Spring Lake Park grad Merritt prepares to take on Augusta

AUGUSTA, GA. – Amateur Sammy Schmitz isn't the only player with Minnesota connections at the Masters. Troy Merritt, who attended Spring Lake Park High and Winona State, will be teeing off in the group following Schmitz on Thursday and Friday morning.

Schmitz will tee off at 10:16 on Thursday and 7:20 on Friday and play with Mike Weir and Cameron Smith.

Merritt will tee off at 10:27 on Thursday and 7:31 on Friday and play with Ian Woosnam and Byeong-hun An.

Merritt had missed five consecutive cuts last year before he won the Quicken Loans National for his first PGA Tour victory, closing with rounds of 61 and 67. That win got him an invitation to the Masters and Augusta National.

He transferred from Winona State to Boise State. His coach there, Kevin Burton, told Golf.com: "When he gets his confidence up, he'll stand in there against anybody, and it is scary."

Merritt won nine tournaments in two years at Boise State, including, as a senior, an NCAA-record five in a row.

JIM SOUHAN

Jimmy Walker won with a record 8-under 19. He becomes the latest to attempt to win the nine-hole grip-and-grin and then the tournament proper in the same year, a feat not previously accomplished in 79 Masters.

The other rare moment came for the threesome of Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. Thomas and Fowler hit back-to-back hole-in-ones at No. 4. And then Spieth had to hit his tee shot.

"It might have been the hardest shot I ever had to hit, trying to follow them," Spieth said.

Spieth missed the hole, then took a fair amount of gentle booing from the crowd.

Fowler got in a good-natured dig at the defending Masters champ: "After two hole-in-ones, you got to man up and hit the shot. Just couldn't do it."

Tom Watson's to-do list at the Masters has changed plenty over four decades, but it usually ended with the same goal: a major championship.

On the eve of his last competitive go-round at Augusta National, the 66-year-old two-time Masters winner finally acknowledged a much more modest plan.

"This is a lot like when I first joined the tour," Watson said, "in that all I'm trying to do is make the cut.

"That's not enough," he added a moment later, "so it's time to say, 'Adios.' "

Four-time green jacket winner Tiger Woods, missing the tournament after back surgery, was in attendance at the champions dinner Tuesday.