Hideki Matsuyama made more than just Masters history on Sunday, plus breaking down Joe Musgrove’s no-hitter

Good morning and welcome back to the grind, my friend! I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as the law allows and, more importantly, I hope you’re rejuvenated for another week with me. It’s going to be a good one.

As promised, I’m here to recap everything that went down over the weekend … and there’s a lot we need to get to. Off the top, Hideki Matsuyama is your 2021 Masters champion, so of course we’ll bring you the finer details of that historic victory. We also had a no-hitter and plenty of big hockey trades over the weekend — and I’ll have myself a busy day with the NHL trade deadline coming up this afternoon. 

Luckily, I’ve got plenty of energy saved up from the weekend. I think I spent 12-plus hours on the deck watching golf and baseball on Saturday and it was everything I could have ever wanted. Didn’t move all day unless it was to grab food and/or cocktails. That’s peak performance. 

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? What you need to know

1. Hideki Matsuyama wins the Masters, gets first PGA victory in nearly four years ?

Any time the green jacket gets slipped onto someone for the first time at Augusta National, it’s a pretty special thing to watch. On Sunday, it was even more special considering that jacket was slipped on to Hideki Matsuyama. He is the first Japanese men’s golfer to ever win the Masters — or any major championship. 

• Matsuyama came into Sunday with a four-stroke lead before having a bit of a roller coaster final day. The lead was cut to one before growing to as many as six strokes. Matsuyama found the water on No. 15 and briefly injected a bit of drama into the final round
• He won with a final score of 10-under, clearing rookie breakout star Will Zalatoris by one stroke
• This is Matsuyama’s first victory since the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August 2017  
• The win comes 10 years after Matsuyama claimed the low-amateur trophy at the 2011 Masters as a 19 year old. He’s the seventh player to earn low amateur and win a green jacket (the first since Sergio Garcia)

That fancy new jacket isn’t the only green that Matsuyama is leaving Augusta with, either. He’s also got over $2 million in prize money he can stuff in the coat pockets (the total purse for this year’s event was $11.5 million.) 

It’s not necessarily a major shock that Matsuyama came away with the victory — we’ve sort of been waiting for him to truly break through for a while now — but it was a bit surprising that many big names were missing this weekend because they didn’t finish on the right side of the cut line. Dustin Johnson became the third defending Masters champion to miss the cut in the last five years, and he was joined by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Cantlay and more. 

Aside from Matsuyama, the biggest winner of the weekend had to be Zalatoris … and not simply because he finished in second place. He earned plenty of spotlight and admiration in his first go-round at the Masters, and he won my heart with the way that he embraces looking like Happy Gilmore’s caddy at the Waterbury Open.

2. Things to know about Joe Musgrove’s no-hitter âš¾

It was a great weekend for baseball, especially if you happen to be a fan of the hottest team in the league. You know, the one that’s won six straight games and is currently king of the AL East? Yeah, that one (shut up, I know it’s April 12th. Let me enjoy this.)

But the Red Sox weren’t the biggest winners in MLB this weekend. That honor goes to Joe Musgrove, the Padres pitcher who threw the first no-hitter of the 2021 season on Friday.

• Musgrove’s no-hitter was not only the first of the season, it was also the first no-hitter in Padres history. San Diego was the last MLB team without a no-hitter
• It was also the first no-hitter thrown at Globe Life Field in Texas, which opened last season. Globe Life is the only MLB stadium currently allowing full capacity, and 27,575 fans were on hand for Friday’s game
• Musgrove grew up in San Diego rooting for the Padres and was traded to his hometown team this past offseason. He wears No. 44 in homage to his favorite Padre growing up — Jake Peavy
• Musgrove: “Everyone dreams of getting the chance to throw a no-hitter. I’ve never even thrown a no-hitter in my life, so my first one came today on this field. It’s awesome to have it be in a Padres uniform and for it to be the first one for the franchise. That’s incredible.”

If you were to tell me that a Padres offseason acquisition was going to throw the first no-hitter of the 2021 season, I probably would have guessed Blake Snell first and Yu Darvish second. But Musgrove is an unlikely, feel-good story worth celebrating … what an early season storyline to have. 

Of course, for all the big winners this weekend, there were also some big losers … including both teams from New York. The only thing better than a great weekend for the Red Sox is a great weekend for the Red Sox that also happened to be a crap weekend for the Yankees. 

3. Prepare for the potential craziness of NHL trade deadline day ?

I love pure, inexplicable chaos … it’s one of the biggest reasons that hockey is my favorite sport and the NHL trade deadline is one of my favorite days on the calendar each year. I look forward to the craziness that the trade cutoff brings annually, and today just so happens to be deadline day.

The good news? The past few days have brought plenty of action already. The bad news? The flurry of action over the weekend might limit how many impactful deals are actually made today as the deadline approaches. 

Here’s a rundown of what you may have missed on the trade wire:

• Taylor Hall traded to the Bruins: Boston desperately needed some secondary scoring help in the form of a top-six winger. They got that in Hall (plus a depth piece Curtis Lazar) and did so at relatively low cost (Anders Bjork and a 2nd-round pick). Hall’s had a brutal season in Buffalo, but he’s also been playing for a horrible team. It’s an excellent low-risk, high-reward move for Boston
• Nick Foligno and David Rittich go to Toronto: The Leafs used a 1st-round pick and two 4th-round picks to get Foligno, which may have been an overpay. But Foligno fits Toronto’s needs for a defensive, gritty depth forward…and there’s no such thing as an overpay if it works in the playoffs. Toronto also got some goaltending insurance by picking up Rittich from Calgary
• Jeff Carter shipped to Pittsburgh: Nobody really expected Jeff Carter’s name to be heard yesterday, but the Kings traded him to the Penguins for a couple of conditional draft picks. Carter’s a versatile aging vet who may be able to help the Penguins’ offense with his volume shooting and his right-handed shot, but he’s not the impact player he once was

There were plenty of moves earlier in the week too, as guys like Kyle Palmieri, David Savard and Devan Dubnyk were all dealt ahead of Sunday. So, where does that leave us today? Well, there’s still some notable names on the board of players expected to be traded  — including Alex Iafallo, Mike Hoffman and Luke Glendening — but most of the sexier names have already been dealt. 

That seems like it could be bad for the excitement level of today’s deadline countdown, but then again … it also means we could get some wildly unexpected deals as teams get desperate. Either way, I’ll have you covered throughout the day with live blog coverage and takeaways right here.

4. Potential college football breakout stars of 2021 ?

While I spent the weekend on the deck watching baseball and golf, I couldn’t help but think ahead to how awesome it’ll be to set up shop out there on Saturdays during college football season in the fall. Am I getting ahead of myself? Maybe, but as we all know … Texas is going to be extremely back. 

So instead of judging me for being excited about college football this early, why don’t you join me? To help, our college football experts have highlighted some players that could be ready to emerge as superstars this year. If a guy from your favorite team is on the list, you might find yourself looking ahead, too. 

• David Ugwoegbu, LB, Oklahoma: Chip Patterson believes that Ugwoegbu’s transition from an edge rusher to a linebacker will give him a chance to reach another level in his junior season. “He doesn’t miss tackles in space and has great length to be disruptive at the second level.”
• Devon Achane, RB, Texas A&M: Your PM newsletter pal Tom Fornelli is enamored with Achane, who ran for 140 yards on 12 carries in the Orange Bowl. He thinks it could be a sign of things to come for Achane and the Aggies. He’s got blazing speed and is one of the most exciting players in the SEC
• Khafre Brown, WR, North Carolina: David Cobb sees lots of opportunity for Brown this year. UNC has a star junior quarterback in Sam Howell and a veteran offensive line, so they’ll be passing a lot. Each of the team’s top four pass catchers have departed, meaning they need new faces to step up. Brown is the most prepared to be a star

Let the record show that none of these so-called experts picked Bijan Robinson, so they are all fools. I’m the only person you can trust here. Step 1: Feed Bijan. Step 2: Watch Bijan go to work. Step 3: Profit. 

? Odds & Ends

? What to watch today

? 76ers vs. Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. | DAL +3 | TV: ESPN

âš¾ Cubs vs. Brewers, 7:40 p.m. | MIL -135 | TV: FS1

? Nuggets vs. Warriors, 10 p.m. | GSW +3.5 | TV: ESPN  

? The best thing I saw yesterday

Miles Bridges absolutely stole Clint Capela’s lunch money with this ridiculous dunk yesterday.