2914 Masters

OK, I watched less TV coverage of this year's Masters than any other in memory. Not that I missed Tiger Woods since he has not been a factor for some years. I guess the guys who missed the cut were some of the players I would have wanted to watch. So Bubba got his second yellow plus blue blazer and he deserves it. Never much in doubt by my eyes. Spieth and Blixt are great young kids and I was rooting for both of them. Now my biggest concerns about this tournament are the really crappy TV production values especially on Thursday and Friday when it looked to me like they shut down half the cameras in order to save money and the frequency of the TV commercials yesterday and today. And the monotony of the ads. If I hear the intro and head to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" one more time, I will load two 30 round magazines and pack them and my Bushmaster off to the Mall and make some network headlines.

The most serious concerns I have about the Masters is the venue itself. This past Monday at work I went on Google Earth and did a little satellite tour of Augusta National's real property up close and personal. Now since I've never been to Augusta, Georgia, I did not realize that the club is surrounded by the typical low value mixed use crap commercial real estate typical in much of middle America and third world countries. The club itself is an oasis in a desert of depressing low rent Americana. And Magnolia Drive that is the fabled tree-line entry boulevard is just an asphalt driveway that measure about 250 feet. You never see all the pre-fab corrugated metal sided and roofed utility buildings populating the perimeter of the property.

Now what REALLY bothers me is the cloud of death hovering over the property. Think about all those hours you watched The Masters and gazed longingly at those lovely ponds on 11, 13, 15 and 16. Now try to recall ever seeing any movement in those waters. You'd think there would be at least a few large-mouths leaping for spring insects hovering over the water. I bet the Swells who own and populate the club dictated years ago that no fish, reptiles or amphibians would ever dirty up the telecasts or disturb the participants. I bet those ponds are filled with poison. Say it ain't so, Hootie.

I could be wrong, but in the third round when Blixt hit a ball in the water at 11, i could have sworn i seen a fish that was at the surface very near the edge of the green. Never seen that before at the Masters, maybe it has an craving for dye.

I wasn't really rooting for anyone in particular, just happy that there wasn't any TV time taken up by over-coverage of Tiger.

On the 2nd hole Sunday, I noticed Blixt's caddy had a Grateful Dead 'Steal Your Face' tee on under his caddy jumpsuit. My allegence imediately went out to Blixt.
"Jerry still lives" I thought as I happily watched the rest of the round.

What about all the stupid stats they came up with such as, 11 out of 16 past masters champs birdied the second hole. They did that numerous times and I'm thinking, yeah, the winner played well on the last day so what!

And I forgot to mention all those birds you heard chirping in the background of most of the telecast. I almost guarantee that if the Club eradicated all the fish, reptiles and amphibians, they would have done same with the feathered friends. Obviously, guano has no place within the hallowed cyclone fencing. I'd bet those bird songs came from the Production Van.

After the 3rd round - granted that no one is running away with this tourney (i.e. lead by more than 6 strokes), and everyone within 3 strokes could win this year's green jacket - I thought it's going to be a war between Bubba and Jordan, and the better putter on Sunday would win.... and Bubba was able to find the way to do so, hats off to him and he deserves this win. IMO, TW would have little impact on the outcome of this tourney or any other tourneys in the future because he no longer produces a "fear factor" like he did 10 yrs ago.. Jordan is still young and gifted and IMO he WILL win a few green jackets... don't know about you guys/girls/AC-DC but I really enjoy watching the Masters this year

And Bubba goes to the Waffle House later in the night. Don't think Tiger would do something like that.

Tiger would have hopped into his own jet and landed at Teterboro some time just after dark. Taken his limo into Manhattan and be eating both waffles and p#ssy in his penthouse suite.

jt1135 wrote:And Bubba goes to the Waffle House later in the night.  Don't think Tiger would do something like that.

He's more of a Perkins type of guy.

Bubba won because his driving 50+ past Spieth eventually took its toll.

The kid's only 20 and while he wilted he never imploded under all that pressure even after hitting in the water on 12.  He'll end up winning everything, Woods doesn't have 2% of Spieth's mental asset although to be fair that's true for almost everybody.

It would have been cool to have known the Masters winner before and after he won but we'll have more chances.

It was certainly a different Bubba I watched yesterday. Sure he hit some crazy good shots like that hooked iron to a couple of feet on that nasty 243 yard par 3. But he had it under control. I saw none of the trademark Bubba fidgets and manic-depressive facial expressions.

Other observations: His baby has a very strange complexion. Almost jaundiced. Hepatitis?

His wife really looks hagged out with that lezzie hairdo and tentish top. Looks more like she's Bubba's mother.

However, I sure do like him at Pinehurst in June and wherever they're playing the Limey Open in July.

You're right about being 50 yards behind taking its tole on Spieth. It was essentially match play the whole round and its not hard to keep up with a bomber if he hits some errant approaches and three-putts a couple of times. But that didn't happen. Just happy that Spieth kept it together to stay tied for second.

Do we really expect there to be a Master's tournament in 2914?
I only watched the last hour or so of this year's version. Boring. I was hoping Speith or Fowler would win.
If Bjorn would have won, I would have made about $3000. In my club's Master's pool, I was the only person picking Bjorn. I don't particularly like that frumpy Dane, but I knew he had been playing well, and I knew that no one else would pick him.

jt1135 wrote:And Bubba goes to the Waffle House later in the night.  Don't think Tiger would do something like that.

I wonder if he had the General Lee out?

My imagination or what... I don't think Bubba worked a ball a lot during the Master tourney, If he could hit long (yes Sir), very long and just work a ball a little less then he could be deadly at any major tourneys IMO

Hitting the ball long and working it with every club is what makes him real special. It looks like he can also control his trajectory well. There is no one else with his abilities on any tour right now and there is no reason, barring injuries, that he can't win the next three majors.

Mongrel wrote:Hitting the ball long and working it with every club is what makes him real special. It looks like he can also control his trajectory well. There is no one else with his abilities on any tour right now and there is no reason, barring injuries, that he can't win the next three majors.

agree... the key word is CONSISTENCY... my swing default is a baby fade with my driver and 3W, I could work a ball from right to left BUT not very consistent, that's why I suck at golf   

Pky6471 wrote:

Mongrel wrote:Hitting the ball long and working it with every club is what makes him real special. It looks like he can also control his trajectory well. There is no one else with his abilities on any tour right now and there is no reason, barring injuries, that he can't win the next three majors.

agree... the key word is CONSISTENCY...  my swing default is a baby fade with my driver and 3W, I could work a ball from right to left BUT not very consistent, that's why I suck at golf   

I don't know. The best players I know (not touring pros, but club pros, scratch and better) hardly ever work the ball unless they have to. I'd rather have a consistent baby fade that I could count on off the tee. My good shot is dead straight, and my big miss is left. I usually aim a bit right of center and try to hit straight, and if there is a touch of draw, great. I have been known to hit cuts but rarely intentional. This shot usually gets me in trouble because I never plan on it. My mind can't comprehend a ball moving right and it screws with me when it happens.

Baby fade is my stock shot with driver. The trick is to adjust aim points depending on how I'm swinging when I first tee it up. The bad drives that screw my scores are 10 to 1 left pulls. Same with long irons and hybrids. So I've gone to some really anal measures to keep from going left including shortening shafts, going with stiffer flexes or higher flex points, and from regular size grips to mid-size. My irons' flights are all mostly dead straight and again the dreaded pulls are what get me in trouble. I can't recall hooking a ball in the last 20 years. About when we were forced to give up our metal spikes. What a sad day.

Mongrel wrote:Baby fade is my stock shot with driver. The trick is to adjust aim points depending on how I'm swinging when I first tee it up. The bad drives that screw my scores are 10 to 1 left pulls. Same with long irons and hybrids. So I've gone to some really anal measures to keep from going left including shortening shafts, going with stiffer flexes or higher flex points, and from regular size grips to mid-size. My irons' flights are all mostly dead straight and again the dreaded pulls are what get me in trouble. I can't recall hooking a ball in the last 20 years. About when we were forced to give up our metal spikes. What a sad day.

Geez, sounds exactly like my game.  

I don't hook a ball UNLESS when I attempt to draw and it turns into a hook

I was impressed with how Bubba dominated the course. I can't believe he can hit 40 yard slices that go 340 yards and end up in the middle of the fairway. That drive he hit on 13 was amazing. He was 70 yards further than anyone else. Then he hits through the trees onto the 15th green. WTF? I think this second Masters victory is going to make Bubba realize that the first one wasn't a fluke or a gift and that he has the talent to dominate on the tour for a few years. There really isn't any part of his game that needs much work. I guess his putting can be suspect at times.

Also, do they really need to make a habit of showing his goofy kid after every win? Let's just show him win, take the trophy, do an interview and then cut to the next show. We don't need all the blubbery nonsense.

Bubba sure is high-maintenance. Like a NASCAR racer who needs a team of 20 or more just to ensure that the machine is running perfectly. Or like a thoroughbred race horse that has to have an old nag or two around to trot with him up to the starting get to calm him down and keep him focused. But when he's on, he's a Triple Crown Winner. I like him at Pinehurst Number Two in June.

I was at Pinehurst 20 yrs ago, 8 courses at the location alone, very very impressive then so I am surprised if it is even more impressive now. I drove around that town which I realized that within about 15 miles radius, you would see either fairways or greens... It was too muggy in July there