Sunday, April 8, 2018

5th Annual Live Masters Blog- Day 4


Can you believe it? It has been 5 years since I started this cockamamie live blog writing about all things Masters, schwag, players headed for the glue factory among many other musings. Join me won't you for Day 4 of this rambling coverage? 

3:45pm: Ayup there it is. One of the few people in golf I can't stand won the Masters. How did he do it? Well he rolled soooo many putts this week, hats off to his putting. The greens are so difficult and much respect for his navigation of them.

I think you can never bet against Jordan at the Masters as a Top 3 finisher and Rahm and Rickie had surprising Top 10 finishes which means maybe they are building up institutional knowledge to win at ANGC some day. 

I also think we need to put the narrative to bed that lefthanders have a huge advantage here. Arguably Lefty, Bubba and Harman were coming into this week playing their best golf of the year and none of them were a factor. 

Finally, the course looked in great shape and I wish ANGC would stop trying to lengthen things. The rain softened the course which really bore fruit today with super low scores. The defense in this course is twofold, positioning and the green complexes. If this course is set up on the edge, it is tough to score so if defending par is critical to the members then length won't help.

Overall, another great major tournament is in the books and thank you all for making your way through another year of living blogging. Maybe next year I will actually make it to Augusta and if so, no way in hell am I doing this again :P. Cross your fingers for the lottery! 

3:30pm: Reed made the par putt. Reed is in the fairway. Against all of analysis Rickie Fowler managed to have an amazing Masters and is only 1 behind. If Reed Bogeys, playoff! One can only hope...

3:15pm: This is it, while it might only be the 17th hole, if Reed manages to par this despite a lousy drive then it is all over but the crying. Sure he could double 18 but I doubt that is going to happen. It all comes down to 17, can Reed bogey it? Rickie just parred 17 so he is basically out of it at this point. It all comes down to Reed's second shot. 

3:05pm: Jordan did all he could to get into the conversation. Still a bogey at the last means that P Reed just has to par his way in to win it. Jordan stayed over that 18th tee shot way too long and it showed, blowed it out left and luckily hit a tree but was way back to the green. Time will tell if Patrick starts gripping it tighter. 

2:35pm: There has never been any objectivity on this blog and there certainly isn't any now! 




1:45pm: The benefit of playing early is that you can "post a number". You go out hot and put up a number close to the leaders, they start thinking about that number and you never know, they might start gripping the club a little tighter and start falling backward. That is what Jordan has to right now. No leaking oil. No falling backward, go out and post a number, say 13, 14 under and see if Rory or P Reed can match it.

1:35pm: Sometimes you want something too much. You work so hard to get to a certain point but then you start overthinking it, gripping the club too hard. I think that's where Rory is at this point. He has tried various ways to "prepare" for Augusta over the last few years and it just doesn't work. He has the talent to win anywhere but I don't think he has the mentality to win at ANGC, its in his head.  

1:05pm: Stop it Jordan, stop making me want to care about you. Look at you, 5 under and 10 under for the tourney, only 4 back and turning through the back 9. Could Reed pull a Norman? Maybe but I think it is less likely. Rory is so rollercoastering it so far birdies here, bogeys there. Rahm is starting to make a bit of a move, maybe there is something brewing there. 

12:30pm: Directv is really a godsend every year during the Masters. So many options, none better than the Mosaic channel where it is a feast for the ADHD senses. When you attend a tourney, you only get a sense on how the group you are following is doing along with looks at the leaderboard to try to get a sense on how everyone is doing. Sitting at home, Directv gives it all to you all at once. 




12:00pm: A great summary of why Reed is a complicated leader of this tournament.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/should-you-hold-patrick-reeds-complicated-past-against-him?mbid=nl_040818_breaking_hitlist_masters_am

11:35am: Welp Jordan starts birdie, birdie. Too little, too late. Friday was the day he lost the tourney. Double and then bogey in the first two holes and leaking oil until the par 5s on the back. As they say, you can't win the Masters on Thursday but you can certainly lose it (Jordan just waited an extra day). 

Everyone is going be concentrating on Reed, McIlroy today but I am curious about how Rahm and Fowler do today. Both have immense talent but haven't gotten it done thus far in majors. Can they put something together today? 

11:00am: The tee times start so late at the Masters (seriously, they go off at 2:40?) that I have time to do other stuff. Stuff including baking some treats for the upcoming afternoon. I don't hold Masters party. Does anyone? Do you sit around drinking peach tea and wearing pastels? I need to know! 




10:30am: The 16th hole looks like it is really screwing with golfers. So many coming up short or pulling their shots into the bunkers. It will be interesting to see if this hole decides the tourney in a few hours. 

10:10am: Looks like the wind is playing havoc with club selection on the back side. Everyone hopes for pretty conditions because the Masters is the unofficially spring kickoff to golf in the East but for me, I would like to see the pros also deal with some weather conditions in addition to the pretty conditions from time to time.  

9:40am: Starting off with Amen Corner rather than the featured groups. Of the three holes, I am most interested in 11, a long par 4 that requires a lot of different types of shots to get home in par. 12 to me is a bit overrated, its a long short hole (if that makes any sense) and yes has decided Jordan's fate among many others (thanks for staying up on Freddie's ball all those years back). I just think it is more of a mental hole than a challenging hole. I have to agree with Chairmen Ridley that the 13th has lost its teeth. Golfers are kicking butt with an iron in to the hole with eagle always looming. So basically, give me 11 all day long. 

9:30am: It was too enticing, I had to go and play golf this morning. Now I am back and my fingers are all warmed up for some hot blogging action! 

No comments:

Post a Comment