The 2013 Masters Tournament

rooteen wrote:What a great win by Scott. Regardless of where you rank the Masters, there is no denying it produces some of the best tension filled finishes in the game. Loved it when Scott yelled "c'mon aussies" after that putt in regulation, then Cabrera follows it with the best approach to the 18th all day to make his first birdie in a finale round at the 18th. Don't think anyone would mind Cabrera in the trenches beside them, ice cool and by his post round interview someone who "gets" the game. I'd love to know how many major winners have suffered the heartbreak like Scott did last year, to bounce back and win one the following year. IMO that is what makes good golfers great.

On a side note, read an interview recently where Scott said he would continue to use the long putter for good, he would just modify the way he uses it by moving the top of it away from his body. Didn't really pay much attention to whether or not he is already doing this. Anyone else notice?

You don't have to look too far back in recent history. Remember a young Irishman melting down at the Masters a year or two ago only to clean up at the US Open a few months later?

But I agree 100%. This win erases that Open Championship choke.

So looks to me like tiger will not be contending agains fields of only 100/200 guys a week. He will be competing against the world. all 6Billion of us. He will not just have the partners nor rule officials to keep track of him, he will have the whole world glued to their seats with their phone on their laps waiting for possible rules to be broken, I though his drop would've been as far back as he wants to since he was in the water.oh well.

Tiger was clearly the favourite to win with the least amount of bogeys, and steady play. Getting that penalty from a TV viewer AFTER the officials confirmed it to be okay I wouldve taken my viewers and withdrawn from the tournament.

Actually a huge big up to Tiger for not quiting and still trying to make that comeback after that shot. To go out there not caring for a second place nor the money knowing you need the round of the week for the win the chances was small. Masters-Ratings can be thankfull he didnt withdrew himself.

Kiwigolfer wrote:

Player wrote:

FamousDavis wrote:

Player wrote:Scotts great win now completes the full set of majors being won with long putters, and this time it isnt a belly, its a full length broomstick. Augusta was the one course everyone thought couldnt be conquered with a cheats putter. It wil be interesting to see their response, however its hard to call it cheating when its someone with such a great all round game as Scott. That was one of the best finishes I have seen there, there were so many momentum shifts. Not as dramatic as bubba, but higher quality. Bubba hit a super shot, but he choked up to be in there in the first place. Scott was in total control throughout his entire round amd the playoff. If he putted in even ok he would have streeted them.

I've begun to change my thinking on the long putters and anchoring. First of all, Adam Scott missed a ton of putts today. In fact, halfway through the round I said out loud "this guy would win by a mile if he could putt". He hit a ton of iron shots close and missed a bunch of makeable birdies. So, in some ways, the anchored putters give the great shot makers who are great at everything in the game, except for putting, a chance. Maybe that's a good thing. I guess I could go either way on this. Personally, I've never played with anyone who I consider to be a great putter who uses a belly or long putter. Op

I think anchoring definitely assists a player who yips short putts or who has trouble with putting in general. Is that wrong or not in the spirit of the game? Some players use longer and lighter drivers to enable them to hit the ball further. I've tried using a belly putter at the golf store and don't putt as well with it. The bottom line for me is I don't like the look of them.

Definitely one of the all time great Masters finishes. It makes you wonder what kind of personality enables someone like Cabrera to turn it on like that after playing so miserably for four years.

Snedeker's weaknesses were revealed for sure. That 4 wood into the 13th hole was horrible.

Sneds seems to be quite a way away from a major champion. He had some chokes out there today, and even when he played well he was noticably shorter than Cabreras, who isnt as long as Scott or Day. Sneds was leaving himself consistently two clubs longer into greens, which will wear you down when you add sunday pressure. Day collapsed over the stretch too but Sneds really folded like a cheap suit very early on in the round. I think this loss will hurt him more than Immelman. Day will recover but Sends is gone. I still dont rate the masters as so much blind luck is involved, but you cant deny it is the most exciting last day of all the majors.

I think it's harsh to say that Day collapsed. It seems to me he just froze in the headlights once he took that two shot lead. He just couldn't execute the shots that he had been swinging freely earlier leading to two consecutive bogies as soon as he took that two shot lead. If he had held his nerve we may witnessed a three way playoff. It's a shame but I agree that Day will recover and be a better finisher for the experience.7

So what exactly the difference between a collapse and getting stuck in the headlights and not executing? Day should recover but the mental error to go down a club on 17 will haunt him. He is only 25 though and has a ton of game, way too talented not to recover and win a swag of majors. I rate Day the second best in the world talent wise, equal with scott and rory. When tiger retires those guys will dominate.

Player wrote:

Kiwigolfer wrote:

Player wrote:

FamousDavis wrote:

Player wrote:Scotts great win now completes the full set of majors being won with long putters, and this time it isnt a belly, its a full length broomstick. Augusta was the one course everyone thought couldnt be conquered with a cheats putter. It wil be interesting to see their response, however its hard to call it cheating when its someone with such a great all round game as Scott. That was one of the best finishes I have seen there, there were so many momentum shifts. Not as dramatic as bubba, but higher quality. Bubba hit a super shot, but he choked up to be in there in the first place. Scott was in total control throughout his entire round amd the playoff. If he putted in even ok he would have streeted them.

I've begun to change my thinking on the long putters and anchoring. First of all, Adam Scott missed a ton of putts today. In fact, halfway through the round I said out loud "this guy would win by a mile if he could putt". He hit a ton of iron shots close and missed a bunch of makeable birdies. So, in some ways, the anchored putters give the great shot makers who are great at everything in the game, except for putting, a chance. Maybe that's a good thing. I guess I could go either way on this. Personally, I've never played with anyone who I consider to be a great putter who uses a belly or long putter. Op

I think anchoring definitely assists a player who yips short putts or who has trouble with putting in general. Is that wrong or not in the spirit of the game? Some players use longer and lighter drivers to enable them to hit the ball further. I've tried using a belly putter at the golf store and don't putt as well with it. The bottom line for me is I don't like the look of them.

Definitely one of the all time great Masters finishes. It makes you wonder what kind of personality enables someone like Cabrera to turn it on like that after playing so miserably for four years.

Snedeker's weaknesses were revealed for sure. That 4 wood into the 13th hole was horrible.

Sneds seems to be quite a way away from a major champion. He had some chokes out there today, and even when he played well he was noticably shorter than Cabreras, who isnt as long as Scott or Day. Sneds was leaving himself consistently two clubs longer into greens, which will wear you down when you add sunday pressure. Day collapsed over the stretch too but Sneds really folded like a cheap suit very early on in the round. I think this loss will hurt him more than Immelman. Day will recover but Sends is gone. I still dont rate the masters as so much blind luck is involved, but you cant deny it is the most exciting last day of all the majors.

I think it's harsh to say that Day collapsed. It seems to me he just froze in the headlights once he took that two shot lead. He just couldn't execute the shots that he had been swinging freely earlier leading to two consecutive bogies as soon as he took that two shot lead. If he had held his nerve we may witnessed a three way playoff. It's a shame but I agree that Day will recover and be a better finisher for the experience.7

So what exactly the difference between a collapse and getting stuck in the headlights and not executing? Day should recover but the mental error to go down a club on 17 will haunt him. He is only 25 though and has a ton of game, way too talented not to recover and win a swag of majors. I rate Day the second best in the world talent wise, equal with scott and rory. When tiger retires those guys will dominate.

Well to me he choked when he held the lead but it was just two poor swings that cost him. A collapse in my mind is when the wheels completely come off like Rory's meltdown in the back nine in 2011.

Day choked coming in. Hitting sloppy approach irons and hitting putts like he was afraid of an electrical shock if he hit the ball in the hole. A totally predictable human reaction resulting from the fear of winning the Masters. Or any other major. Only a few seem to have been born or bred to avoid this. Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Snead, Player,Woods come to mind.

Fluffy wrote:So looks to me like tiger will not be contending agains fields of only 100/200 guys a week. He will be competing against the world. all 6Billion of us. He will not just have the partners nor rule officials to keep track of him, he will have the whole world glued to their seats with their phone on their laps waiting for possible rules to be broken, I though his drop would've been as far back as he wants to since he was in the water.oh well.

Tiger was clearly the favorite to win with the least amount of bogeys, and steady play. Getting that penalty from a TV viewer AFTER the officials confirmed it to be okay I would've taken my viewers and withdrawn from the tournament.

Actually a huge big up to Tiger for not quitting and still trying to make that comeback after that shot. To go out there not caring for a second place nor the money knowing you need the round of the week for the win the chances was small. Masters-Ratings can be thankful he didn't withdrew himself.

He didn't get a penalty from the viewer, he incriminated himself. The committee gave him a pass on the drop brought up by a viewer until Tiger opened his mouth and said he intentionally dropped the ball further from the hole. If he didn't say anything, he would have been in the clear. In fact, if a viewer hadn't made the complaint, the committee wouldn't have reviewed the drop, thus bringing in the new TV review rule. If they hadn't reviewed the drop, and Tiger then reviled his blundered drop, they would have no choice but the DQ Tiger for signing a bad score card. The new rule gave the committee a pass and an excuse to allow tiger to continue. That's the part that stinks. Again, it's not Tiger's fault the allowed this, but it isn't correct.

For those who say he should have withdrawn, I doubt you are considering how much is riding on his shoulders. From the PGA, to his sponsors, to NBC for him to be on TV on Saturday and Sunday. It would have become a deal if he won. He didn't, so to me it's just a bit of drama.

I agree about the ratings and probably why the nod to let the penalty pass before he opened his mouth. The masters and pga are both a business and they know which side the bread is buttered on.

Outcome, you'll never hear any pro give a play by play again for fear of getting a post round penalty/DQ'd.

Overall, I think it was a good tournament. They did make Augusta National too long, however. 495 and 500 yard par fours are just silly.

I agree that some of the holes are too long to be Par 4s. However, I can't think of any other course that has so many perfectly designed risk/reward holes. 13 and 15 are two of the best Par 5s I've ever seen and they just happen to be on the same course. 11 & 12 are also great holes.

I'm always let down by 17 & 18. 17 is a hole that must not be conducive to filming it because you never get a feel for what the hole looks like. You see the drive land but you really have no idea where it is. It's just a bad hole to watch for the viewer and for whatever reason it's very boring.

18 is kind of the same way. I think it would be better if they made it a little shorter and gave the players the ability to blow it over the bunkers.

We forgot about Bernhard. That guy is the healthiest looking 55 year old that I've ever seen. His physique is the same as it was when he won in the 80's. Not that I'm looking at his physique.

Great tournament. For some reason, I was pulling for Day to win it. Scott's reaction when he made the putt on 18 was great, but it wasn't appropriate for the situation. I'm sure it was very satisfying for Cabrera to birdie for the tie after Scott just acted like he won. Can't fault Scott, but he truly looks ridiculous with that putter.

I didn't really see any of the Tiger stuff, but I listened to sports talk on the 2 hour drive to Shithole, KY this morning. I absolutely believe that Tiger was given consideration that wouldn't have been given to a Sandy Lyle type of player. I also detest the whole viewer call-in and the fact that players even have to keep their own scores and their playing partner's score. If Tiger doesn't know the rule for a yellow hazard, shouldn't his caddie have said something? Just a totally unfortunate break in the first place.

I am surprised that people are giving Tiger a hard time for any of this though. People are giving him shit for admitting to moving his ball backwards? WTF? If he did it willfully, of course he should be honest. Idiot talking heads are saying he should have denied everything.

FamousDavis wrote:I agree that some of the holes are too long to be Par 4s. However, I can't think of any other course that has so many perfectly designed risk/reward holes. 13 and 15 are two of the best Par 5s I've ever seen and they just happen to be on the same course. 11 & 12 are also great holes.

I'm always let down by 17 & 18. 17 is a hole that must not be conducive to filming it because you never get a feel for what the hole looks like. You see the drive land but you really have no idea where it is. It's just a bad hole to watch for the viewer and for whatever reason it's very boring.

18 is kind of the same way. I think it would be better if they made it a little shorter and gave the players the ability to blow it over the bunkers.

We forgot about Bernhard. That guy is the healthiest looking 55 year old that I've ever seen. His physique is the same as it was when he won in the 80's. Not that I'm looking at his physique.

I met Bernhard and his wife at Disney World in 1985 when they were tourists just like us. Bernhard was wearing a blue denim jumpsuit and some sort of goofy hat I guess to disguise him. I broke away from my toddlers and went over to introduce myself and shake his hand. He was a bit freaked out but turned gracious when he figured out that I was also a golfer. Except for some more facial lines, he looked pretty much the same as he does on TV today.

Horseballs wrote:Great tournament. For some reason, I was pulling for Day to win it. Scott's reaction when he made the putt on 18 was great, but it wasn't appropriate for the situation. I'm sure it was very satisfying for Cabrera to birdie for the tie after Scott just acted like he won. Can't fault Scott, but he truly looks ridiculous with that putter.

I didn't really see any of the Tiger stuff, but I listened to sports talk on the 2 hour drive to Shithole, KY this morning. I absolutely believe that Tiger was given consideration that wouldn't have been given to a Sandy Lyle type of player. I also detest the whole viewer call-in and the fact that players even have to keep their own scores and their playing partner's score. If Tiger doesn't know the rule for a yellow hazard, shouldn't his caddie have said something? Just a totally unfortunate break in the first place.

I am surprised that people are giving Tiger a hard time for any of this though. People are giving him shit for admitting to moving his ball backwards? WTF? If he did it willfully, of course he should be honest. Idiot talking heads are saying he should have denied everything.

Agreed, Stevie would have gave Tiger a verbal dope slap and made him redrop. Just another example of why Stevie should get the credit for all of those majors.

Poe4soul wrote:

Horseballs wrote:Great tournament. For some reason, I was pulling for Day to win it. Scott's reaction when he made the putt on 18 was great, but it wasn't appropriate for the situation. I'm sure it was very satisfying for Cabrera to birdie for the tie after Scott just acted like he won. Can't fault Scott, but he truly looks ridiculous with that putter.

I didn't really see any of the Tiger stuff, but I listened to sports talk on the 2 hour drive to Shithole, KY this morning. I absolutely believe that Tiger was given consideration that wouldn't have been given to a Sandy Lyle type of player. I also detest the whole viewer call-in and the fact that players even have to keep their own scores and their playing partner's score. If Tiger doesn't know the rule for a yellow hazard, shouldn't his caddie have said something? Just a totally unfortunate break in the first place.

I am surprised that people are giving Tiger a hard time for any of this though. People are giving him shit for admitting to moving his ball backwards? WTF? If he did it willfully, of course he should be honest. Idiot talking heads are saying he should have denied everything.

Agreed, Stevie would have gave Tiger a verbal dope slap and made him redrop. Just another example of why Stevie should get the credit for all of those majors.

Seriously. Did you see all of the interaction going on between Adam Scott and Stevie on the 18th fairway during the first playoff hole. You could tell that Stevie was trying to convince Scott over a certain yardage and kept arguing with him that he was right and Scott was wrong.

I saw it again on the 2nd playoff hole (10th green) when Stevie and Adam were talking over the final putt. Stevie stood right behind Scott and was helping him read the putt. You could tell Stevie was saying it in a very firm voice "I'm positive it breaks right on that line. Hit it right there and you win".

That's a pretty good thing to have in your arsenal - a caddie who knows WTF he's talking about and gives you confidence when your nerves are nearly spent. Honestly, would Scott have won without that kind of experience and knowledge in playoffs? I doubt it.

You could tell Stevie was thinking to himself that he's not going to let this one get away like he did at the British and let Scott do his own thing. This time, he was going to MAKE Adam Scott play the right shot. He did and Scott won. There's no question it played a big part in the win.

Wasn't Joe LaCava on Fred Couples' bag for several years? Couples is one of the biggest underachievers in the history of the game. Why would Tiger want a loser caddie in his camp? Tiger needs to do whatever he has to to get Stevie back. I know Tiger is proud, but he better to groveling if his wants to get to 18 majors and beyond. Hell, Stevie is now tied at 14 with Tiger. How come the media doesn't mention Stevie's pursuit of Nicklaus? I know that everyone in the MSM hates Kiwi's, but you can't deny Williams greatness as if he doesn't exist.

I remember Angelo Argea, Jack Niklaus's regular caddie for many years. Angelo said that when Niklaus hired him, he was required to do only two things in addition to carrying the bag: when Niklaus wasn't playing well, to remind him that he was the best in the world and that there were a lot more holes ahead. Since Augusta prohibited outside caddies for years, Argea wasn't on Jack's bag at Augusta. Back then, you had to use the house caddies who were almost all locals descended from local slaves. I think it would be a great idea if they brought that tradition back to this event.

Mongrel wrote:I remember Angelo Argea, Jack Niklaus's regular caddie for many years. Angelo said that when Niklaus hired him, he was required to do only two things in addition to carrying the bag: when Niklaus wasn't playing well, to remind him that he was the best in the world and that there were a lot more holes ahead. Since Augusta prohibited outside caddies for years, Argea wasn't on Jack's bag at Augusta. Back then, you had to use the house caddies who were almost all locals descended from local slaves. I think it would be a great idea if they brought that tradition back to this event.

And while theyre at it they should make a rule that all caddys are only referred to as "boy". The masters could then be what the members always intended it to be, a good ol cracker fest.

trombettista_vecchio wrote:Overall, I think it was a good tournament. They did make Augusta National too long, however. 495 and 500 yard par fours are just silly.

I'll choose them over a 400yard par4 any day... Its bad hitting a 56degree into every green for a second shot. As soon as you pull or push it wide and you need some room to work the ball low under the trees its alot easier with a 3-5iron then a 8-SW.

There's only 4 decent par4 holes at my course...and for some reason they are all par5s on the scorecard.