Morning Mishegoss

A bit of this and that to post this morning before the lifts start turning.

• The "C" Word - Alex Miller has a piece at Local Knowledge about Johnny Miller, who has been available to the press in conjunction with NBC assuming the weekend golf coverage through the Masters.  One of things I like about Miller, besides the sufficiency of simply not being Nick Faldo, is that he's as harsh about himself as about other golfers.  To wit:

Miller's three runner-ups at the Masters came in 1971, 1975 and 1981. His closest call came in 1975, when he and Tom Weiskopf lost to Jack Nicklaus by one shot. Looking back, Miller wishes he had learned more watching the six-time Masters champ and 18-time major winner in the game's biggest events. 

"I think in Jack's mind he always thought he was the guy to beat," Miller said. "I had a little run there where I could shoot lower than Jack because my iron game was way more aggressive and quite frankly better than Jack, and I had a lot more horsepower because he played a very conservative game, which I wish I would have learned for the major championships. But like a dumbbell I thought that the U.S. Open was played like the Phoenix Open, and it was pretty stupid of me. I should have changed gears."

He didn't actually use the "C" word about himself, but that was what he meant.

I've always thought the '75 Masters might be the best ever, especially the Sunday scene at No. 16.  Nicklaus was in the group ahead of Miller and Weiskopf, and they saw him make that 40 foot snake and take a couple of victory laps around the green.  Miller later said when he got to the green all he saw was bear tracks.  But what I like is the reason they were on the tee watching.... Nichlaus was paired that day with a very young Tom Watson, who rinsed his ball on the 16th tee.  The time it took for Watson to take his drop resulted in all the protagonists being on stage for the sword scene.

• Of Course He's a Lefty -  Luke Kerr-Dineen has a short piece on golf in Ukraine at Local Knowledge.  OK, not so much, but Viktor Yanukovich did leave behind a set of Japanese-made clubs.  Obviously he's not a real golfer, otherwise they would have been the first thing on the escape chopper.

No surprise that Moscow's man in Kiev would be a lefty.

• Miguel Angel Jimenez, Call Your Office - The Most Interesting Man in Golf might need to be looking over his shoulder, as Victor Dubuisson turns out to be quite the international man of mystery.  James Corrigan fills in what he can in The Telegraph: 

His back story is shrouded in mystery. The nephew of Hervé Dubuisson, France’s greatest basketball player, Victor claims to have left school at 10 to concentrate on golf. “I was very young and it was difficult to do both,” he said, straight-faced.
What did his family think about that? Dubuisson will not say. There is plenty Dubuisson will not say. If his emotions give little away – he truly is the Gallic Jason Dufner – then his words grant even less. This avowed film buff even refused to tell an inquisitor what his favourite film was last week.

OK, France's greatest basketball player sounds like one of those shortest book jokes, and a Gallic Jason Dufner sounds more alliterative than realistic.  But Corrigan has a strong close for us:

Yet before that, Dubuisson could easily become known as the man who saved the WGC Matchplay. There have been fears that without a new sponsor, a new location or a new date in the calendar, the championship could be lost.

Surely after this, the greatest final which was also the youngest final, with the players having a combined age of just 49, , there will be a rush to maintain it. Every event this year will have to go some to match the drama we witnessed in the desert on Sunday night. Dubuisson translates as “from the bush”. At 23, it is already his epithet.

Good friend Mark W. has written to confirm that Victor will be his Masters longshot pick.  Unfortunately for Mark, the judges have ruled the Victor no longer qualifies in that category.  

Shack quotes GMac electioneering at the polls for a foursomes slot with Victor at the Ryder Cup:

"He’s going to be a massive part of the Ryder Cup team this year and I am hoping to be there with him and maybe get a foursomes game with him," McDowell said after his defeat to the 23-year old, who went on to produce some incredible recoveries from the desert to take Jason Day to the 23rd in the final having coming back from three down after seven holes to beat Ernie Els one up on the semis.

Shack also provides this amazing photo take by the AP's Ted Warren:

• In the End, Who Won the Thing? - No doubt that the loser has sucked all the oxygen out of the room with his dramatic golf in the late stages of the final. However, it was former wunderkind Jason Day that actually took home the trophy. Bill Zimmerman (sorry Al, only one "n") had this cute note at Golfweek: 

At 26 years, 3 months, 11 days, Day becomes the fifth youngest player to win a WGC event – the four ahead of him all spelled "Tiger Woods."

Anybody know what happened to that Tiger guy?  

• 스크린골프  -  Our old friend David Owen has a couple of cute posts in recent days, though he's teasing us unmercifully by sitting on his Masters preview materials.  Most recent is a reader's report on simulator golf in South Korea, the ubiquitous sign for which is the title for this bullet point.  I was most interested in the use of birdie-buddies, explained as follows:

I’ve heard of, but never personally experienced, “helper players,” who can be called in to the room: young ladies with picture-perfect swings and amazingly short skirts. Seems like an all-right idea, except that they out-drive you on every hole.

That's his story and he's sticking to it.  I'm just relieved that it helps fulfill my quota of golf cheesecake.

In this prior post, David deals with some techniques for managing the cold in winter golf.  Best is this picture of a shrink-wrapped golf cart:

Since most cart facilities don't include pallet wrapping equipment, this option won't be available to most.

It's David so he's quickly off on several flights of fancy.  Just enjoy the ride if you're so inclined. 

• The Ike -  Via Neil Sagebiel comes this short Don Van Natta, Jr. First Off the Tee feature on Ike's love of golf:  As you'll see from the swing, he was an avid golfer which is often quite a different thing than being a good golfer.   

Kennedy spoke of the spike marks that Ike left in the oval Office.  

And speaking of the eponymous tree, don't think I ever posted a photo of what it look like from the tee:

The view of the tee shot from Augusta's 17th tee.  The tree was 65' high, so only the big boys could go over it.