Masters Day 4: Live Updates and Leaderboard

Tiger Woods is fond of saying you have to have a little good fortune to win a major, and Cameron Smith got his stroke of luck on the par-4 ninth. Hitting his second shot out of the pine straw, Smith watched as his ball landed on a mound in front of a greenside bunker and bounced onto the green and rolled inside five feet of the hole. Smith made the birdie putt to get to 15-under and stay within striking range of Johnson, two strokes back.

The green jacket ceremony will be 2020-ified.

Not too long from now, someone is going to be presented with one of the green jackets that Augusta National has offered members since 1937 and Masters winners every year since 1949 (and, as we wrote this week, that anyone — including you! — can sometimes buy on the auction block).

The green jacket ceremony, as usual, will be in Butler Cabin. But Fred S. Ridley, Augusta National’s chairman, said that people watching from home would see more of the room than normal because participants, including Tiger Woods, the reigning champion, will be spaced farther apart in accordance with social distancing guidelines.

“We will have the same people in the cabin with the same basic ceremony, but I think we can do it appropriately,” Ridley said.

One typical part of the Sunday festivities, though, will not happen: There will not be a ceremony on the 18th green, mostly, Ridley said, because that event is primarily designed for spectators who are attending the tournament.

Augusta National’s back nine should decide the Masters winner.

When people say the Masters begins on the back nine Sunday, what they mean is the stretch of holes from No. 12 to No. 16, which include the two par-5s on the second nine (No. 13 and No. 15) and the wicked water-protected par-3 12th. The leader, Dustin Johnson, played those holes in 5-under during the first three rounds. His nearest challenger, Cameron Smith, who pulled to within two of Johnson through nine holes, has played them in 7-under.

“The back nine has been kind to me all week,” Smith said Saturday night, “so hopefully it can be kind to me one more day.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/15/sports/golf/masters-leaderboard-day-4.html