This Is Masters Week!

[eagle eye]

The Masters is my favorite golf tournament. I don't know quite why but the majesty of the event along with the venue which is so familiar and beautiful is just the best of what golf is to me. Augusta National has been the temple for golf since the great Bobby Jones built it in collaboration with golf course architect Alister MacKenzie and the first Masters tournament was held in 1934. http://www.augusta.com/masters/story/news/1934-mackenzie-declared-augusta-national-his-best-golf-course

Jordan Spieth is the defending champion but his spotty play in 2016 hardly makes him a favorite this week. In the final tune up before Masters week Spieth finished the Shell Houston Open in a 4 way tie with Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel and Johnson Wagner at -8 seven strokes behind first time winner Jim Herman. It was a cool deal to watch Herman win his first PGA tour as well as qualifying for his first Masters yesterday. Herman is 38 years old and has bounced back and forth between the PGA tour and the Web.com tour (Formally the Nationwide Tour) since 2011 after turning pro in 2000 after going to the University of Cincinnati. It was heartwarming seeing the joy on Herman's face as he tried to hold back tears in his post victory interview moments after completing a very unexpected win in Houston. When asked about playing in the Masters Herman could barely speak he was so choked up. Herman could shoot in the 80's in the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday and I'll bet he doesn't care--too much--because of being able to play and be a part of Masters week.

Who's the favorite this week? I haven't looked at the Vegas odds but I'd have to say that Australia's Jason Day would have to be right there. He's been of golf's hottest golfers since late last year. Dustin Johnson has played well too so it's hard to say. It sure won't be Tiger Woods who announced over the weekend that he will not play in the Masters because he is still recovering from back surgery. It's unlikely Tiger will play much at all in 2016.

[eagle eye]

Today is the par 3 tournament at the Masters. An interesting note, nobody who has won the par 3 event has ever won the Masters Tournament itself. The par 3 event is just for fun and it allows past champions the opportunity to play with the younger generation. Cool event and going to the Masters tournament is definitely on my bucket list.

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Yesterday was traditional Par 3 Tournament held before the real tournament begins. Nobody who has won the nine hole, par 27, event which began in 1960 has ever won the Masters so my condolences to Jimmy Walker who won the event and also won the closest to the hole contest with a shot that ended up 5 inches from the cup. You don't count holes in one as closest to the pin and if you did there would have been a 9 way tie. That's right, there were nine hole in ones on the day which broke the old record of 5 set in 2002 and tied in 2015. Gary Player broke a tie with Ben Crenshaw for most hole in ones in tournament history when he aced hole #7 giving him 4 total for his Masters week career. Player also broke the record by being the oldest player to record an ace. Player is 80 years young topping his old rival Jack Nicklaus who previously held the record when he scored an ace when he was 75.

http://www.masters.com/en_US/news/photos/2016-04-06/ANGC.2016.Infographic.Par3_Aces3.html

Today the ceremonial start to the Masters will be by the 3-some of Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. I believe this is a monumental beginning to this great tourney. These guys have already driven the ball marking the official beginning of the 2016 Master. The first players to tee off are doing so as I write this post. The first players off the tee are last week's Shell Houston Open winner Jim Herman and Australian Steven Bowditch who got the invitation to the Masters on the strength of his win at the 2015 AT&T Byron Nelson Tournament last May. This is Herman's first Masters and Bowditch's 2nd. Herman's tee shot was right down the middle while Bowditch was on the right hand side of the fareway. Keep up or watch the tournament online at Masters.com. Did I ever mention this is my absolutely favorite golf tournament? Well, it is and for golfers this first major of the golf season is pure heaven. Hole 1 update: Herman missed the green to the right hole high and chipped in for birdie! Bowditch also missed right in the greenside bunker. He blasted out to 21 feet and he missed the first putt and settled for a bogey. Enjoy the next 4 days. I am hoping either Jordan Spieth or Phil Mickelson wins the whole thing but I'll enjoy every minute anyway.

[eagle eye]

I guess when the spotlight shines the brightest the best players step up. I don't know since the real spotlight and real pressure doesn't show up until the back 9 on Sunday. But, it's important to get off to a good start and Jordan Spieth did just that yesterday with an opening round 66 (-6) which gave him a 2 stroke lead after the opening round of the Masters.
Jason Day was right there at -4 until the wheels fell off and he ended up with an even par 72. He is joined at even par with Phil Mickelson who stumbled coming in join Day and 9 others at even par. That's including former Masters champ 58 year old Bernhard Langer. Another old timer who had a nice opening round was golfing great Tom Watson who was as low a -1 before ending up +2 on the day.
Another beautiful, sunny day at Augusta National. I'm sure that the players hope the wind doesn't blow like it did yesterday especially in the afternoon.
The live coverage on line at Masters.com is really nice. The picture quality is excellent and it's not choppy like it has been in the past. They have coverage of Amen Corner, the featured groups, holes 15 and 16 and the tv broadcast. I am off today but if they didn't have similar coverage on Directv I would hook my laptop up to the tv--the internet coverage is just that good.

[eagle eye]

Despite a 2 over 74 yesterday Jordan Spieth held on the lead in the Masters by 2 strokes over Hideki Matsuyama and Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen with USA's Scott Percy 3 back. So far through 7 holes Spieth is even par on the day. Rory McIlroy steamed back into contention and he was actually 1 back at the beginning of the day but he's 2 over through 7. My boy Phil Mickelson shot himself out of the tournament yesterday with a 7 over par 79 and Tom Watson also missed the cut when he blew up to a 2nd round score of 78 after beginning Thursday with a 74 ending up 10 over par in his final Masters appearance. A lot of big names like Ricky Fowler and Zack Johnson also missed the cut. There have been a butt-load of bad scores today as the golfers battle some treacherous winds. It's been blowing 15 mph out of the north with gusts to 26 mph which plays hell with shots that must be precise and they are not doing all that well negotiating the course and the wind. There have been a lot of 76's and higher today. The only round of the day so far under par is a 1 under 71 shot by Louis Oosthuizen earlier today. There are only 5 players currently under par for the tournament. You would think such a sunny, beautiful looking day would be this treacherous but when you consider the gusting winds and the speed of the Masters greens you can understand the problems the best golfers in the world are having. So, all I can say is -- GO SPIETH!

[eagle eye]

I can't believe Jordan Spieth is choking so badly. After 4 straight birdies ending at the 9th hole to get him to -7 with a 5 stroke lead heading into the back nine. A bogey on 10 and 11 coupled with a birdie by Danny Willett who was in 2nd place lowered Spieth's lead to just one stroke going into the par 3 12th. Then you might have seen the biggest thud ever seen at the Masters when Spieth put 2 balls into Rae's Creek on the way to a quadruple bogey 7 on the 12th. In the span of 3 holes you go from a 5 shot lead to being 3 strokes behind is the ultimate disaster. Spieth came back with a birdie on 13 but he's still 3 strokes back after Willett birdied 16. Right now Dustin Johnson looks like the most likely American to catch the Englishman Willett. Please God don't let Willett win. It's been a lousy afternoon watching the Astros and Spieth choke like dogs. I am so pissed.

[eagle eye]

Spieth had the most catastrophic collapse ever at the Masters yesterday when he lost a 5 stroke lead by losing 6 strokes to par in 3 holes. Spieth ended the front nine -7 and by the time he walked off the 12th green he was at -1 and in fourth place. The hope was Dustin Johnson would represent and catch Danny Willett and win his first major but, like the other times he had the chance to win, he faded down the stretch after birdies at 13 and 15 with a killing double bogey at 17. You gotta give Spieth credit, he never gave up. He too birdied 13 and 15 pulling him within 2 strokes of Willett with 3 to play. You had to think that 16 and 17 were both birdie holes. In the past 17 had been a pivotal hole for the eventual winner. The par 3 16th was the site of 3 final round hole's in one, a feat never before accomplished in Masters history. It started with Shane Lowrey followed by Davis Love III and the last was by Louis Oosthuizen who had the most unlikely ace of the three. Oosthuizen's ball was tracking right toward the hole just like Lowrey's and Love's but JB Holmes ball was right Oostie's way between the his ball and hole. After Oostie's ball hit Holmes ball knocking it out of the way it trickled straight to the bottom of the cup. Holmes had to replace his ball at the spot where Oosthuizen's ball hit it but he ended up making birdie anyway for a happy ending for both golfers. All that said the stage was set for Spieth to complete his comeback but it just wasn't to happen. Speith parred 16 and needed two birdies in the last two holes he promptly bogeyed 17 to ice the win for Willett. The bogey at 17 dropped Spieth into a tie for 2nd place with Lee Westwood. You have to say that Spieth has had a good 3 year run finishing 2nd, 1st and 2nd but he won't soon forget, if he ever does, his disastrous 3 hole brain fart at 10, 11 and 12 on Sunday afternoon.
The low amateur was a guy who went to SMU and was the NCAA individual champion and US Amateur Champ both coming last year. He was unable to defend his titles this year because SMU received a postseason ban because of recruiting violations and unethical conduct by SMU golf coach Josh Gregory. Dechambeau finished with a total score of 293, 9 strokes behind Willett, and good for a tie for 12th place. Dechambeau will turn pro this week and he will play in the RBC Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, South Carolina. This tournament is played at the famous Harbortown Links course famous for the lighthouse on behind the 18th green. It is an iconic symbol and 18 is the signature hole on the course. BTW, if you want to play the Harbortown Links South course it will cost you between $145 to $250 depending on the season. The first tee time allowed is 7 AM during the summer and 7:30 am the rest of the year. One interesting fact about Dechambeau's golf clubs is that all of his club shafts on his irons and wedges are cut to the same length, 37.5 inches which is totally different from most people's clubs whose lengths graduate from the shortest clubs, the wedges, to the longest iron which is the 1. The standard shaft length begins at 39.75 for the one iron down to the Sand or Lob Wedge that have a 35.25 shafts. The 37.5" shafts are 1/4" longer than a standard 7 iron. This is pretty smart considering one of the main reasons amateurs have a problem hitting long irons is the extra length of the shaft. The longer shafts on the wedges and nine iron are good and bad. The good is you get more length with the clubs and the bad is it makes the short irons a little harder to hit. The overall good is it makes set up for all the irons the same. Dechambeau's clubs have the same lie and bounce meaning if you can hit one club you can hit them all. Maybe I will try this myself because one swing fits all seems to make sense to a weekend hacker like me.
Congrats to Danny Willett who just became a father and he is also only the second Englishman, Sir Nick Faldo being the first, to win the Masters.
I also hope yesterday's collapse doesn't ruin Spieth. Similar collapses in the past have ruined other golfers who never made a serious run at a major after their own meltdown. At 22 years of age you have to figure Spieth will learn from this experience and become a much tougher golfer in the future. I really hope this is the case. I might now think this way but he handled the disappointment and stood up to the media and a post tourney interview with CBS's Bill Macatee in which he owned his mistakes and generally behaved with class. Even after his round was over as he was walking to the scorers tent CBS had a cameraman right in his face and Spieth stopped and politely asked for some space before continuing to the tent. To CBS's credit, they complied with Spieth's request. Some of that is the way the media is supposed to behave on the Masters property. The Masters has a lot of clout about the broadcast demanding few commercial interruptions and total courtesy to the players and patrons at the tournemant. A CBS announcer was banned from doing any announcing duties at the Masters after he referred to the greens as being "bikini waxed" in reference to the speed of the greens and he also said "body bags were located behind the green for golfers who missed their approach shots" to illustrate how penal a missed approach was. This was in 1994 and Gary McCord hasn't worked a Masters since. McCord is still a big part of CBS golf broadcasts, just not at Augusta National.