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MASTERS ’26: Key anniversaries over the years at Augusta National

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MASTERS ’26: Key anniversaries over the years at Augusta National


AUGUSTA, Ga. — A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the Masters:

75 years ago (1951)

Winner: Ben Hogan

Score: 70-72-70-68—280

Margin: 2 shots

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Prize: $3,000

Runner-up: Skee Riegel

Key to win: Hogan started the final round one shot behind Riegel and Sam Snead and shot 68 without making a bogey.

In this April 12, 1976 file photo, Jack Nicklaus, right, assists Raymond Floyd in putting on his green jacket after Floyd won the Masters Golf Championship at Augusta, Ga. Credit: AP/Anonymous

Noteworthy: Hogan won his second major after his near-fatal car accident. The following year, he wrote a letter to Augusta National co-founder Cliff Roberts suggesting a dinner for all the Masters champions.

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AP story: “Icicle-nerved Ben Hogan added a sensational flourish to one of the great comeback sagas in sports Sunday when he won his first Masters golf championship with a near-record 280. The gristly little man from Texas subdued Augusta National’s treacherous acres with a grim and meticulous last round 68, four under par golf that burned off all opposition. The 38-year-old National Open champion, winner of that crown twice and the PGA as many times, thus completed his slam of major American pro championships.”

50 years ago (1976)

Winner: Raymond Floyd

Score: 65-66-70-70—271

Tiger Woods reacts to his birdie putt on the 18th...

Tiger Woods reacts to his birdie putt on the 18th hole after winning the 2001 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., Sunday, April 8, 2001. Credit: AP/DOUG MILLS

Margin: 8 shots

Prize: $40,000

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Runner-up: Ben Crenshaw

Key to the win: Floyd made birdie or eagle on every par 5 through 54 holes in building an eight-shot lead. He tied the 72-hole record held by Jack Nicklaus.

Noteworthy: Floyd joined Craig Wood, Arnold Palmer and Nicklaus as the only wire-to-wire winners of the Masters. There would not be another one until Jordan Spieth in 2015.

AP story: “Ray Floyd — never pressured, never pushed — took a casual little stroll through the Georgia piney woods this sunny Sunday, paused to strike the golf ball 70 times and ambled home with perhaps the easiest Masters victory of all time. Floyd, a 33-year-old one-time playboy turned solid, sober family man, won this 40th renewal of golf’s annual spring rite with a 271 total, 17 under par and matching the tournament record for 72 holes set by Jack Nicklaus in 1965. Only handsome young Ben Crenshaw — who gave a flock of giggling girls a little thrill when he hiked his britches above his knees to wade into the pond on the 16th hole — could generate any challenge at all and that was much too little, much too late.”

25 years ago (2001)

Winner: Tiger Woods

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Score: 70-66-68-68—272

Margin: 2 shots

Prize: $1,008,000.

Runner-up: David Duval

Key to the win: Woods was locked in a thriller with his two chief rivals, Duval and Phil Mickelson. They each made bogey on the par-3 16th and never caught up to Woods, who didn’t drop a shot over the last six holes. His second Masters title allowed him to hold all four majors at the same time.

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Noteworthy: Woods swept the four majors with a combined score of 65-under par and had at least a share of the lead after 13 of the 16 rounds.

AP story: “Slam or not, Tiger Woods was simply grand. With a heart-stopper at Augusta National punctuated with a birdie at the end, Woods claimed the greatest feat in modern golf Sunday by winning the Masters, giving him a clean sweep of the four professional majors in a span of 294 days. Woods closed with a 68, steady down the haunting back nine of Augusta National as David Duval and Phil Mickelson failed to harness the magic that has carried Woods to five of the last six majors. The only thing left to debate is what to call this remarkable feat. Purists argue that a Grand Slam is accomplished in a calendar year. Woods, emotionally drained after a relentless battle from start to finish, stayed out of the argument. “I won four,” he said.”

20 years ago (2006)

Winner: Phil Mickelson

Score: 70-72-70-69—281

Margin: 2 shots

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Prize: $1,260,000

Runner-up: Tim Clark

Key to the win: Mickelson had a one-shot lead and didn’t make a bogey until the final hole. Fred Couples had a 4-foot birdie putt on the 14th to pull within one shot and three-putted.

Noteworthy: After going more than a decade before winning a major, Mickelson won three of the last nine.

AP story: “Phil Mickelson is a Masters champion again, and now he’s making it look easy. Once known as a lovable loser who needed a dozen years to figure out how to win golf’s biggest events, Mickelson captured his second straight major Sunday at Augusta National, and this one was hardly a nail-biter. He closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Tim Clark, and his second green jacket in three years. There were no thrills for Phil, rather calculated shots that forced Fred Couples, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh to try to catch him. Instead, they stumbled along with three-putts and a litany of other mistakes that allowed Mickelson to stroll up the 18th fairway already knowing how this major would end.”

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10 years ago (2016)

Winner: Danny Willett

Score:70-74-72-67—283

Margin: 3 shots

Prize: $1,800,000

Runner-up: Jordan Spieth and Lee Westwood

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Key to the win: Willett was five shots behind on the back nine when Spieth made bogeys at Nos. 10 and 11 and twice hit into Rae’s Creek to make a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 12th. Willett shot 33 on the back with birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th holes.

Noteworthy: Willett became the first Englishman to win the Masters since Nick Faldo in 1996. Willett played the final round with Westwood, who also would play the final round with the U.S. Open champion (Dustin Johnson) two months later.

AP story: “Jordan Spieth couldn’t bear to watch, turning his head before another shot splashed into Rae’s Creek. Moments later, Danny Willett looked up at the large leaderboard at the 15th green and couldn’t believe what he saw. This Masters turned into a shocker Sunday, right down to the green jacket ceremony. Spieth was in Butler Cabin, just like everyone expected when he took a five-shot lead to the back nine at Augusta National. Only he was there to present it to Willett, who seized on Spieth’s collapse with a magnificent round that made him a Masters champion.”

5 years ago (2021)

Winner: Hideki Matsuyama

Score: 69-71-65-73—278

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Margin: 1 shot

Prize: $2,070,000

Runner-up: Will Zalatoris

Key to the win: Matsuyama might have won this Saturday with a bogey-free 65 to build a four-shot lead. He led by as many as six shots but effectively sealed it when Xander Schauffele hit into the water on the 16th and made triple bogey. Matsuyama bogeyed three of the last four holes.

Noteworthy: The victory came 10 years after Matsuyama made his debut at Augusta National as the Asia-Pacific Amateur champion. Matsuyama was the first Masters champion since Trevor Immelman in 2008 to be over par in the last round.

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AP story: “Hideki Matsuyama delivered golf-mad Japan the grandest and greenest prize of all. Ten years after Matsuyama made a sterling debut as the best amateur at Augusta National, he claimed the ultimate trophy Sunday with a victory in the Masters to become the first Japanese winner of the green jacket. Matsuyama closed with a 1-over 73 and a one-shot victory that was only close at the end, and never seriously in doubt after Xander Schauffele’s late charge ended with a triple bogey on the par-3 16th. Moments before Dustin Johnson helped him into the green jacket, Matsuyama needed no interpreter in Butler Cabin when he said in English, ‘I’m really happy.’”



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Augusta, GA

Man charged with murder in shooting death of Augusta woman

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Man charged with murder in shooting death of Augusta woman


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A man who was previously wanted for questioning in an Augusta deadly shooting has now been charged with murder in the case, according to authorities.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office says Kemfton Quewanaki Kenon, 27, was arrested on Friday in connection to the shooting death of Khyla Rodriguez, of Augusta.

Kemfton Quewanaki Kenon(Richmond County Sheriff’s Office)

Kenon is booked into the Charles B. Webster Detention Center and charged with murder and possession of a firearm during a crime, according to jail bookings.

Rodriguez, 25, was found dead after deputies received a call about a shooting on May 15 at 1:11 a.m. on Cameron Drive.

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The Richmond County Coroner’s Office said Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 2:27 a.m.

Kenon was previously wanted for questioning in the case and was located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. He was interviewed and arrested on an unrelated warrant.

Deputies were also interviewed two other subjects in the case. They were not arrested in the case.

Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.



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Augusta, GA

South Augusta community raises concern over Family Y on Tobacco Road

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South Augusta community raises concern over Family Y on Tobacco Road


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – People who live in South Augusta are raising concerns about the future of the Family Y on Tobacco Road.

Officials say the facility has been operating at a loss for years, and have had a low number of memberships. The location also has a new owner. The cost of the lease is too high and the facility is also in need of renovations, which are said to be costly.

“The reality is we couldn’t afford the current lease that we were in,” said Catie McCauley, president and CEO of Family Y of Greater Augusta. “Over the last 10 years we’ve been subsidizing this lot. So we got to look at a model that we can sustain for the next several generations not just the next couple years.”

The location is set to close in October, but officials say they are working with community members and contractors for a new building that they can move into and are committed to staying in South Augusta.

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Photojournalist credit: Gary Hipps



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Augusta, GA

Augusta domestic violence shelter faces shortfall after Georgia funding veto

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Augusta domestic violence shelter faces shortfall after Georgia funding veto


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – SafeHomes Augusta is facing a funding shortfall after Georgia lawmakers vetoed millions in domestic violence funding.

The nonprofit is the only 24-hour domestic violence shelter in the area, serving 10 counties from Augusta to Burke County to Taliaferro.

It costs approximately $1 million to operate a 24-hour shelter that meets Georgia standards, but SafeHomes only receives $647,000 in funding.

Lawmakers vetoed $9.4 million in domestic violence funding and $3 million for sexual assault centers.

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Executive Director Aimee Hall said staff is bracing for what comes next.

“I think we’ll still be able to provide services. It’s just going to be on a lower scale. And that’s my concern because there’s so many people who need our services. Last year we provided services to over 1,700 men, women, and children,” Hall said.

Hall said the concern is not just about budgets but about the people who depend on the shelter around the clock.

“We’re not a nonprofit that can close. Domestic violence don’t happen between 8:00 and 5:00,” she said.

Becky Halioua, a survivor who first made contact with SafeHomes in 2015, said the resource likely saved her life.

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She said she has continued to share her story in hopes it can help others.

“Nobody starts a relationship saying, well, I can’t wait for this person to put their hands on me,” Halioua said. “Domestic violence really has no face. And I think it’s important for people to know that it affects everybody.”

She said the reality of leaving an abusive situation is something many people do not consider.

“Just imagine if you had to just uproot your entire life suddenly in, you know, maybe the middle of the night and leave with just the clothes on your back,” Halioua said.

Hall said the most important thing the community can do right now is show up. SafeHomes is actively seeking volunteers, and Hall said time is just as valuable as financial donations.

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Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can contact SafeHomes Augusta directly at 706-736-2499.

Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.



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