Cleveland in the Masters
This past weekend, the biggest weekend in golf occurred. If you didn’t hear about it all weekend, it was the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. The course is famous all over the world for its prestige and difficulty. The tournament is considered to be one of the four Major tournaments along the PGA Tour. Even though golf tends to be a sport played in warmer climates, Cleveland still has its part in the PGA Tour.
This Masters there were two golfers representing Cleveland. Jason Dufner and Jason Day did their best to show off the pride of Cleveland. Dufner was born and raised until the age of 11 years old in Cleveland. Day was born in Australia but has lived in Ohio for most of his professional career. He lives near Columbus but has been a huge supporter of Cleveland. During the tournament, Dufner golfed a 73 and 77 in the first two rounds, giving him a +6 for the tournament. With the cut being +5, he just barely missed it. On the other hand, Day golfed all weekend having 75, 71, 69 and 71 rounds. This put him at a -2 for the weekend leading him to finish tied for 20th place.
Jason Dufner lived in Cleveland until he was 11 years old. After that, he moved to Washington DC and eventually played golf at Auburn University. He earned a spot on the PGA Tour in 2004, but he struggled to hold his position. Unfortunately, he did not win his first PGA Tour championship until 2012 even though he had many opportunities before that. In 2013, he earned his biggest win at the PGA Championship giving him his first and only Major tournament win. Throughout his career, he has found some success totaling eight championship wins.
Jason Day was born in Australia, but ever since he married his wife in 2009, he has lived in Westerville, Ohio, which is just outside Columbus. Even though he is not a Cleveland native, he has been a proponent for the city. He has been known to attend many games for the Cavaliers and has voiced his support on social media. During a game that he attended in Cleveland with his wife, he had a pretty impactful experience due to LeBron. Going for a loose ball, LeBron dove into the crowd and collided with Day’s wife. Unfortunately, his wife had to be carried away on a stretcher due to the severity of the injuries. The interesting part of the situation was that it wasn’t a random fan, rather a celebrity’s wife. LeBron shared his apologies and concerns for the incident and Day continued to be a Cavalier fan.
Most recently, he has enjoyed a friendship with JR Smith. While practicing at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Day had Smith be his caddy. During his career, Day has found more success than Dufner, winning 11 PGA Tour tournaments and winning the Major, the PGA Championship in 2015. He is currently ranked as the 14th best golfer in the world.
The PGA Tour is still at the beginning of the season and the Masters was only the first Major tournament. In that case, keep a lookout for these great golfers. We wish them the best of luck and can’t wait to see how they do.
Photo: ESPN
