Matt Jones started Sunday at -9, six shots back of the leader Matt Kuchar. Kuchar has won The Players and a WGC event, so his lead was not to be caught. But Jones had other plans. Matt Jones who had never won on tour fired a final round 66 (6-under) to match Kuchar's even par round, and force a playoff. Jones ended up taking the playoff by chipping-in in dramatic fashion, and punching his ticket to the Master's.
Jones had not already qualified for the Master's, and this victory bought him an invitation. He had to chase down not only Kuchar, but he also had to pass Sergio Garcia. Garcia, who is also a past Players champion, was the closest to Kuchar entering Sunday. He ended up two behind Kuchar and Jones. This was a good finish for Garcia. He has been lacking confidence these past few years, and has lacked a lot of success on the tour. So hopefully this third place finish will give him some confidence with the major season starting next week. Sergio has been close in many majors over the years, and maybe this year will be the year.
Past number one in the world, Rory McIlroy had a great finish to the event with a final round 65 to give him some confidence going into the Master's. Rory, like Sergio, has struggled on the PGA Tour these past years after being on top of the game at one point. This finish should carry over some momentum going into next week, and maybe both McIlroy and Garcia will be back and in contention in majors this year.
Jones' victory was huge to a small time name like himself. He through his name out there, and is now a PGA Tour champion and will be playing at Augusta National. This next week's major should be a suspenseful one, especially with Tiger not in the field.
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