2004 Masters Tournament

Thursday, April 8, 2004
Friday, April 9, 2004

23-year-old Englishman Justin Rose posted a five-under 67 to lead after the first round. Americans Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas shot 69 (−3) and two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els was among a group tied for fourth with 70 (−2). Among the seven players tied at 71 (−1) was two-time Masters champion, José María Olazábal. Phil Mickelson shot an even-par 72, and three-time Masters champion Tiger Woods shot a 75 (+3). The winner of the previous major (2003 PGA Championship), Shaun Micheel, was at even-par 72. Play was suspended for roughly two hours due to rain, so 18 players completed their opening round on Friday morning.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Justin Rose	67	−5
T2	Chris DiMarco	69	−3
	Jay Haas
T4	Alex Čejka	70	−2
	Darren Clarke
	Ernie Els
	Chris Riley
T8	K. J. Choi	71	−1
	Charles Howell III
	Bernhard Langer
	Colin Montgomerie
	José María Olazábal
	Phillip Price
	Kirk Triplett

Friday, April 9, 2004

First round leader Rose put together another good round (71) to take the 36-hole lead at 138 (−6). Olazábal shot a 69 to close within two strokes of the lead in a tie for second with Alex Čejka, who shot 70. Mickelson, trying to remove the best player never to win a major championship label, moved into a share of fourth with a 69, alongside K. J. Choi. Davis Love III was one of two to shoot the round of the day with a 67 (−5), which moved him into a tie for sixth with Els, DiMarco, Charles Howell III, and 1992 champion Fred Couples. Most notables made the cut at 148 (+4), but among those failing to advance were defending champion Mike Weir and Ben Curtis, the 2003 Open Champion.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Justin Rose	67-71=138	−6
T2	Alex Čejka	70-70=140	−4
	José María Olazábal	71-69=140
T4	K. J. Choi	71-70=141	−3
	Phil Mickelson	72-69=141
T6	Fred Couples	73-69=142	−2
	Chris DiMarco	69-73=142
	Ernie Els	70-72=142
	Charles Howell III	71-71=142
	Davis Love III	75-67=142

Amateurs: Snedeker (+4), Wittenberg (+4), Smith (+6), Flanagan (+8), Wolstenholme (+9).

Saturday, April 10, 2004

Mickelson moved from fourth to a share of the 54-hole lead with a three-under 69, while the top three golfers after round two collapsed. Rose shot an 81, Olazábal a 79, and Čejka a 78. This collective meltdown by the top three allowed Mickelson and DiMarco to rise to the top. DiMarco finished tied for the 54-hole lead with a four-under 68. Paul Casey put together a 68 as well to move within two strokes of the co-leaders at the end of the day. Els continued his steady play with a one-under 71 to move into a three-way tie for fourth. Kirk Triplett and Freddie Jacobson put themselves in contention at seventh and eighth, respectively.

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Chris DiMarco	69-73-68=210	−6
	Phil Mickelson	72-69-69=210
3	Paul Casey	75-69-68=212	−4
T4	K. J. Choi	71-70-72=213	−3
	Ernie Els	70-72-71=213
	Bernhard Langer	71-73-69=213
7	Kirk Triplett	71-74-69=214	−2
8	Freddie Jacobson	74-74-67=215	−1
T9	Stewart Cink	74-73-69=216	E
	Fred Couples	73-69-74=216
	Jay Haas	69-75-72=216
	Pádraig Harrington	74-74-68=216
	Davis Love III	75-67-74=216
	Nick Price	72-73-71=216

Sunday, April 11, 2004

In one of the most exciting back nines in Masters history, Mickelson dueled Els to claim his first major championship. Mickelson shot a final round 69, sealed with an 18-foot (5 m) birdie on the 18th green to win by a stroke. Playing two groups ahead of Mickelson, Els started the day at −3 and posted a 67 (−5). As Mickelson approached the final hole, Els' total of 280 (−8) appeared enough to at least get him into a playoff. Els stumbled out of the gate with two bogeys in his first five holes, but quickly regained his form. He collected two eagles on his round, at the par-5 8th and 13th holes. Els also connected on a birdie at the 15th to get him to −8. Seeing his first major possibly slip away with a 38 (+2) on his front nine, Mickelson had to match Els' fire on the back nine, and shot a bogey-free 31, with birdies on five of the final seven holes. Mickelson birdied the par-3 12th and par-5 13th. He briefly tied Els with his third consecutive birdie at the par-4 14th, then had a disappointing par on the par-5 15th. At the par-3 16th, Mickelson put his tee shot 20 feet (6 m) above the pin and holed the dramatic putt to tie for the lead. He remained tied heading to the final tee, and when his approach shot landed on the green, a winning putt was before him. As Mickelson sunk the putt, he jumped for joy as he won his first major title.[1][2]

K. J. Choi finished third, which was his best major finish, with a final round 69 to total 282 (−6). Sergio García shot the round of the tournament with a 66 (−6) to tie for fourth with two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer. Four major champions, including two former Masters champions (Vijay Singh, Couples, Love, and Nick Price) were in the group who finished tied for sixth at 286 (−2). Woods' streak of not winning a major extended to seven with a disappointing 290 (+2), the same score tallied by first and second round leader Rose.

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	4	3	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	3	5	4	5	3	4	4
Mickelson	−6	−7	−6	−6	−5	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−5	−6	−7	−7	−8	−8	−9
Els	−3	−4	−3	−3	−2	−2	−3	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−7	−7	−8	−8	−8	−8
Choi	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−1	−1	−3	−3	−4	−5	−5	−6	−6	−6
García	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+5	+4	+3	+2	+2	+2	+1	E	+1	−1	−2	−3	−3
Langer	−4	−5	−5	−4	−4	−4	−3	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−5	−3	−4	−3	−3
Casey	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−4	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2
DiMarco	−6	−7	−6	−5	−5	−3	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−2
Triplett	−2	−2	−1	E	E	+1	E	−1	−1	−1	E	E	−1	−1	E	−2	−2	−2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:[1][4]