In what is slowly becoming an annual tradition, I have decided to post my ramblings on The Masters golf tourney throughout the day. Today is Day 2, Masters Part Duex!
6:45am: Goooooood morning Golf-blog-o-verse! Its is Masters, day 2. Not quite day one but it will be a woman soon and become "moving" day tomorrow. Speaking of moving, it looks like Ernie Els, the Big Easy himself, continues to move up the early leaderboard going to -6 through 4 holes today. Its fascinating to me that some of the longest hitters in the 90s (Freddie, Ernie, DL3) had the easiest looking swings. Nowadays the bombers seem to "look" faster through the ball (whether more torque, more swing speed, more coffee).
7:15am: In today's installment of schwag I am salivating over is a Masters t-shirt. Usually you don't associate t-shirts with the Masters. Collared shirts, jackets, standard Bushwood club fare is what I associate with the tourney but this shirt is great. Faded lettering, the recognizable slogan and of course that great green and gold color scheme.
Again, the markup on the resell market is crazy which again brings home the premium of actually being there at the Masters but that goes with out saying.
8:15am: Caddies earn their paychecks that is for sure. Lugging around clubs for at least 4 days (including practice rounds) making sure they have yardages down, the slope down, etc. I am a big fan of caddies. One of the things caddies have to in Augusta is go after the wayward balls in the azaleas and pine straw leading to rather humorous pictures like this:
Kevin (Stadler), your ball is THIS way!
8:45am: Jordan (my main man) Speith (trademark pending) is FOUR shots clear of the field, picking up right where he left off yesterday and is currently at -10. Woods had the lowest combined score at AGNC at -18, might we see a record fall?
9:30am: Rory is getting ready to tee off but the breaking news here is that Rory likes see-through pants?
Is this what brings all the girls to the yard? Rory have some decency!
10:00am: Now my focus narrows to Jordan as Featured Group 2 comes on the live feed. He impressed the heck out of me last year at the Masters, hanging tough with Bubba. He was gripping it hard on that Sunday and couldn't mount the challenge but with two recent wins, dollars to donuts he finishes it off this weekend. No rain is forecasted for the weekend so scoring conditions should hold up.
11:15am: The Jordan Speith show continues.
15 birdie, 6 stroke lead. I am happy for him but even happier for me who picked him to win in several pools so maybe I will be the big winner come Sunday night. Do any of you enter online contests?
12:00p,: Is this the most intimidating tee shot in all of golf. The narrowness of the trees, the compressed feel of the gallery? I consulted the magic 8-ball and it said "Yes". Proof positive to me!
12:45pm: Crazy stat, the par 5 13th hole has yielded 8 eagles this week so far only through a round and a half. I know these guys are long but wow does that seem to be an easy hole. I know the greens are super slick, there are creeks and bunkers but man that is an easy hole (I would probably shoot a snowman on it).
1:45pm: Rory alert. Those see-through pants are not doing him well as he is currently one shot above the cut line. The highest ever score that won the Masters is +1 and Rory is currently sitting at +3 and 17 (that's right the Number 1 player in the world is 17) shots behind Speith. Quite an interesting comparison for both.
2:30pm: Random thoughts from Amen Corner:
- For some reason I think an "e" switched places in Charl Schwartzel's name.
- I know the pros have to be comfortable with being watched but it must be nice to have several holes (whether tee boxes or by Rae's Creek) where there is no audience and actually nature and pine trees. I cant imagine this place with no one there but golfers but I think it would be even more awesome.
-Rory walks fast around the course. In watching an Arnie documentary, he walked fast as well. Should we be looking forward to a drink named after him.
-I see a bunch of divots still remaining on the fairway. Do the caddies not replace them?
3:45pm: We are nearing the end of day 2. Amazingly a lot of the course is clearing out. So many stands empty and people leaving. I have never gone to Augusta and this tournament would be THE one tournament I want to go to at some point. If I was lucky enough to get on for one day, I would stay till the bitter end, until they pried my hands from the gates fronting Magnolia Drive.
Day 2 Wrap Up.
- Very sad that Freddie will not be making the weekend. Awhile ago I recall him saying he only has a few years left at a high competitive level at the Masters and after making so many cuts and placing so well so often, is this the start of the decline?
- Some big time names missed the cut this year. Holmes, Snedeker and BillyHo all missed the cut.
- Who other than Speith has a chance this weekend? Well, Hoffman has put together two solid rounds and sits second. Kevin Na tied with the best round on Friday and he can really play lights out so look for him to make some noise. From the back of the pack, I would keep my eye on Lefty. He is hitting it well for once and has the length and the short game to be a real factor in the weekend.
That's it for me. I am going to do it all again tomorrow on this Bat Channel (hopefully doing the Batusi).
All images poorly photographed from Masters.com are their property and their use herein is for commentary and criticism purposes only and no rights are claimed to the copyright thereto.
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