Johnson's victory dispelled the notion[whose?] that only long-hitters could win the Masters. He did not reach a single par five hole in two during the entire tournament, yet played the par fives better than anyone in the field with 11 birdies and no bogeys.
This was the final Masters appearance for two-time champion Seve Ballesteros.
The Masters has the smallest field of the four major championships; only 97 players were invited to compete in the 2007 tournament. Officially, the Masters remains an invitational event, despite its qualification process. In theory, the club could decline to invite a 'qualified' player.
There were a record 50 'international' players in the field - the first time that the majority of the field was not American. The entire field is shown below; each player is classified according to the first category by which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses.
Billy Mayfair and Ian Poulter were the first competitors to tee off in the 2007 Masters. Both posted scores that were over par. Poulter posted a 75 (+3) and Mayfair a 76 (+4). The course proved to be playing tough, as many big names faltered on the opening day; Ernie Els finished with a 78 (+6), and defending champion Phil Mickelson looked set to get the same score, but two late birdies salvaged a poor round at 76 (+4). World number two Jim Furyk managed a 75 to keep himself in contention. Gary Player, playing in his 50th Masters, could only manage an 83 (+11); two-time winner Seve Ballesteros was at 86 (+14). Tim Clark, the 2006 runner-up, produced a wonderful shot on the 18th hole. At even par, he pulled his second shot to the left of the green and chose to putt. His ball went all the way round the green before it dropped for a birdie and 71. The leaders after the first round were Justin Rose and Brett Wetterich at 69. Rose set a new lowest putts record, needing just twenty. One of the reasons for this was his superb chipping which included a holed bunker shot on the 5th to pick up his second birdie after one at the 3rd. He then crisply rolled home another birdie at 14 to move to three-under par and made a fine save at the last having found a greenside bunker. Wetterich produced five birdies during his round. The chasing pack consisted of David Howell who eagled the 15th to post a two-under 70, and major winner David Toms. Behind them at 71, in addition to Clark, were Vaughn Taylor, Zach Johnson, Rich Beem, and J. J. Henry.[5]
Only three were under par at the halfway point of the tournament. Wetterich and Clark held the 36-hole lead at 142 (-2). Clark was the only man in the field to shoot under par in both rounds (71-71). Taylor held solo third place a stroke back at 143. Despite only three being under par, several golfers were within striking distance. Vijay Singh, the 2000 champion, was among a group of four at even par, and Pádraig Harrington was among a group of six at 145 (+1). The cut was at 152 (+8) and among those to miss it were notables Sergio García and Els. Fred Couples, the 1992 champion, parred the final hole to make the cut in his 23rd consecutive appearance to tie Gary Player's Masters record.[6]
The third round saw the worst playing conditions in many years at Augusta on an unseasonably cool day with wind gusts reaching 33 mph (53 km/h). The conditions were clearly a factor as no scores broke 70 for the round. Despite a one-over 73, Stuart Appleby took the 54-hole lead at 218 (+2). Four-time champion Tiger Woods was able to climb the leaderboard into a tie for second with an even par round. Rose shot 75 (+3) to settle into the tie for second with Woods. Retief Goosen was the only player to break par on Saturday with a two-under 70; he made the cut on the number at 152 (+8) on Friday. The final pair both shot in the 80s; Wetterich carded 83 (+11) and Clark an 80 (+8) to fall out of contention. After the third round, fourteen golfers were within four strokes of the lead.[7]
Johnson completed a Cinderella story with a three-under 69 to claim his first major title. He captured the green jacket with three birdies over his final six holes, and became the third Masters champion to win the tournament with a score above par.[2] The others were Sam Snead in 1954 and Jack Burke Jr. in 1956, also at 289 (+1). Johnson matched the round of the day and was able to hold off a group of three, including Woods, that finished two strokes back. Woods lost a major for the first time in which he held the lead at some point in the final round.[citation needed] However, since he was a stroke behind Appleby coming into the day, his 12–0 record when leading or tied at the start of the final round of a major remained intact. Appleby started off with a double bogey and added another at #12; his 75 (+3) led to a tie for seventh. South Africans Goosen and Rory Sabbatini both shot 69 to finish in a tie for second with Woods. Justin Rose was the last player to have a realistic chance of matching Johnson's clubhouse score, getting within 1 stroke at +2 with birdies at 14 and 16. However he made a double bogey on 17 to fall 3 strokes back into a tie for 5th. Defending champion Mickelson finished ten strokes back at 299 (+11), tied for 24th.[1]
