All Things Augusta

It's been a hectic few days, so better late than never let's focus on the Big One.

Trophy Lives - It's easy to take the event too seriously, so lets' start with this amusing trifle, an Augusta Chronicle article on where former champions keep their trophies.  Here's the set-up:

Every champion has received a gold medal, and since 1993 the winner has gotten a

sterling replica of the permanent Masters Trophy, which depicts Augusta National’s clubhouse. 

Champions who won before 1993 were offered a chance to buy replicas, but not all did. 

The Augusta Chronicle tracked down where the champions keep their trophy. While most are kept in the golfer’s home, how each is displayed might surprise you.

Isn't that a hoot?  These folks have more money than God, but they can be strangely frugal at times as well... Ummm, Mr. Hogan, that'll be $29.95 for the replica trophy, plush shipping and handling of course.

There's the usual shrines of course, but this one jumped out at me:

“If I tell you where it is you’re gonna think I’m crazy, but it actually just sits on a counter at my home,” Zach Johnson said. “I’m not very sentimental. I might eventually loan it to my home course in Iowa for a year or let other places display it that have meant a lot to me.”

There's even a fun sidebar that goes as far back as Byron Nelson.  

Bones Unplugged - Jim McCabe scores an interview with the world's most famous porter, and he comes across about as you'd expect (which, to be clear, is a good thing).  Like many of us, he's most emotional when speaking of his first:

Don’t ask him to separate the emotions he felt in 2004, ’06 and ’10 when Mickelson won, because they all resonate. But, OK, fine, “in 2004 there was one word to describe what I felt, it was relief,” Mackay said. “The pressure Phil had felt (for being without a major victory) was staggering.” 

Best memory from that electrifying back-nine 31 that lifted Mickelson to a one-stroke win? Has to be the birdie Lefty made at the par-3 16th. 

“I was trying to be the calm, low-key caddie, even though my heart was racing,” Mackay said. The putt pulled Mickelson even with Ernie Els, but as the caddie fought to keep his composure, “Phil hit me pretty hard in the butt with the putter and said, ‘Let’s go make another one.’ I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was cool.”

We always remember our first.... Bones seems talkative these days, as this youn g lady scored quite the get:

Will Phil win again at Augusta?  How would I know, I'm the guy that picked Lexi Thompson last Sunday morning...  He's no doubt playing better, but have you seen the field?

Bet With Your Head... - Joel Beall takes us through his favorite prop bets for this week, such as:

Who will the winner hug first? (Excluding their caddie) Child (+450), Parent

(+1000), Wife/Girlfriend (+125), Wife holding child (+165), No hug (+1200) 

No hug? What type of heartless bastard created this? 

No winner in mind? The wife/girlfriend avenue in a safe route. If you do have a particular player, watch his past victories on YouTube to see how the celebrations commence. 

Note: For those circling Jason Day, put ALL the money on the child wager.

Upon further review, perhaps Dash is a better name than it seemed...

Rhymes With... - Well, glory for instance, though worry seems more to the point....  Nike has rolled out a new Enjoy the Chase ad campaign, and here's their Alpha-dog's example:

Fair enough, though I'd have thought that he'd go left-hand-low for the chopping vegetable thing as well....  We kid because we love, but I've seen nothing that makes me think Rory will be a factor this week.  Oh he'll hit the usual assortment of spectacular shots, but he'll miss the odd four-footer as well.  Also, the even four-footer, and all on the left....

And this isn't helpful:

Because of this crowd, as well as not winning a PGA Tour event since May of last year, Rory McIlroy has been suspiciously overshadowed. Quite the 180-degree turn from last season, when Rory, off consecutive major titles at Liverpool and Valhalla, entered the Masters as golf's conquering hero. 

Yet, any worries that McIlroy was going under the radar were diminished during Monday's practice round, as the 26-year-old recorded a hole-in-one on Augusta National's 16th hole. 

Peaking on Monday isn't how it's done.  But at least he didn't have to putt....

other versions of the Nike ads can be seen here.

1986 - If you've watched five minutes of Golf Channel recently, you're tired of the hawking of the documentary celebrating Jack's improbable sixth tile thirty years ago.  John Strege uses this header to advise us to tune in:

Golf Channel's Jack Nicklaus documentary: Yes, sir!, you should watch

 Oh, I see what he did there.....clever man.  There's some good anecdotes in there and yeah, you should watch the documentary I'm sure.  But we went through this five years ago and if you're enough of a golf nerd to read my musings, you probably know all about the newspaper clipping on the fridge, the spike mark on No. 12, the cocky "It is" comment on the 16th tee as well....

Of far greater interest to me is this offering:

Watch it unfold in real time here.  

Rebooting a Classic - The appeal of a pimento cheese sandwich escapes me, excluding perhaps the price charged.  But Arby's comes to the rescue, adding the one ingredient that can make anything palatable:

Bacon:  Is there anything it can't do?

We'll get a little more serious as the week progresses.