a day makes, goes the old standard. From a scrum of a leaderboard with little separation at the close of business on Thursday, Bubba goes to the whip (Ed. You're mixing your sports metaphors again) and laps the field. Only a bogey on No. 18 from the middle of the fairway keeps the field within reach... well that and the fact that we still have 36 holes to play.
We'll let Shackelford tell us why Bubba is going to win this thing:
Bubba Watson is going to win this Masters. He’s got more game than anyone on the leaderboard, as evidenced multiple times during his incoming 32, giving him a 137 total for two days (-7).
The ability to overpower Augusta National? How about 186-yard 9-irons like the 16th hole shot today that set up a birdie.
Shot shaping? Up, down, left and right? Bubba isn’t afraid to combine multiple elements into a shot.
Wind shots? He may be one of the last players on the planet willing and able to play a low-burner under Masters pressure. His super-low cutting 315-yarder on 17 had the patrons oo-ing and ahh-ing.
Putting? He hasn’t three putted in 291 holes, the longest streak on the PGA Tour by well over 100.
Well argued, Counselor. Though by law I'm required to quibble. There's a guy named Scott up there that has as much or more game, though it's certainly true that names like Bjorn, Senden and Blixt aren't going to scare anyone. And as relates to the shot shaping, he's no doubt an artiste in the mold of, say Tom Weiskopf, though of course he's already won more of these than Tom. Probably the biggest concern is that he might have broken from the field too early, leaving way too much time to, you know, think about it.
Ron Sirak penned this ode to Bubba:
Perhaps it is the mole on his cheek, or the wide-eyed way he answers a question. There is
A nine iron folks...he's Bubba-long. something, however, about Bubba Watson that makes me feel like I am interviewing the third runner-up in the Latka Gravas lookalike contest.
But it gets better:
Bubba is looking -- and sounding -- more like the guy who hit that incredible hook out of the forest primeval to win a playoff here with Louis Oosthuizen than the man mired in The Great Funk that began after that victory. The win at Augusta National two years ago was his fourth career PGA Tour triumph, but No. 5 did not come until 22 months later at the Northern Trust Open this February. You get the feeling he will not have to wait as long for No. 6.
Perhaps only a couple of days.
I may mix my sports analogies, but this guy just went from Andy Kaufman to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in two graphs, journalistic whiplash if I've ever seen it.
But even the man from Baghdad, FL can't pass up a Patrick Reed joke:
"Learning to be a good dad, learning to be a better husband, it takes time on you, it takes energy, ”Watson said. And then learning how to refocus, repractice, get back to the level that I think I should be at…top-25 player in the world. Not going to say top-five player in the world. Sorry, Patrick Reed.
I did like this bit of candor from his presser:
Asked why he struggled so much in 2013, he said: "I was still celebrating my green jacket. How many green jackets you got? If you had one, you would celebrate it for a year or two."
Despite evidence to the contrary, there are still other players in contention. Adam Scott is no doubt the bookies' second choice at this point, courtesy of intestinal fiber that allowed him to overcome a horrible start. Three over after six holes, he stopped the bogey bus and shot 33 on the inward nine to keep his chances of dressing himself late Sunday alive.
Rory had some words about the setup, the kinds of things you say after shooting 77:
Friday's pin positions did nothing to suggest Masters competitors were to be offered respite. On the 1st, 2nd and 11th holes, the flags were tucked into the left side. The pin was just four yards inside the right edge of the 3rd with the hole on the 5th in a place, again on the right, which had never been used before in Masters history. It proved a recurring, tough theme. On the 10th, the hole location was further right than Mussolini.
"It brings the guys that don't hit it as far into the mix a little bit more," explained McIlroy. "It almost becomes like chess."
It seemed the pins were tougher on Thursday, but it was windier and the course was one-day-without-water firmer. And there's lots of talk that the thinning of the trees caused by the ice storm is creating trickier wind swirling.
Rory made a grinding par on No. 18 to make the cut on the number... his reward for that? He's the first guy out playing with a marker. I'll feel better when it's confirmed that the marker is not Caroline.
Phil, we hardly knew ye... no doubt golf buddy Colin King will be desolate when I see him on the putting green in 45 minutes. I had heard that Phil made yet another triple, this time on No. 12, but didn't realize it was an aqua-free triple:
His tee shot cleared Rae's Creek -- typically the first big concern -- and found the front bunker.
His next shot sailed over the green and fell into the side of the back bunker. From there, he blasted through the green and back into the same bunker where his troubles began.
He got that out to about 18 feet and two-putted for a triple bogey.
I did like this piece on the Yin and Yang of Augusta:
Yin: The Masters app for smartphones, which debuted in 2009, led the way for other tournaments to create similar apps.
Yang: It's still the only golf tournament where fans cannot bring their phones. As a result, the practice-round days when photos are permitted force people to buy that antiquated, single-app device called a "camera."
I'm actually more frustrated by the limitations they put on the television coverage. No on-course reports and no blimp overhead. Tell me you didn't crave the blimp shot of Bubba's gap wedge from two years ago...
Lastly, Shackelford points us to this slideshow of old N.Y. Times photos of Augusta, well worth a few minutes of your time.
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| An aerial shot of the ninth and eighteenth greens from the 1960's. |
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