniel Chopra, J. B. Holmes, Steve Lowery, Sean O'Hair, D. J. Trahan, Johnson Wagner, Nick Watney
16. All players qualifying for the 2007 rendition of The Tour Championship
Camilo Villegas
17. Top 50 on the 2007 Official World Golf Rankings list
Anders Hansen, Søren Hansen, Trevor Immelman, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Robert Karlsson, Shingo Katayama, Nick O'Hern, Henrik Stenson, Richard Sterne, Toru Taniguchi, Lee Westwood
18. Top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings list going into the tournament
Martin Kaymer, Justin Leonard, Peter Lonard
19. International invitees
Liang Wen-Chong, Prayad Marksaeng, Jeev Milkha Singh

Nationalities in the field

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Par 3 contest

The annual par 3 contest was held on Wednesday, April 9, and was won by Rory Sabbatini, runner-up in the 2007 Masters Tournament. He scored -5 to finish ahead of Woody Austin and Miguel Ángel Jiménez. Four players hit a hole-in-one. Paul Azinger on the second hole, Charles Coody on the third, Fred Couples on the seventh and Wayne Grady on the ninth.

Round summaries

The Masters Tournament is played over four days with an eighteen-hole round being played each day, for a total of 72 holes plus practice rounds and a par-three contest on the neighboring par-three course. Everyone outside the top 44 and ties or outside ten strokes of the leader will be “cut” after 36 holes.

First round

Thursday, April 10, 2008
After an hour delay due to fog, Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman shot rounds of 68 to lead the field. For the players in the final few groups, the last holes were played in near darkness. Ian Poulter hit a hole in one on the 16th on the way to a 70. Defending champion Zach Johnson shot a 70 and four-time champion Tiger Woods shot an even-par 72. In all, 18 players shot sub-par rounds and the scoring average was 74.18.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Trevor Immelman68−4
T1Justin Rose68−4
T3Brian Bateman69−3
T3Brandt Snedeker69−3
T3Lee Westwood69−3
T6Stephen Ames70−2
T6Jim Furyk70−2
T6Zach Johnson70−2
T6Robert Karlsson70−2
T6Ian Poulter70−2

Second round

Friday, April 11, 2008
Immelman shot another round of 68 to lead the field by one stroke at 136. Steve Flesch had the low round of the day at 67 and tied for third. Defending champion Zach Johnson shot a 76 for a two-round total of 146, tied for 29th. Woods shot a 71 and tied for 13th. The cut, to the top 44 players and ties, was at 147 and 45 players made the cut. In all, 28 players shot sub-par rounds for the day and the scoring average was 73.51. For the tournament, 19 players were under par and the scoring average was 73.84. Prayad Marksaeng withdrew after nine holes with a back injury. Fred Couples missed his first cut at the Masters, ending a streak of 23 consecutive cuts made, a record he shares with Gary Player.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Trevor Immelman68-68=136−8
2Brandt Snedeker69-68=137−7
T3Steve Flesch72-67=139−5
T3Phil Mickelson71-68=139−5
T3Ian Poulter70-69=139−5
T6Stephen Ames70-70=140−4
T6Paul Casey71-69=140−4
T8Stewart Cink72-69=141−3
T8Arron Oberholser71-70=141−3
T8Mike Weir73-68=141−3

Amateurs: Kuehne, Thompson, Weaver.

Third round

Saturday, April 12, 2008
Immelman shot a three-under 69 to remain in the lead at 205. Snedeker remained second and Steve Flesch third after rounds of 70 and 69 respectively. Paul Casey was the highest placed European at 209, with Woods two shots behind him. Woods, Zach Johnson, and Boo Weekley had the low rounds of the day at 68. For the round, 13 players were under par and the scoring average was 72.58. For the tournament, 18 players were under par and the scoring average was 73.60.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Trevor Immelman68-68-69=205−11
2Brandt Snedeker69-68-70=207−9
3Steve Flesch72-67-69=208−8
4Paul Casey71-69-69=209−7
5Tiger Woods72-71-68=211−5
6Stewart Cink72-69-71=212−4
T7Retief Goosen71-71-72=214−2
T7Pádraig Harrington74-71-69=214−2
T7Zach Johnson70-76-68-214−2
T7Robert Karlsson70-73-71=214−2
T7Phil Mickelson71-68-75=214−2
T7Sean O'Hair72-71-71=214−2
T7Ian Poulter70-69-75=214−2
T7Andrés Romero72-72-70=214−2
T7Boo Weekley72-74-68=214−2

Final round

Sunday, April 13, 2008
Miguel Ángel Jiménez had the low round of the day at 68. For the round, four players were under par and the scoring average was 74.67. For the tournament, ten players were under par and the scoring average was 73.77.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Trevor Immelman68-68-69-75=280−81,350,000
2Tiger Woods72-71-68-72=283−5810,000
T3Stewart Cink72-69-71-72=284−4435,000
T3Brandt Snedeker69-68-70-77=284−4435,000
T5Steve Flesch72-67-69-78=286−2273,750
T5Pádraig Harrington74-71-69-72=286−2273,750
T5Phil Mickelson71-68-75-72=286−2273,750
T8Miguel Ángel Jiménez77-70-72-68=287−1217,500
T8Robert Karlsson70-73-71-73=287−1217,500
T8Andrés Romero72-72-70-73=287−1217,500

Scorecard

Final round
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par454343454443545344
Immelman−10−10−10−10−11−11−11−10−10−10−10−9−10−10−10−8−8−8
Woods−5−5−5−4−4−5−5−5−5−4−5−5−5−4−4−4−4−5
Cink−5−6−6−6−6−5−5−5−4−3−2−2−2−3−3−4−4−4
Snedeker−8−10−9−9−9−8−7−7−6−6−5−6−5−4−5−4−4−4
Flesch−8−8−8−8−8−8−7−8−8−8−8−6−6−5−4−3−2−2
Harrington−2−3−4−4−4−4−4−4−3−3−2−2−2−1−2−2−2−2
Mickelson−2−2−2−1−1−1−1−2−2−2−2−1−2−3−3−2−2−2
Casey−7−7−8−6−5−4−3−2−2−2−1−1−1EE+1EE

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:

Media coverage

broadcast the first two rounds of the tournament for the first time. Previously, USA televised the first two rounds beginning in 1982. ESPN also carried the par-3 contest on Wednesday afternoon, the first time the competition had been televised. BBC broadcast the whole event in the United Kingdom, with coverage being shared among BBC One, BBC Two, and BBC Red Button. In the United States, CBS Sports televised the third and fourth rounds, as they have every year beginning in 1956.