The 79th Masters Tournament was billed as a coronation, the much anticipated week when world number one Rory McIlroy, fresh off 2014 victories at the British Open and the PGA Championship, would complete the career Grand Slam at the tender age of 25, and cement his place in the golfing firmament.  In the event, The Masters did indeed write another chapter in the changing of the professional golfing guard, but it did so not by further stocking McIlroy’s jewel case but instead by ushering 21-year-old Jordan Spieth into the ranks of the game’s genuine elite – and, perhaps, providing McIlroy with some serious competition going forward.  Certainly Spieth arrived at Augusta rated among the favorites, for he had won a month earlier at Tampa’s Valspar Championship, then, following a week off, finished 2nd at the Texas Open and lost in a three-way playoff (to J.B. Holmes) at the Shell Houston Open.  Add in winter victories at the Australian Open (behind a stunning final-round 63) and the Hero World Challenge (by a record 10 shots) and he was, by any definition, on form.  But more significant, perhaps, was the nature of Spieth’s game.  Curiously, he is often characterized as “not a long hitter,” but he came into the Masters ranked a well-above-the-median 55th in PGA Tour driving distance  - which really might better be described as “long enough.”  And beyond this minor point, there was really little to question as his game is among the most balanced on the PGA Tour, and particularly excels inside 100 yards and upon the greens, where his putting stroke is the envy of most.  Indeed, time and time again over the weekend, Spieth holed mid-range putts of every conceivable angle on Augusta’s legendarily rolling putting surfaces; if there was a defining feature to this Masters, Spieth’s putter was it.  Thursday’s opening round began with high expectations for McIlroy and countless questions for world number 111 Tiger Woods, who was returning from a nine-week absence spent retooling his swing and his deathly ill short game.  But from the moment Spieth teed off at 1:15 p.m., this was to be his tournament, for he birdied eight of his first 14 holes and appeared on the verge of breaking the single round Major championship scoring record of 63 before bogeying the par-5 15th.  He would, however, birdie the tough 18th for a 64 – the Masters’ lowest opening round in 19 years.  More significantly, this gave Spieth a rare  three-shot first round lead in a Major championship, with his closest pursuers being 45-year-old Ernie Els, Charley Hoffman, and a pair of marquee players with plenty of Major bonafides, 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and three-time Major runner-up Jason Day.  On the downside, McIlroy could do no better than 71, defending champion Bubba Watson matched him, and Woods came home with a 73 which showed only limited improvement from tee to green but a marked improvement (meaning no disasters) within his short game.  And then there was 65-year-old Tom Watson, who slight-of-handed his way around in 71 over a golf course which, by his own declaration, has been too long for his game for the better part of a decade.  Particularly on so large a stage, Spieth would surely have been forgiven if he’d followed up his opener with a round in the low 70s, but instead he played flawless golf, posting three birdies on each nine while adding nary a bogey, and coming home in six-under-par 66.  The net result would be a five-shot lead over Charley Hoffman, matching the largest 36-hole margin in Masters history.  Further, Spieth’s two-day 130 aggregate was a new tournament record (bettering Raymond Floyd’s 1976 mark by one) and it also matched the lowest 36 hole score ever posted in Major championship play, a number posted by Nick Faldo (at the 1992 British Open), Brandt Snedeker (2012 British Open) and Martin Kaymer (2014 U.S. Open).  Hoffman, for his part, had posted strong rounds of 67-68, with the next nearest pursuers being Justin Rose (67-70), Dustin Johnson (70-67) and Paul Casey (69-68).  Johnson’s day, in particular, was worthy of note, for after double-bogeying the 1st hole, he proceeded to become the first man ever to record three eagles in a single Masters round (at the 2nd, 8th and 15th).  Woods also posted a solid round, but his three-under-par 69 still left him 12 shots behind Spieth.  Struggling on Friday were Watson (whose 81 prevented him from becoming the oldest man ever to make a Major cut), Sergio Garcia (68-74), Russell Henley (68-74) and Webb Simpson (69-75), as well as cutting-missers like Jim Furyk (147), Luke Donald (147), Martin Kaymer (151) and 55-year-old Fred Couples (153).  Avoiding the temptation to ride a string of pars in support of his big lead, Spieth made early Saturday birdies at the 2nd and 6th (which nicely offset bogeys at the 4th and 7th), then added five birdies from the 9th through the 16th to briefly forge his way to a seven-shot margin.  Most uncharacteristically, however, he then sloppily double-bogeyed the par-4 17th (sans penalty shots) to breath new life into an otherwise downtrodden field.  Justin Rose managed to birdie the 18th (his fifth birdie in six holes) to cut the margin to four, and it might have gotten even closer but for a superb Spieth up-and-down from right of the greenside bunker at the 18th.  His resulting three-day total of 200 bettered by one the tournament’ old 54-hole mark set by Woods (1997) and Raymond Floyd (1976), and staked Spieth to a four-stroke lead over Rose, and a five-shot margin over three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson, who’d opened 70-68 before carding a third round 67 that might well have been lower but for bogeys at the 11th and the 17th.  Hoffman remained in the fight some six off the pace, while McIlroy (whose fine 68 might have really made noise had he not bogeyed the 16th and 18th) and Woods (whose own 68 generated some front nine electricity before fizzling out on the back) headed a group on six under par, eight off the pace.  The final round in many ways mirrored Saturday as Spieth responded to Rose’s opening birdie with a clutch three of his own before turning in 35, offsetting bogeys at the 5th and 7th with birdies at the 3rd and 8th to continue holding the field at bay.  If there was a decisive moment, it perhaps came at the difficult par-4 10th, where Spieth rolled in an uphill 20-footer for birdie to extend the lead to six.  A three-putt bogey at the dangerous par-3 12th represented a slight hiccup, and the lead was reduced to four when Mickelson holed a bunker shot for eagle at the 15th.  But Spieth still had the back nine’s two short, watery par 5s left to play, and when he methodically recorded the requisite birdies, it was all over.  Mickelson, for his part, fell into a share of second when Rose bogeyed the 72nd while McIlroy, paired with Woods and surely disappointed by his overall performance, made a late statement by carding a bogey-free 66 to play the last 45 holes in 15 under par, and climb into solo fourth.  Woods, on the other hand, could capture none of the magic of his Saturday front nine and, with only two fairways hit, did well to shoot 73, tumbling to a tie for 17th.  In the end, only a bogey at the last (off a missed five-footer) prevented Spieth from setting a new Masters scoring record (his 270 would only tie Woods) but among the records he did set were new 36- and 54-hole scoring marks, the lowest opening round by a winner and, quite significantly, the most birdies ever recorded for the championship (28).  He also became the second-youngest ever to don the Green Jacket, as well as the first wire-to-wire winner at Augusta since Raymond Floyd in 1976 - a span of nearly four decades.  "This was the ultimate goal in my golf life," Spieth stated afterwards.  But at age 21 and wearing his Green Jacket, it looked very much like he was only getting started.

PGA Tour - The Masters  -  Jordan Spieth  (270)
Sunshine Tour - Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open  -  Dean Burmester  (272)
JLPGA Tour - Studio Alice Open  -  Misuzu Narita  (201)
E Challenge Tour - Barclay's Kenya Open  -  Haydn Porteous  (271)

In the PGA Tour’s final tune-up before The Masters, long-hitting J.B. Holmes claimed his fourth career victory at the Shell Houston Open, but not before enduring a two-hole, three-man playoff to do it.  After opening with rounds of 65-70-73, Holmes actually began Sunday’s finale six shots behind the red-hot Jordan Spieth, who himself arrived in Houston coming off a victory in Florida and a runner-up in San Antonio.  But after rounds of 69-66-67 gave Spieth a one-shot 54-hole lead, he was unable to get moving on Sunday, playing his first 12 holes even par – and largely being blown aside by Holmes, who opened the day with five straight birdies before turning in 29, then added birdies at the 11th and 12th to move three ahead of the field.  But with 59 looking possible, Holmes failed to birdie either back nine par 5, then bogeyed the par-3 16th to eventually finish one shot off the course record with a 64.  Spieth, meanwhile, drew even with back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th, then could find no more magic coming home, posting a 70 to join Holmes on 16 under par.  But in a game where form can be notoriously fickle, the playoff’s third competitor, Johnson Wagner, was a real surprise as he entered the week without a top-50 finish in 2015, and only seven days removed from shooting an opening 87 at the Texas Open.  But with rounds of 69-68-66, Wagner hung around all week, eventually birdieing the demanding 72nd hole to join the playoff.  Spieth eliminated himself by bogeying the first extra hole, and when Wagner missed a short par putt at the second, Holmes was left with an easy tap-in for the victory.

PGA Tour - Shell Houston Open  -  J.B. Holmes  (272)
LPGA Tour - ANA Inspiration  -  Brittany Lincicome  (279)
JLPGA Tour - Yamaha Ladies Open  -  Ayaka Watanabe  (281)
PGA Tour China - Buick Open  -  Josh Geary  (280)

Playing only 35 minutes from his home, San Antonio resident Jimmy Walker tamed both a strong field and a stronger golf course to become the PGA Tour’s first multi-time winner of 2015, holding off a late-charging Jordan Spieth to claim the Valero Texas Open.  On a TPC San Antonio layout whose scoring average (74.581) was the highest of the year to date, Walker opened with a 71 to trail Charley Hoffman by four and Aaron Baddeley by three – Baddeley’s round finding a page in the history books for his play at the 336-yard 17th, wherein he hit his tee ball into an unplayable lie, marched all the way back to the tee to play his third, then promptly holed a full driver for birdie.  On a less-windy Friday, Walker carded a near-flawless 67 to nose into the halfway lead, standing one ahead of both Hoffman and Baddeley.  But it was on Saturday that Walker took command, playing his first 12 holes even par before logging late birdies at the 14th, the 17th and the 18th to post a 69, good enough to move four ahead of Spieth (who double-bogeyed the par-3 16th en route to a 71) and six up on Billy Horschel, who birdied the last three holes to shoot 69.  With Spieth turning in one-over-par 37 on Sunday, Walker’s lead ballooned as high as seven shots, and while the 21-year-old Spieth would mount a spirited charge via four straight birdies at holes 14-17, Walker carded clutch birdies of his own at the 16t h and 17t h, effectively slamming the door and giving him a four-stroke margin of victory…………………Thirty-one-year-old Scot Richie Ramsay won for the third time on the European PGA Tour, recovering from some mid-round Sunday stumbles to log a one-shot victory over France’s Romain Wattel at the Trophée Hassan II.  The 2006 U.S. Amateur champion, Ramsay began his week quietly, trailing first round leader Adrien Saddier by seven after carding an even-par 72.  But with Saddier stumbling to a Friday 77, Ramsay perhaps unexpectedly found himself in a four-way tie for the halfway lead (with Richard Green, Oliver Farr and Rafael Cabrera-Bello) after posting a bogey-free 66, then remained among the threesome that topped the third round leaderboad (a group which included Wattell and Andrew McArthur) upon adding an up-and-down 71.  McArthur, for his part, would play himself out of contention early, his eventual 77 anchored by a triple-bogey at the 200-yard 8th.  Thus while a quintet of players would get into the clubhouse on eight-under-par 280 before them, the battle would ultimately come down to Ramsay and Wattell, with the former jumping out to a three-shot lead after recording four straight birdies at holes 4-7, then falling two behind after bogeying the 368-yard 7th, then matching McArthur’s six at the short 8th.  But Ramsay eventually drew himself even with birdies at the 12th and 13th, then jumped two ahead with a birdie at the 14th as Wattel made bogey.  A Wattel birdie at the par-5 17th closed the margin to one, and that was how it ended.

PGA Tour - Valero Texas Open  -  Jimmy Walker  (277)
European Tour - Trophee Hassan II  -  Richie Ramsay  (278)
LPGA Tour - Kia Classic  -  Cristie Kerr  (268)
LET - Lalla Meryem Cup  - Gwladys Nocera  (271)
JLPGA Tour - AXA Ladies  -  Ritsuko Ryu  (209)
Champions Tour - Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic  -  David Frost  (206)
Web.com Tour - Chitimacha Louisiana Open  -  Kelly Kraft  (270)
LatinoAmerica - Mazatlan Open  -  Tommy Cocha  (271)
Symetra Tour - Florida's Natural Charity Classic  -  Sue Kim  (201)

With Tiger Woods still in absentia attempting to salvage his career, Matt Every did his best imitauion of the former world number one player, holing an 18-foot birdie putt on Bay Hill's famed 18th hole to successfully defend his 2014 title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.  Every lingered around the lead throughout the week but seldom looked like he'd emerge with the trophy, largely because of the hot form of current world number three Henrik Stenson, who pieced together rounds of 68-66-66 to enter Sunday's finale two ahead of Morgan Hoffmann and three up on a quartet of players which included Every.  But Stenson would only turn in 35, and with Every bogeying the par-4 1st, it was left to Hoffmann to sprint out early - a feat he accomplished by birdieing five of his first eight holes en route to turning in 32.  Every, meanwhile, bounced back with four outgoing birdies to turn in 33, then added two more at the 10th and 11th to reach 18 under par.  By this time Hoffman, a third-year player seeking his maiden victory, was fading, bogeying the 12th (a par 5) and 13th to fall back to 16 under par.  Stenson, meanwhile, made the sort of move that one might expect off him, birdieing the 11th and 12th to re-take control on 19 under.  But after having his group put on the clock, he promptly three-putted for bogey at the 15th, then three-putted for par at the three-shot 16th - and just like that, he and Every were tied.  And in the the end, it was the two men's respective putters that sealed the deal, as Every coolly holed his biridie effort at the last, while Stenson missed a 15-footer wide left that would have forced a playoff.................. Continuing the good form that saw him claim his second Sunshine Tour victory at November's Lion of Africa Cape Town Open, Jaco Ahlers survived a three-hole playoff to defeat Jaco Van Zyl at the limited-field Investec Cup, and thus pocketed the year-long competition's R3.5 million bonus pool prize in the process.  In a field determined by an accumulated points system - and which was strong enough to include world number 33 Charl Schwaertzel - both Ahlers and 13-time Sunshine Tour winner Van Zyl began Sunday's final round at the Lost City Golf Club four shots behind another established international star, George Coetzee, before closing with fine 66s, Van Zyl by birdieing four of his last five holes.  With Coetzee stumbling home with a 71, that left the two Jacos to go to extra holes, a playoff which would require three trips over the watery par-5 18th.  On the third playing, both men found water off the tee but Ahlers, playing safely, laid up his third, then wedged to within six feet to save par.  Van Zyl, meanwhile, found water a second time, with the resulting bogey handing Ahlers the title.

PGA Tour - Arnold Palmer Invitational  -  Matt Every  (269)
European Tour - Madeira Islands Open  -  Postponed
Sunshine Tour - Investec Cup  -  Jaco Ahlers  (279)
LPGA Tour - JTBC Founders Cup  -  Hyo Joo Kim  (267)
JLPGA Tour - T-Point Ladies  -  Akane Iijima  (213)
Champions Tour - Tucson Conquistadores Classic -  Marco Dawson  (203)
Web.com Tour - Chile Classic  -  Dawie van der Walt  (263)
LatinoAmerica - Aviana Colombian Open  -  Diego Velasquez  (266)

In a three-way playoff that included America ’s two top under-25 players, Jordan Spieth defeated Patrick Reed and 32-year-old Sean O’Hair to win his second career PGA Tour title at the Valspar Classic, just outside of Tampa .  Spieth began Sunday’s final round one stroke behind 54-leader Ryan Moore, and with Moore holing a 7 iron to eagle the par-4 6th, then adding back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th, it looked very much to be his day as he took a three-stroke lead into the final six holes.  But when bogeys at the 13th, 16th and 18th brought him home on eight-under-par 276, the door was left more than ajar for a wide range of challengers.  Narrowly missing the playoff was world number three Henrik St enson who, making his debut at Inn isbrook, birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th to reach nine under par, but was unable to birdie either closer when he desperately needed to.  Meanwhile Reed, who began the day four back, played a clutch final round, turning in 35 before reeling off birdies at the 11th, 12th and 15th to pull within one of the lead, then holing a difficult 30-footer birdie at the last to finish on 10 under.  O’Hair, who was the first round leader and began the day three back, also mounted a back nine charge, ticking off four birdies from holes 11-16 to reach 10 under, then logging a slick up-and-down at the 18th to match Reed.  This left matters up to Spieth who, after reaching 10 under with birdies at the 13th and 14th, managed fine up-and-downs of his own on the final three holes to join the playoff, then, after narrowly missing a 10-footer to win at the first extra hole, buried a 30-footer at the third to clinch the title..................Over a final round which begn with six players tied for the lead, George Coetzee managed to hold off a hard-charging Jacques Blaauw to win the Tshwane Open over the same Pretoria Country Club course that he grew up on.  Though England ’s David Horsey (a co-first-round leader), Spain ’s Adrian Otaegui (the second round leader) and Scotland ’s Craig Lee were among the six men atop Saturday’s board, things pretty well reverted to standard E Tour-in-South Africa form on Sunday as native players charged, and  only Lee remained in the thick of the battle among the visitors.  That Coetzee would be there at the end seemed likely for beyond playing on home turf, he was the highest-ranked South Africa n in the field and he began Sunday among the sixsome sitting on 201.  Blaauw, however, was rather another story, entering the finale five off the lead and without a Europe an Tour victory on his résumé.  But the three-time Sunshine Tour winner caught fire on Sunday when, after logging an early birdie at the 366-yard 2nd, he reeled off six birdies between the 6th and the 12th to drive his way to the top of the board.  With the trophy thus in his sites, Blaauw then closed with birdies at the 17th and the 514-yard par-4 18th to post a course record-tying 61 and finish on 13-under-par 267.  By this time, Coetzee had carded four birdies of his own through the layout’s easier mid-section and thus entered the homestretch also on 13 under.  But he would eventually separate himself by nearly driving the 361-yard 17th, then chipping within five feet to record the winning birdie and land his second career E Tour triumph..................Little more than a year removed from fracturing his elbow in three places in a serious auto accident, and two mont hs from failing to play his way through Australasian Tour Q School, 23-year-old Jordan Zunic birdied the 72nd hole to capture an improbable maiden victory at the New Zealand Open.  The win came in his fourth professional start and was made possible only by his Monday qualifying for the previous week’s New Zealand PGA Championship, then finishing among the top 10 to gain a last-second spot in the Open field.  He played solid golf all week, however, opening with rounds of 68-66 before a third round 66 (highlighted by a run of five birdies over six back nine holes) saw him into a tie for the 54-hole lead with Kristopher Mueck on 10-under-par 200.  Mueck would finish with a solid enough 69 (good for solo third), leaving the final battle to fall to Zunic and veteran David Bransdon who, after turning in 34, birdied seven of eight holes on the back nine before crucially bogeying the 18th.  This left him tied with Zunic, who promptly stuffed a 9 iron to two feet at the last, then tapped in to claim an emotional first professional title.

PGA Tour - Valspar Championship  -  Jordan Spieth  (274)
European Tour - Tshwane Open  -  George Coetzee  (266)
Sunshine Tour - See European Tour (Above)
Australasian Tour - BMW NZ Open Championship  -  Jordan Zunic  (266)
LET - World Ladies Championship  -  So Yeon Ryu  (279)
JLPGA Tour - PRGR Ladies Cup  - Ji Hee Lee  (207)
Web.com Tour - Brasil Champions  -  Peter Malnati  (262)