Masters Monday

Can you feel it?  Of course you can, that's why you're reading this...

What Passes For News - We're just warming up, but Jeff Babineau had this little tidbit:

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Ben Crenshaw is in for a busy week at Augusta National. For starters,

he’ll play the Masters for a 44th – and final – time. On Wednesday, he’s been asked to step up and fill some pretty big shoes in the annual Par 3 Contest. Crenshaw will sub in for the injured Arnold Palmer as part of the Big Three pairing alongside Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. 

Palmer still plans to be part of the Masters opening ceremony on Thursday, joining Nicklaus and Player in hitting a ball off the first tee as an Honorary Starter.

I pushed for Gunn Yang, yanno a circle of life thing, but these people just don't listen...Not a bad call at all, though the Par-3 has become mostly unwatchable... someone needs to organize an intervention.

Weather/Conditions - I've been aggressively noncommittal as to whom I fancy, awaiting a better feel for how the track might play.  Brentley Romine does us a solid and posts a weather forecast for the entire week here.  I'd summarize it as follows:

• Warm, peaking in the high 80's on Thursday/Friday;
• Not much chance of rain during the week, but bring your brolly on the weekend;
• Winds stay mostly in single-digits.

In his Monday slot on Morning Drive, Shack described the place as being "Shockingly lush," opining that it would have to favor the bombers.  Here's some snippets of how the Tour Confidentialistas handicapped hot wet conditions:

LYNCH: It won't help Ben Crenshaw.

Thanks Eammon, but I wasn't going that direction anyway... but see if this affects your thoughts:

MCDOWELL: As Bubba Watson said during a soggy round 2 at the PGA Championship last year, “Water on the clubface, bro. I’ve got no chance.” So if it rains, count him out.

That's our Bubba, always staying optimistic.  Hard to know where to go with that, as the rain isn't for certain... and these guys will give you whiplash:

SENS: It's less about being a bomber or a mudder than it is about staying in a positive mindset. It will help the guys who embrace the conditions and hurt those who don't. The other so-called rules of thumb aren't very reliable. Zach Johnson won on a rainy week, when the course was supposedly playing too long for a pea-shooter to win. So much for that theory.

MORFIT: Rory McIlroy will be helped the most. He knows how to win on a big, wet, slow course. He's done it before. Who does it hurt? Zach Johnson.

Soft conditions, especially with low winds (low winds are actually a twofer, both affecting golf shots and slowing the drying out of the golf course), has me reconsidering things...in no particualr order, I'm thinking this helps Rory, Rory and...errr....Rory.

Him Again - Tiger opting in will no doubt add a dollop of intensity to the early part of the week, as we all anxiously await that first  hinky chip.  A couple of days ago Jeff Babineau attempted to get up close and personal with Tiger's ego and asked this important question:

That doesn't mean he HAS to play. Especially next week. Upon hearing that Woods will tee it up among the dogwoods and azaleas next week, one thought trumps all the others percolating through the brain: Why? 

Why? Why, exactly, does Woods feel he needs to be there? What tells him that he’s ready to compete, and on a grander scale – one of his own invention – ready not only to play but to win? Is he ready to win? Hasn't that always been the Tiger litmus test? This isn't a guy looking to show up, tell a few jokes at the Champions Dinner and to see if he might collect a few crystal goblets for eagles.

Ummm....let's start with the fact that he got an invitation and he doesn't want to be rude.

The whys, as well as the why nots, are all obvious to us...that's what makes his decision so interesting.  But Jeff, if you're really in the dark, you might consider the man's age and think through how many more of these he has in front of him.  Hard to pass them up, and who's to say he couldn't rekindle some of that old magic.

Shack, in noting the lushness of the course, also made the obvious point that that should help Tiger with his chipping...  very logical our Shack, and you'd also think if the greens are short of lightning that also puts less pressure on the chipping.

Back to the Confidentialistas, who were asked to bet their house on whether or not he makes the cut:

LYNCH: I wouldn't bet Tiger's house on him making the cut. Given his struggles, I think the best case scenario is a middle of the pack finish, and even that seems unlikely. The negatives that would accompany a worst case scenario are so much more damaging than any positives he might possibly take from the week. 

RITTER: How exactly did I put myself in a position where the deed to my house hinges on Tiger's Masters-week performance? I'll play the odds: his record this season tells me that a ten-car pileup is more likely than a sudden resurgence. I choose MC.

Kind of a split verdict there, but it's the easiest cut in golf to make... with the amateurs and alter kockers, you have to beat about four real players to have a Saturday game.  Then again...

SENS: My house sits on an earthquake fault in drought-stricken California, so you can

have it either way. But if we're making a big wager that really matters, I think he'll miss. It may be the weakest field of any major, and this may be his favorite event. But bringing the chip yips to those humps and hollows brings some seriously big numbers into play. Can you imagine what happens behind the green at 12, among many other ticklish places where the short game he showed in Phoenix would yield a quadruple in an eye-blink? 

MCDOWELL: Last year, Sergio, Phil, DJ and Patrick Reed all missed the cut, proving making the weekend isn't guaranteed for anyone. Especially those who cannot hit fairways or get up and down. Given what we've seen from Tiger in 2015, he will be forced to rely to local knowledge and guile to get around Augusta. Ask Ben Crenshaw or Tom Watson. That’s not enough.

Well, I don't see why he needed to bring Gentle Ben into this, as Ben was a short hitter back when he won in 1984.  But this will add quite a bit of spice to Thursday, no?  Just thinking out loud here, Tiger hits two good shots on No. 2 and finds himself just short of the green with a delicate chip to a back-right pin....stay tuned.

Ripple - Alas I'm having no luck embedding this video of Nike's latest...click through to watch it, as Nike does this sort of thing quite well.  Shack thinks Rory's commercial father looks like Jay Leno, but I think he's just exposing himself as a chinophobe.

Of greatest import, perhaps Tiger's mind would remain calm if when chipping he could just picture a front-loading washer.

Coverage - Two minor notes that I've previously neglected to pass on.  First, we knew the CBS team would have to be shuffled, and the results are no surprise:

The retirement of Peter Oosterhuis means the vital 17th hole tower opened up. During their annual conference call to discuss the upcoming telecast, CBS's Sean McManus confirmed that Ian Baker-Finch will move from his spot at Amen Corner, opening up that prime real estate for Frank Nobilo. 

After many years of the migraine-inducing, Hogan's Bridge-calling Bobby Clampett, Baker-Finch had solidified the vital role of covering holes 11 and 12.

I suspect that Geoff was purged from Bobby Clampett's Christmas card list several decades ago, but that's quite the nice get for Nobilo.  

And a potentially more important upgrade was announced to the Masters' app, adding a tracking feature that sounds very much like ShotLink.   Per Shack:

A) We may be one step closer to seeing more ShotLink-gathered information on the

players and course (which, because it's the same venue every year, would be meaningful and interesting).

B) You can track a player who is not part of the many fine Masters.com feeds more easily. And potentially relive their round details.

C) The best "app" and digital presentation may be getting even better. 

For us Apple fanboys, here's the iTunes link to the app.

It remains maddening that the only events for which ShotLink data are unavailable are the most important events, to wit, the majors.

It remains the best week in golf, but it's time to watch some baseball.