“It’s been an incredible eight days, not just for golf in general, but more specifically golf in Japan.” – Brandel Chamblee

“He’s going to be a popular commodity come August when we’re there for the Olympics.” – Justin Leonard on Hideki Matsuyama

“They’ve come tantalizingly close to having major championship wins…Now finally, we’ve seen someone climb the highest mountain in golf.” – Chamblee on a Japanese Men’s Golfer Winning the Masters

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 11, 2021 – NBC Sports presented final round Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., today and in primetime tonight on GOLF Channel. Hideki Matsuyama won his first Masters championship, marking his first major title, and becoming the first Japanese man to win a major championship.

The Masters – Final Leaderboard

On Hideki Matsuyama (10-under, 2021 Masters champion)

Justin Leonard: “He earned it. He earned it with his play yesterday afternoon, he earned it with superior ball-striking, an incredible short game…Can’t imagine, as golf crazy as the nation of Japan is, they’ve had a pretty good eight days…To have Hideki Matsuyama win the Masters, of all the majors, he’s going to be a popular commodity come August when we’re there for the Olympics.”

Brandel Chamblee: “It’s been an incredible eight days, not just for golf in general, but more specifically golf in Japan — to see Tsubasa Kajitani win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur as a 17-year-old, and to see Hideki Matsuyama become the first player from Japan to win a major championship and win the Masters.”

Leonard on Matsuyama’s iron play: “It’s elite and has been consistently elite for a number of years…The level of consistency is hard to fathom he’s been that good for that long.”

Chamblee: “In general, the scrambling of Hideki Matsuyama was top-notch…Sort of quietly, he’s been one of the best scramblers on the PGA TOUR over the last three years, but this particular week, only one player in the field managed to get it up and down more often than he did.”

Rich Lerner: “It’s been said that through the years, the Masters doesn’t start until the second nine on Sunday. I think he won the Masters with what he did on the second nine on Saturday…That bought him margin for error and he needed every bit of it coming down the stretch today.”

Lerner: “What this Masters may have lacked in raw, white-knuckle, birdie-eagle excitement, it made up for in significance — Hideki Matsuyama becoming the first male player from Japan to win a major championship.”

On the importance of a Japanese golfer winning the Masters

Chamblee: “They’ve come tantalizingly close to having major championship wins…Golf in Japan is a frenzied activity…They love their sport…Men on a big stage winning one of the biggest events, they’ve been teased and now finally, we’ve seen someone climb the highest mountain in golf.”

Rex Kuramoto: “Men’s golf has been behind ladies golf because (Hinako) Shibuno won the (Women’s) British Open two years ago, and since that time, golf in Japan, the ladies have come first…But Matsuyama winning this Masters changes everything — Matsuyama will be the guy.”

On Will Zalatoris (9-under, 2nd)

Leonard on what’s most impressive about Zalatoris: “He’s got an impressive golf game, obviously. Great ball-striker. The distance that he hits the ball for not being a big guy with long arms or anything, it’s quite remarkable, but also kind of his mental outlook. He wasn’t shocked or surprised or overwhelmed to be here. He looked very comfortable out there yesterday, he looked comfortable again today.”

Chamblee: “It’s not often you see a rookie come along with a talent this luminous from a ball-striking standpoint, but that alone is not unique, right? It happens…In general, I’d say it’s his ability to treat every round as if it’s the same, and be the same every single round…His strategy, his ability to think properly under pressure at such a young age, those two are extraordinary.”

On Xander Schauffele (7-under, T-3rd)

Leonard: “The lessons he’s learning because he’s in the thick of the battle and in contention, they’re hard ones…He seems to hit a poor shot or (make a) bad decision at the wrong time…I think he’s becoming tougher through this process and that will serve him well down the road.”

–NBC SPORTS–

“Yesterday’s round was a confidence builder. Today’s round was a character builder… today’s round was more important to him and his outlook for the rest of the weekend than yesterday was.” – Justin Leonard on Justin Rose

“Looking at the leaderboard, you almost have to consider Jordan Spieth the favorite.” – Leonard

“There’s just no shot out here that he cannot create.” – Brandel Chamblee on Justin Thomas

Live From the Masters Third Round Coverage Begins Tomorrow Morning at 9 a.m. ET and Continues in Primetime at 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 9, 2021 – NBC Sports presented second round Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., today and in primetime tonight on GOLF Channel, as Justin Rose holds a one-shot lead after second round play.

Live From the Masters continues with third round coverage tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. ET and in primetime at 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel.

Throughout the week, GOLF Channel’s daily live coverage features more than 55 hours and includes pre-and post-tournament coverage through the final round on Sunday, April 11.

The Masters – Second Round Leaderboard

On Justin Rose

Justin Leonard: “Yesterday’s round was a confidence builder. Today’s round was a character builder…to be able to get off to the start he did and right the ship…today’s round was more important to him and his outlook for the rest of the weekend than yesterday was.”

Brandel Chamblee: “When I talk about making mistakes at the Masters, it’s not just the technical mistakes, it’s keeping your wits about you when you get into trouble…that’s what he did early that allowed him to play well late and kept him on top of the leaderboard.”

On Jordan Spieth

Leonard: “There’s no guide to what he’s doing, especially off the tee, he’s free-swinging, shaping the ball both directions…the putting and chipping is marvelous. We thought we saw some signs, but this has been a rapid comeback — where looking at the leaderboard — you almost have to consider Jordan Spieth the favorite.”

Rich Lerner: “Three months ago, we had a hard time remembering when Jordan was great. He was in that deep of a hole. Now, I’m having a hard time remembering he was in a slump at all.”

Chamblee: “He has a scramblers sensibility with a tactician’s talent, he’s like part (Ben) Hogan, part Sevy (Seve Ballesteros).”

On Will Zalatoris

Leonard on Zalatoris’ rapid rise from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA TOUR: “Phenomenal talent…a year ago, Will Zalatoris was thinking about his next Korn Ferry start and tomorrow he’s playing in the last group in the Masters. What a meteoric rise.”

Chamblee: “It’s belief that gets you to the reality…when you put it all together and start to look at what he’s done in this short span of playing these (PGA) TOUR events, the ball striking adds up.”

On Justin Thomas

Chamblee: “There’s just no shot out here that he cannot create.”

On Rory McIlroy

Leonard: “I’m surprised at the lack of form…I know he’s been putting a lot of work in, obviously some work there still left to do and it needs to happen quickly.”

On the Second Round

Chamblee: “Friday’s give us time to talk about not just the good, there was plenty of good, but the bad and unprecedented…start with the good, Justin Rose, like Dustin Johnson, going for a very deserving second major championship…Jordan Spieth doing what Phil Mickelson did in 2006, win back-to-back weeks on the PGA TOUR, making one of them a major, and the Masters…the bad is pretty simple too, watching Dustin Johnson struggle, watching Rory McIlroy hit it worse than I’ve probably ever seen him hit it…and then there’s the unprecedented, with Hideki Matsuyama (looking) to be the first player from Japan to win a Masters.”

–NBC SPORTS–

“Jordan Spieth may not have the firepower of Tiger Woods, but in the last 25 years, he is the player that appears, to me, to have the brainpower of Tiger Woods.” – Brandel Chamblee

“Unquestionably the best major championship player of the last four years.” – Rich Lerner on Brooks Koepka

“When people doubt him, as I think we kind of are right now because of his health, that usually spells success for Brooks Koepka.” – Justin Leonard

Live From the Masters Continues Tomorrow Morning at 9 a.m. ET and in Primetime at 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 5, 2021 – NBC Sports began its Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., today and in primetime tonight on GOLF Channel.

Throughout the week, GOLF Channel’s daily live coverage features more than 55 hours and includes pre- and post-tournament coverage through the final round on Sunday, April 11.

In advance of the 2021 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, NBC Sports Golf’s lead studio team of Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Justin Leonard held a media conference call last week to preview the tournament. Click here for the transcript.

On Jordan Spieth

Brandel Chamblee: “He was so often, over the last three years, getting stuck and missing all over the place — I think (it was) that little technical problem that he was trying to get over. But also when he said, ‘I took ownership’ that is, to me, to a golfer what the La Brea Tar Pits are to a paleontologist looking for a woolly mammoth.”

Chamblee: “Jordan Spieth may not have the firepower of Tiger Woods, but in the last 25 years, he is the player that appears, to me, to have the brainpower of Tiger Woods, and digging himself out of it, taking ownership of his game, is the larger piece of the puzzle here.”

Rich Lerner: “Jordan has a make-it-happen gear. A run-it-in, roll-it-in, chip-it-in gear, where he can just pile up the birdies and eagles in a way that kind of blows your mind.”

Chamblee: “This guy has the ability to make magic. And that’s what makes him so fun to watch.”

Lerner: “It’s a mistake to doubt the will of a great athlete, and he is a great athlete.”

On Brooks Koepka

Justin Leonard: “When people doubt him, as I think we kind of are right now because of his health, that usually spells success for Brooks Koepka. He loves proving people wrong; he’s not afraid to talk about it, and more times than not, he’s backed it up.”

Lerner: “Unquestionably the best major championship player of the last four years.”

Chamblee: “He has everything necessary that you need at this place, just capable of ridiculously big shots. In the last three, four years we’ve seen him at major championships, (he hits) jaw-dropping, laser bullets at the heat of the moment in major championships.”

On the 2021 Masters Tournament

Leonard: “Normally there’s a nine-month buildup to the Masters Tournament. Just four-and-a-half months ago (this year)…being that short between competitions of this event, you might think that would lend to a sense of compliancy by the players and patrons. But, after successful competitions and completions of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Drive, Chip and Putt, to me its very evident that there’s an excitement around this Masters Tournament that only the Masters can provide.”

Chamblee: “I can’t think of another place in sport that we go to year after year with elevated expectations, and then are surprised, year after year, after year. There’s just something about this place.”

–NBC SPORTS–