It's On

Whenever I played the thirteenth or fifteenth hole at Augusta, [my dad] had a habit of kneeling down, cupping his hands and yelling, “Lay up, lay up!” He was just beside himself every time I got near the water. 

BEN CRENSHAW

Let me begin with a confession...  I saw most of the coverage, but wasn't able to make it to the end of the broadcast.   You folks know that you're th emost important thing in my life, just not the only thing therein....

I might have gotten to the end of my tape if not for the need to watch Jeopardy over dinner.  Those readers that share our love of J-World know that this is no week to miss shows.  In fact, there was a game earlier this week that was the Jeopardy version of the 1997 Masters....

How's That Leaderboard?...  Don't you just hate early-round leaderboards with unknowns at the top?

In Thursday’s first round, the workers operating the manual leaderboards didn’t have enough space to display all the front-runners, especially with so many charging to the 72nd hole late in the day. 

And that stampede contained a lot of firepower, including Bryson DeChambeau, who electrified the patrons en route to a 6-under-par 66. DeChambeau was his own highlight reel as he birdied 15, came within an inch of acing 16 and made birdie, then chipped in on 17 for birdie. He nearly holed out from the fairway for eagle on 18 but tapped in for birdie. 

“I was just looking to shoot something in the 60s this week because I haven’t done that yet in my couple times playing here,” DeChambeau said. “What a magical back nine. I was being patient on the front nine, hitting a lot of quality shots, but I just wasn’t being rewarded. The key for me was 12. I hit it in there to 5 feet and made that. And from 15, I sailed through.” 

He was joined at 66 by Brooks Koepka, who has won the past two editions of the U.S. Open and the 2018 PGA Championship. He birdied four consecutive holes beginning at the 12th and was the only player in the field to not make a bogey.

A curious day on several accounts.  First, the morning conditions were unbelievably still, what one announcer called playing in a dome.  The wind picked up a bit in the afternoon, yet by far the besta scores came out of the afternoon wave....

Secondly, for the longest time there was a rugby scrum at three-under, 5-9 players at a time, yet nobody could move the needle to four.  Then once Brooks got there, they all cam crashing through....

We have 28 players under par, but what a list.... A few oddballs thrown in such as Justin Harding, but so much talent well within striking distance that Tiger at -2 might need to think of today as moving day.  Conspicuously missing from that list are Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose, both of whom posted  75's.  The latter's was no doubt a direct result of being picked by your humble blogger, but what's Jordan's excuse?

Shall we dive in and see what folks are discussing?

The Incredible Shrinking Brooksie...   The Golf Digest crew looks at pre-toruney burning questions and interim answers from Thursday:

Will Brooks Koepka’s recent dramatic weight loss screw with his green-jacket chances? 

Yeah, probably not. Unless you think a beefier Koepka could have improved upon. Thursday’s sizzling 66, which gave him a tie for the lead after the first round. Koepka’s mysterious body transformation, in which he admits he subscribed to a daily 1,800-calorie diet and lost power as a result, raised all sorts of questions about the golfer’s ability to capture a first green jacket. But for one day he was back to the player who has won two of the last three majors. Actually he was probably even better, considering his best round at Augusta National before Thursday was three shots higher.

 Next, can you please explain the hat?

Just a bizarre story, was he just effing with us?  There's a fuller treatment of this story here, including this disturbing image that I hadn't previously seen:

Sorry, I'm feeling a little queasy.....

All of which led the mischievous Chamblee to ask a good question. 

“Which would you rather have,” he said, “a picture of yourself nude or a picture of yourself in a green jacket?” 

But what if you can have both pictures?

That image will stay with me for far too long....

How's That Grand Slam Looking?...   Not great, from where I sit.  Brian Wacker says it's, you know, complicated:

Masters 2019: A chronological look at Rory McIlroy's evolving—and complicated—relationship with Augusta National

Is it?  Is it evolving and is it really so complicated?

Brian does a fine job here with his spin on the Kubler Ross Stages of Grief, taking Rory from Shock and Awe to Perspective....  But it's got everything you'd expect, a couple of fat-Rory photos and the obligatory appearance of local hero Jeff Knox.

From that 10 burning question bit linked above:

Is this the year Rory McIlroy ends his Masters heartbreak?

I'm gonna go with :No, Final Answer". 

Coming to Augusta fresh off seven straight top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, including a win at the Players, McIlroy sputtered at the start of his round, playing two over through 12 holes, but seemed to turn things around with birdies on the 13th, 15th and 16th. Then bad bogeys on the 17th and 18th—his fifth and sixth of the day—left the 29-year-old from Northern Ireland with a one-over 73, seven strokes back of Koepka and DeChambeau. It’s not the spot the odds-on favorite entering this week wanted to be in. “I can accept mistakes if I’m trying and it’s not a mental error or I haven’t got into places, so I can accept some mistakes,” McIlroy said, “but six bogeys out there is a little too many, and I’m just going to need to tidy that up over the next few days.”

Six bogies in the easiest scoring conditions imaginable is just so Rory....  But I totally get that he's able to accept his mistakes, as he's had much experience there.  Pencil him in for a backdoor top ten, and let's move on.

Wither Tiger....  People want this so badly, and he gave them just enough to believe.

Back to those burning question, though I think these guys are asking the wrong one:

Can Tiger Woods drive it well enough to contend at Augusta National? 

We’re going to say yes, even if Woods did miss three of his last four fairways. But for most of the day, the four-time Masters champ succeeded in keeping his ball in play and giving himself birdie looks—often by keeping up with playing partner Jon Rahm off the tee. “I thought today was, as hot as it was, the ball was flying a long way and I tried to take advantage of it,” he said. Even after missing a few short putts early and those fairways late, Woods managed an opening 70, the same opening score he mustered in three of his four Masters titles.

Isn't the more pressing issue whether he can putt well enough?  That was certainly the issue yesterday, as he left too many shots out there.   I always like to see how Tiger handles that first hole, which has bedeviled him so many times in the past....  He played it perfectly, including keeping his tempo under control and splitting the fairway, but did you happen to catch his drive on No. 17?  

Mike Bamberger seems confident that Tiger will be with us to the close of business Sunday:

Q1. How can you be so certain he’s sticking around? 

A. Because he is swinging all 14 clubs with authority (putter included). He’s hitting

draw-shot drivers as needed, controlling the distance of his irons almost with back-in-the-day accuracy and lag putting well. Two of the best things you can do if you want to win a Masters is to not three-putt and keep your ball dry. So far, so good. Nothing wet. A three-putt from the front edge of 17.

I thought his lag putting looked sharp, but he missed too many short putts for me to be a sanguine as Mike....  And the weekend weather and the potential for a start-and-stop schedule has to be troubling.

Mike manages to work in this amusing story from Tuesday's dinner:

At the Tuesday night Champions Dinner, a tradition started by Hogan, Woods laughed alongside all the other former winners as Ben Crenshaw told a hilarious story about attempting to shake hands with Jack Nicklaus for the first time, in a second-floor loo at the clubhouse of the Merion Golf Club during the 1971 U.S. Open, when Crenshaw was a 19-year-old amateur and Big Jack was at the height of his powers as a golfer but at that moment occupied with a more pressing matter at hand. (Tiger’s funny bone runs blue.) Nicklaus has been telling people he has never seen Woods so relaxed and confident.

Hmmm... is that why they called him Big Jack?

Q8. Post-round, did Tiger Woods say anything interesting? 

A. Did he ever! And we quoth: “I feel like I played well today and I controlled my golf ball all day. I’ve shot this number and won four coats, so hopefully I can do it again.”

He got himself into a good spot for sure, but there is just so much damn talent under par, that he'll need to keep it going....

Q7. What happens from here? 

A. Woods prepares himself for long, wet days, likely with interruptions. None of that bodes well for him, the rain, playing in a rain suit, starting and stopping, if it comes to that. Still, he’s Tiger Woods, swinging good, playing good, looking good.

That's my concern as well....  But I'm thinking it'll be worth watching. no?

Surprises....   The Golf.com gang is doing a nightly update, including this query:

Tiger Woods jumped into the mix in the early wave while stars like Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, to name a few, jumped up the Mastersleaderboard in the afternoon. Meanwhile, some pros who have played so well at Augusta National Golf Club — looking at you Jordan Spieth and Paul Casey — fell flat. What’s the biggest surprise from Day 1?

Sean Zak: Paul Casey. The guy has played some of the best golf of his life entering this event. Zero birdies and 81, beating only desperate-for-the-senior-tour Angel Cabrera.

There's always one or two of these, just the vagaries of our game and this venue.

Jeff Ritter: Koepka’s hat. Also, Koepka’s score. The guy is just relentless in the majors. Should we just start picking him to win every time?

I didn't see this one coming after the bizarro-world nude photo shoot story....  

Josh Berhow: Boy, where to start. But since Paul Casey was already taken, I’ll pick

Jordan Spieth. I thought he would surprise us. I thought he’d come out and have a good round and make us all feel like idiots for questioning him, but he sputtered out of the gate and now might miss the cut for the first time ever. Five starts and nothing worse than a T11 here, and now a potential MC after a 75?

The only people who should surprised are those that haven't watched any golf in the last couple of years.  Our Jordan is quite the mess, and the expectation that Magnolia Lane is the cure for what ails him wishful thinking.  I know, it worked for Phil, but not for Jordan, though a word of caution about small sample sizes.

Jonathan Wall: No way did I see Justin Rose (75) shooting himself out of contention the first day. He arrived with the No. 1 ranking, a win and back-to-back top-10 finishes in his last two starts. I’m not even sure he’ll make the weekend.

Welcome to my world, Jonathan....

Dylan Dethier: Biggest surprise is just how stacked this leaderboard is. You’ve got some of the usual suspects (Brooks, DJ), some blasts from the past (Phil, Poulter), some new blood with breakthrough potential (Bryson, Rahm), and that’s just in the top six. Then there’s a horde of big-timers waiting in the wings — Tiger, Rickie, Day, Fleetwood, Kuchar, Molinari, Finau, Scott are all under par. Game on.

It's been doing this since 1934.

 I Saw It On TV...  Alan Bastable has an interesting premise:

As the Masters continues to draw back the curtain, its fabled mystique has suffered

This is such a frustrating topic to me, about which I'll briefly rant after letting Alan have his say.  First, he provides this amusing take on some new technology-driven innovations:

 I'll let Alan continue the historical framing of his argument:

Those thuds you just heard were Chris Schenkel and Bud Palmer rolling over in their graves. Schenkel and Palmer called the first televised Masters in 1956. Back then, you got four holes, and, damnit, you liked it. That’s how it was for 14 years. In 1972, the Sunday coverage extended to the final seven holes, meaning viewers got their first glimpse of Golden Bell, one of the world’s great and most vexing par-3s. But still, the Mystique endured. More than half the course remained shrouded in mystery. 

In recent years, though, the Mystique came under fire. In 2002, CBS extended its Sunday telecast to 18 holes. Then came featured group coverage, streaming from Amen Corner, even Masters on the Range. Masters on the Range! Was nothing sacred?! Alas, no. In 2018, CBS rankled traditionalists when it incorporated its shot-tracer technology into the broadcast. Viewers no longer needed to envision the circuitous flight path of a Bubba Watson tee shot at 13 — a yellow line did it for them. The Masters.com content team now has its own writers, producers, social-media sharpies. Its Instagram account has more than half a million followers, and its Twitter following is nearly one million strong. The Masters is out there, baby.

Leading to this rousing coda:

The Masters used to leave fans wanting more. Now it has them wondering, What will do they next? Build a retractable dome to control course conditions? Develop ball cams? Beam holograms of Tiger, Phil and Amen Corner into viewers’ living rooms? Whatever happens, the Masters’ curtain is drawn, its long-guarded secrets revealed. 

The Mystique is dead. RIP, old friend.

Except that I still find myself wanting more.... Oh, access to every single shot hit is a bit more than this old-timer can absorb, but you know what I desperately missed in watching yesterday's broadcast?

1. On Course Reporters - How many times did announcers admit that they had no idea of the line of a shot, because they were stuck watching monitors with the rest of us?
2. More Shot-tracer -  Yeah, they finally allowed, but their sense of portion control leaves me wanting so much more.
3. A Blimp - remember Bubba's gap wedge for the forest to win his first Masters?  He drew that thing 30-40 yards....  Because of no on-course reporters, w ehad no information as to his yardage and line to the pin, and we never got a replay that showed him bending it like Beckham can only dream of?
4. Green Graphics - They're the most interesting greens in the world.... God forbid that ESPN and CBS be allowed to employ graphic technology to demonstrate the challenge...

I'm probably forgetting something, but this is all technology that's been employed for years, sometimes decades, at normal Tour events.  I just don't understand why they deny us a 21st century broadcast?

I just noticed that Brian Wacker is beating the same drum, including this quote from Chairman Ridley:

“The reason we're doing it is because we have always subscribed to the notion that we want to provide content to our fans in the way they want to receive it,” Ridley said when

asked why now. “You know, the world is migrating more and more towards digital technology.”

With that technology, users were able to see and hear Woods pipe his opening tee shot 317 yards down the middle on the first hole, club twirl included, not long after the gallery that was four and five deep up both sides of the fairway saw it live. 

Likewise with Rory McIlroy’s block into the trees right of the first. The next view they saw was a squirrelly chip from the Northern Irishman that drew a few “oohs,” followed by a mediocre pitch that left him a 17-footer for par that he was unable to convert. 

The technology proved especially useful finding out how Henrik Stenson made a snowman on the par-5 13th: The Swede knocked his second shot into the azaleas long and left, his third just a few feet (no video of that hack), his fourth across the green and into Rae’s Creek, his sixth from the other side of the creek to 20 feet and two putts later, mercifully, the adventure was over.

For anyone that knows their Masters' history, this goes back to the earliest days of broadcasting the event.  The club has always simultaneously embraced the technology, Mr. Roberts had to overcome CBS' reluctance to televise in color and he was the one that suggested placing the camera behind the player, yet simultaneous they recoil in horror at having an actual reporter on the golf course.   It's so maddening...

All I can say is have a great weekend....How could you not, unless the weather intrudes.