1. SPIETH IS THE FUTURE: Jordan Spieth may have become a bit unravelled after ascending to 8 under par and taking a two-shot lead with 11 holes to go in the Masters. But this 20-year old from Dallas projects like the next star on the PGA Tour. Until the final round, which saw him slam his club into the turf after a bad shot, Spieth showed remarkable poise and polished skills over four days in Augusta, drawing raves from other competitors. He'll win a lot of tournaments and contend in other majors.
2. KUCHAR'S CLOSING ISSUES CONTINUE: Matt Kuchar's third-round 68 left him just a shot behind Bubba Watson and Spieth going into the final round. But he continues to have a hard time closing the deal. He lost his last two tournaments in Dallas and San Antonio with poor showings on the back nine. He shot a 73 in the final round last year in Augusta when he had been in contention. He got off to a great start Sunday with birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to take a share of the lead. But he four-putted for a double-bogey on No. 4 and had only one birdie the rest of the day, never drawing closer than three shots. He finished at 2 over for the day and 2 under for the tournament.
3. OLD GUY WATCH: I wrote a column early in the week criticizing the tradition of inviting back former Masters champions to play in the tournament long after they're competitive, but indicated Fred Couples was the exception. Actually, he turned out to be one of three 50-and-over exceptions. Miguel Angel Jimenez (50) finished at 4 under and Bernhard Langer (56) at even par, both making it onto the leaderboard. Couples (54) was in contention until the back nine on Sunday when he bogeyed No. 10 and double-bogeyed Nos. 11 and 15. He finished at 3 over for the day and 2 over for the tournament but was fun to watch for four days, unlike, say Ben Crenshaw and Craig Stadler.
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