AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The tepid applause that greeted Patrick Reed on the first tee made it clear he wasn’t the people’s choice.

All he cared about was being the Masters champion.

He turned back an early move by Rory McIlroy and a late charge by Rickie Fowler. Most daunting in the middle of the final round Sunday was a familiar name at Augusta National – Jordan Spieth – on the verge of the greatest comeback in Masters history.

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Reed had the game and the grit to beat them all. And when he slipped on that green jacket, he had everyone’s respect.

”I knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Reed said. ”It’s just a way of God basically saying, `Let’s see if you have it.’ Everyone knows you have it physically with the talent. But do you have it mentally? Can you handle the ups and downs throughout the round?”

He has proven that playing for his country. He did it Sunday for himself.

The final test was a 25-foot putt down the scary slope on the 18th green, and Reed pr..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Patrick Reed wins the Masters for first major title, beating Rickie Fowler by a stroke.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Tiger Woods nearly aced a hole and made his lone eagle of the week.

The four-time Masters champion somewhat returned to form at Augusta National. It was just a few days too late to be more than an afterthought at golf’s first major.

Woods closed with a flurry, recording a 3-under 69 in the final round at the Masters. He finished 1 over for the tournament, 16 strokes behind winner Patrick Reed and in a four-way tie for 32nd.

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It was far from what the 42-year-old Woods wanted, but he left the hallowed grounds feeling better about his game than he did a few days before and more encouraged than his last few trips to Augusta National.

Woods last played the event in 2015. He returned the last two years for the champions’ dinner, but didn’t get on the course. The hiatus left him feeling nostalgic during his walk to the 18th green.

”This is one of the greatest walks in all of golf,” Woods said afterward. ”And I had missed it for the last coupl..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The Latest on Sunday’s final round of the Masters (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

Charley Hoffman has made a hole-in-one at the Masters.

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Hoffman flirted with the bunker left of the 16th green, only to catch a fortuitous kick that sent the ball right into the hole.

It was the third straight year that there’s been at least one ace at the 170-yard hole known as Redbud.

Matt Kuchar had a hole-in-one in 2017, while three players did it in 2016.

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4:30 p.m.

Paul Casey has bogeyed the last two holes at the Masters to miss out on the course record.

Casey still managed to shoot a 7-under 65, which is the lowest round of the day so far and his best score ever in a major championship.

Beginning at No. 11, Casey ripped off a streak of four birdies and an eagle over five holes, pushing his score for the day to 9 under. That gave him at a shot at the Augusta National record.

He came up short of the 63 shared by Nick Price and Greg Norman.

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4:..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The Latest on Sunday’s final round of the Masters (all times local):

12:20 p.m.

Tiger Woods is playing his final round at this Masters – and it may have included his best iron shot of the week.

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Woods nearly aced the 240-yard, par-3 fourth Sunday. His tee shot landed a few feet short of the flag, bounced a few times and then skirted by the left edge of the hole. He was left with a left-to-right-breaking 10-footer that he dropped in the left side of the cup.

It provided a brief glimpse of what might have been at Augusta National had Woods had better distance control with his irons.

Woods missed greens right and left, never really getting approach shots in the perfect spots on treacherous greens.

His errant ways left him starting a lot sooner than expected and will have him finishing shortly after the leaders tee off Sunday afternoon.

Woods also made a birdie on par-5 second, but followed that with bogey on the par-4 third. He is 3-ove..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The Latest on Sunday’s final round of the Masters (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

Charley Hoffman has made a hole-in-one at the Masters.

Article continues below …

Hoffman flirted with the bunker left of the 16th green, only to catch a fortuitous kick that sent the ball right into the hole.

It was the third straight year that there’s been at least one ace at the 170-yard hole known as Redbud.

Matt Kuchar had a hole-in-one in 2017, while three players did it in 2016.

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4:30 p.m.

Paul Casey has bogeyed the last two holes at the Masters to miss out on the course record.

Casey still managed to shoot a 7-under 65, which is the lowest round of the day so far and his best score ever in a major championship.

Beginning at No. 11, Casey ripped off a streak of four birdies and an eagle over five holes, pushing his score for the day to 9 under. That gave him at a shot at the Augusta National record.

He came up short of the 63 shared by Nick Price and Greg Norman.

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4:..

Augusta National(Photo by Augusta National/Getty Images)AUGUSTA, Ga.—To say things stay the same at Augusta National is erroneous; in this century alone the course has been lengthened, the membership diversified, the practice facility has been overhauled, a new media center built, even the merchandise shops have seen dramatic renovation. The only thing that remains consistent here is change.
But the sentiments that surround the Masters, and the behavior of those who love it, endures. Evidenced by this mash-up, featuring video from this year's tournament…dubbed with the voice of famed broadcaster Chris Schenkel from the 1975 Masters:
https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/982951193096814594
The landscape of Augusta National will continue to evolve. But, at the Masters, time is a flat circle.
RELATED: Introducing Golf Digest All Access, a new way to improve
WATCH: LOOP VIDEOS

Part of the fun of Masters Week for some is the allure of joining Masters pools and attempting to pick the winner of the year's first major. And taking it one step further are daily-fantasy sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel, which continue to cater to golfers' predictive appetites.
DraftKings launched a new format of golf contest starting with this week's action at Augusta National, a game it calls a “single-round showdown.” Each day is a different contest, and points are awarded based on the score a golfer cards that day. Eagles (or anything better) reap the most points, and so on, plus you're awarded for a player going on a streak of three or more birdies. (Patrick Reed's Friday round, in which his nine birdies came in three streaks of three birdies in a row would've netted you quite the points.)
For Sunday's Day 4 contest, extra points are rewarded for a golfer's tournament finish. The company's “Final-Round Finale” has $500,000 in gua..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Legendary sports writer and author Dan Jenkins talks about Ben Hogan winning the first Masters he ever covered in 1951, and how things have changed at Augusta National – particularly the greens.

Jenkins tells “AP Sports Special Events” podcast co-hosts Jim Litke and Tim Dahlberg that he always got along with Hogan, who was also from the Ft. Worth, Texas, area, and was along for the ride as Hogan won in 1951 and 1953.

Jenkins also talks about thinking Ken Venturi, not Arnold Palmer, was going to be the next big star in golf. He said Palmer had a better game than he thought, and the magnetism that took golf into a new era when he won the Masters in 1958 and 1960.

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He also tells the hosts that his other love in sports is college football, and talks about the greatest games and greatest athletes he’s seen.

It’s the 67th Masters for Jenkins, who recalls the scratchy yet fast greens from the 1950s as well as the Quonset hut that the press use..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) It’s essentially a Ryder Cup rematch at Augusta National.

Patrick Reed and his par-5 prowess versus Rory McIlroy and his penchant for clutch shots.

A 27-year-old American seeking his first major championship versus a 28-year-old Irishman chasing golf history.

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It’s Hazeltine in 2016 all over again, and the Masters can only hope for a similar, back-and-forth, down-to-the-wire finish.

Reed and McIlroy are forever linked to that singles match two years ago. Reed prevailed on the 18th hole in a rare U.S. victory at the Ryder Cup.

Now, it’s about stroke play, and with golf’s first major of 2018 on the line.

”It’s definitely not a two-horse race at this point,” McIlroy cautioned. ”There’s a lot more guys. I told myself today, leaderboards are huge here; it’s hard to miss them. But I said to myself, `Don’t concentrate on them too much. Try not to look at them.’ It’s hard not to.

”I’ll obviously know what Patrick Reed is doing, but apart fro..