Sebastian Munoz staying calm, and in top 10, through three rounds in Masters debut
In his debut at Masters Tournament, Sebastian Muñoz continues to keep his place near the top of the leaderboard. Heading into Sunday’s final round, he’s tied for seventh place with Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed at 9 under.
The 27-year-old said advice he got while playing with former champions Jose Maria Olazábal and Vijay Singh has been helpful.
“They kind of gave me pointers here and there, but overall, they just said, ’Man, it’s completely different from what we’re used to,’” he said. “So I think that kind of helped me because I didn’t try to play it the way it usually plays and just the way I perceive it right now, so I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve taken away so far.”
Hailing from Colombia, Muñoz played his collegiate golf at the University of North Texas before going pro in 2015.
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“It’s always fun to see players you’ve worked with in the past and been around a lot, perform at high levels,” North Texas coach Brad Stracke said. “In his junior and senior years, he started working hard on all aspects of his game and started believing in himself. Once he started putting his mind to it he worked very hard on his game and it showed.”
Muñoz opened with a par before three consecutive birdies to get into contention, including a birdie on No. 2 for the third consecutive round. He then carded six straight pars, narrowly missing birdie on Nos. 6, 7 and 8.
Then Muñoz shifted back and forth across the leaderboard on the second nine, with a bogey on 11, a birdie on 12, a bogey on 14 and a birdie on 15.
Muñoz finished with three pars to shoot 69. With a share of seventh place, he tees off at 9:07 a.m. Sunday with Patrick Reed and Jon Rahm. The three are seven shots behind leader Dustin Johnson.
As the final day of the Masters approaches, Muñoz expressed how he was not weary after three days of play and he sticks to his routine to an extent.
“I really haven’t done much,” Muñoz said. “I haven’t worked out this week. My trainer’s not here with me this week, so I skipped a couple workouts. I’m not very proud of that, I guess, but not doing anything different. We just talk at night, play video games, and just doing the same thing. I’m still pretty young in my career, so I don’t find it draining.”
