2021 Masters Tournament

[Carolina Speed]

The Masters begins on Thursday. One of my favorite sporting events each year. Several story lines this year. Thankfully, neither The Masters or The PGA Tour Championship will move out of Georgia as did the the MLB All Star Game.
Brooks Koepka will be at The Masters after originally not expected to make it because of a knee injury.
Rickie Fowler will miss The Masters and a Major for the first time since 2010.
Rory McIIroy still trying to complete the career slam by winning The Masters.
Can Dustin Johnson become only the fourth player to successfully defend his title?
Will the big hitting Bryson DeChambeau break through and win?
Can Jordan Spieth continue his strong play and win his second Masters?
What about Lee Westwood? It would be a great story to see him finally break through to win a Major.
Looking forward to it.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Senator Marco Rubio dares MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to give up his Augusta National Membership. Writes a letter to Manfred asking him if he'll relinquish his personal membership to Georgia's Augusta National Golf Club, after MLB moves All Star Game and Amateur Draft out of Georgia.

 

[icsept]

Senator Marco Rubio dares MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to give up his Augusta National Membership. Writes a letter to Manfred asking him if he'll relinquish his personal membership to Georgia's Augusta National Golf Club, after MLB moves All Star Game and Amateur Draft out of Georgia.

lol. Zero percent chance that virtue signaler Manfred makes a personal sacrifice for his “convictions.”

 

[Carolina Speed]

Well it's been a brutal first day at Augusta. Course is playing firm and fast. Two are in the clubhouse at -3. While many others are over par including world number one Dustin Johnson. +2.
T1. B. Harman -3
T1. H. Matsuyama -3
T3. W. Zalatoris -2
T3. W. Simpson -2
T3. C. Bezuidenhout -2
T3. P. Reed -2
T3. J. Rose -2
T3. S. Lowry -2

Spieth is even through 7
T35. D. Johnson +2
T35. Koepka +2
T53. J. Thomas +3
T67. S. Garcia +4
T67. McIIroy +4
T67. B. DeChambeau +4
T79. L. Westwood +6

 

[Don Wassall]

Justin Rose gets it to -4 with a great stretch of play and now has the lead by himself. It's still way early, but Rose is one of the players I'll be rooting for. He's come very close at Augusta on a few occasions and the reigning Olympic champion and former U.S. Open champion would be a fine winner.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Justin Rose gets it to -4 with a great stretch of play and now has the lead by himself. It's still way early, but Rose is one of the players I'll be rooting for. He's come very close at Augusta on a few occasions and the reigning Olympic champion and former U.S. Open champion would be a fine winner.

Yes, Rose played brilliantly today. Eight birdies and one eagle over the last eleven holes to lead by four in round one.
1. Rose -7 A long way to go, but Rose could go wire to wire.
T2. Harman -3
T2. Matsuyama -3
T4. Simpson -2
T4. Reed -2 2018 Masters Champion another chance for a second Green Jacket
T8. Spieth -1 Got to hand it to Spieth. He never gives up. After a triple bogey on nine, he bounces back with a birdie on ten and an eagle on fifteen to get back into the tournament.
*No one has ever made a triple bogey at The Masters and won*
T13. Rahm E
T20. Thomas +1
T30. Koepka +2
T30. Johnson +2
T60. McIIlroy +4
T60. DeChambeau +4

 

[Don Wassall]

Spieth had a triple bogey on 9 after a terrible tee shot yet still ended up -1 for his round. The way he's been playing the past couple of months he could well be in the mix on Sunday. He and Rose ran away from the pack and had a great Sunday duel when Jordan won The Masters in 2015. Rose also had a great tournament when Sergio Garcia finally won his first (and likely only) major at Augusta in '17. I don't see Rose going anywhere as at the age of 40 it's now or never for him to add a huge victory to his already impressive career resume and win a green jacket.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Rose bogeys number 1. Mark Leishman -3 through the first three holes to get to -3. Wiesberger -4 though 6 to get to -2.
1. Rose -6
T2. Leishman -3
T5. Wiesberger -2

 

[Carolina Speed]

Rose bogeys number 1. Mark Leishman -3 through the first three holes to get to -3. Wiesberger -4 though 6 to get to -2.
1. Rose -6
T2. Leishman -3
T5. Wiesberger -2

Rose bounce back birdie on number 2. Back to -7.

 

[white is right]

Spieth had a triple bogey on 9 after a terrible tee shot yet still ended up -1 for his round. The way he's been playing the past couple of months he could well be in the mix on Sunday. He and Rose ran away from the pack and had a great Sunday duel when Jordan won The Masters in 2015. Rose also had a great tournament when Sergio Garcia finally won his first (and likely only) major at Augusta in '17. I don't see Rose going anywhere as at the age of 40 it's now or never for him to add a huge victory to his already impressive career resume and win a green jacket.

His bounce back from going in the water might have saved his tourney. With Rose shooting par and not shooting in the mid 60's again the tournament has tightened up considerably.

Off of recent form I would say Spieth is the favorite heading into Saturday.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Wow! What a great Masters this is shaping up to be. Rose holding on to the top spot and trying to get a Green Jacket to with his US Open title. Newcomer Will Zalatoris in a tie for second with under dog Brian Harman.
Mark Leishman in a tie for fourth and Spieth hanging in there in a tie for fourth as well.
World number two Justin Thomas shaking off a sub par second round to find himself just three back in a tie for sixth.
1. Rose -7
T2. Zalatoris -6
T2. Harman -6
T4. Leishman -5
T4. Spieth -5
T6. Thomas -4
T6. Wiesberger -4
Missing the cut: Six of the top 20 in the world rankings are out.
World number one Dustin Johnson. Very surprised by that.
McIIroy Again, very surprised.
Garcia
Kuchar
Koepka
Westwood
Berger
Cantlay
Day

 

[Don Wassall]

For Masters afficianados, CBS has a one hour special on Jack and Arnie at The Masters starting now, followed by a half-hour special on the back nine at The Masters on Sundays. Tomorrow there will be a one-hour special on Mark O'Meara, who memorably won the '98 Masters with a clutch 20 foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole. I thought maybe it would be about Greg Norman's epic loss to Nick Faldo in '96 given that it's the 25 year anniversary of that collapse, but CBS must have decided not to torture Greg by focusing on it.

Will be interesting to see how Justin Rose handles the pressure today, and how well Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas do. Would love to see those three dueling it out, maybe with DeChambeau also in the mix after his 67 yesterday.

 

[white is right]

Wow! What a great Masters this is shaping up to be. Rose holding on to the top spot and trying to get a Green Jacket to with his US Open title. Newcomer Will Zalatoris in a tie for second with under dog Brian Harman.
Mark Leishman in a tie for fourth and Spieth hanging in there in a tie for fourth as well.
World number two Justin Thomas shaking off a sub par second round to find himself just three back in a tie for sixth.
1. Rose -7
T2. Zalatoris -6
T2. Harman -6
T4. Leishman -5
T4. Spieth -5
T6. Thomas -4
T6. Wiesberger -4
Missing the cut: Six of the top 20 in the world rankings are out.
World number one Dustin Johnson. Very surprised by that.
McIIroy Again, very surprised.
Garcia
Kuchar
Koepka
Westwood
Berger
Cantlay
Day

Japanese national Matsuyama had a hot day and has a 4 stroke lead over Schauffelle, Leishman, Rose and upstart Zalatoris. Canadian Corey Connors had a hot day too and is 5 back.

As always the final day's back 9 will determine the winner. Anyone of these 5 or even Spieth if his putter catches fire could walk away with the green jacket.

 

[Don Wassall]

Not the leaderboard I was rooting to see happen but hopefully Augusta will provide its usual back nine fireworks tomorrow. Still rooting for Rose but it took everything he had just to hang on in the last six holes of today's round, gutting out par saves after a number of stray tee and iron shots. Justin Thomas self-immolated with a botched 13th hole, spending 10 minutes looking more like me the occasional weekend hacker than a world class pro, and he's out of it now. Spieth is still on the fringes of contention but will need Matsuyama to do some back-tracking tomorrow to catch him or else he'll need to shoot something very low.

 

[Flint]

Well isn’t that just dandy, another Asian wins a golf tournament. Nice that us Americans can provide easy prize money to all those Korean gals and now Japanese men. Clearly no one here wants it.

 

[Don Wassall]

It was the least exciting Masters final round in a long time. Matsuyama had a big lead until the last few holes and nearly blew it, but Xander Schauffele choked on 16 by hitting a horrible shot into the pond, which Jim Nantz noted no one does anymore when there's a huge green above the pin (and pond) to aim for, and promptly triple-bogeyed right when Matsuyama was reeling, ending any suspense about the ending. Spieth's poor start prevented him from getting close enough to the lead though he put on a late charge. Just an all-around disappointing day, while Rich Lerner and the rest of the media patronizingly claimed over and over again that the entire nation of Japan was watching and were going crazy at having a possible Japanese winner. Japanese golf fans undoubtedly, but the entire country? Typical American arrogance.

Meanwhile on a somewhat unrelated subject, Tiger was going more than 40 mph over the speed limit around S-curves, didn't even remember driving when help reached his crash site, and an empty container of pills was found at the scene. Yet "no probable cause" was found by police to do a blood test. Woods is lucky to be alive, and even luckier he didn't kill anyone else, but of course it's papered over by the same Tiger-enablers and Tiger-worshiping media that has allowed him to engage in extremely reckless behavior while driving on several known occasions now. Who knows how many other times he may have gotten away with it.

It's disappointing to see Outkick with at least one resident Tiger nut-hugger aboard, Greg Couch, who penned "Without Tiger, the Masters Was Just a Golf Tournament, and Not a Very Good One," which could have easily been written by Rich Lerner and other professional Tiger worshipers. https://www.outkick.com/couch-witho...st-a-golf-tournament-and-not-a-very-good-one/. The commenters after the article strongly disagree with him. Woods has won one major in 13 years and his peak year was two decades ago in 2000, but it will always be the year 2000 to Lerner & Co., including Greg Couch. Yes, it was a disappointing Masters compared to the usual dramatics which have occurred whether Woods was in the hunt or not, but the PGA Tour is doing just fine with an outstanding depth of quality and quantity, no matter the endless braying of Tiger's media losers.

 

[skinnylegsandall]

Thanks for the write-up.
Masters was slow,boring.Still I watched.
Xander Schauffele choked for sure.
Lurch Lerner is more than I can stand.He gives me the creeps!

 

[Leonardfan]

It was the least exciting Masters final round in a long time. Matsuyama had a big lead until the last few holes and nearly blew it, but Xander Schauffele choked on 16 by hitting a horrible shot into the pond, which Jim Nantz noted no one does anymore when there's a huge green above the pin (and pond) to aim for, and promptly triple-bogeyed right when Matsuyama was reeling, ending any suspense about the ending. Spieth's poor start prevented him from getting close enough to the lead though he put on a late charge. Just an all-around disappointing day, while Rich Lerner and the rest of the media patronizingly claimed over and over again that the entire nation of Japan was watching and were going crazy at having a possible Japanese winner. Japanese golf fans undoubtedly, but the entire country? Typical American arrogance.

Meanwhile on a somewhat unrelated subject, Tiger was going more than 40 mph over the speed limit around S-curves, didn't even remember driving when help reached his crash site, and an empty container of pills was found at the scene. Yet "no probable cause" was found by police to do a blood test. Woods is lucky to be alive, and even luckier he didn't kill anyone else, but of course it's papered over by the same Tiger-enablers and Tiger-worshiping media that has allowed him to engage in extremely reckless behavior while driving on several known occasions now. Who knows how many other times he may have gotten away with it.

It's disappointing to see Outkick with at least one resident Tiger nut-hugger aboard, Greg Couch, who penned "Without Tiger, the Masters Was Just a Golf Tournament, and Not a Very Good One," which could have easily been written by Rich Lerner and other professional Tiger worshipers. https://www.outkick.com/couch-witho...st-a-golf-tournament-and-not-a-very-good-one/. The commenters after the article strongly disagree with him. Woods has won one major in 13 years and his peak year was two decades ago in 2000, but it will always be the year 2000 to Lerner & Co., including Greg Couch. Yes, it was a disappointing Masters compared to the usual dramatics which have occurred whether Woods was in the hunt or not, but the PGA Tour is doing just fine with an outstanding depth of quality and quantity, no matter the endless braying of Tiger's media losers.

I also read that Woods will not be charged. I never liked Tiger Woods - I suppose he was one of the first non-white athletes I noticed being put on a pedestal back when I was a teenager in the late 90s. He was never "good for the game" but a tool meant to try and "diversify" pro golf. Along the way he gathered legions of drunk white fans. Woods hasn't been relevant since 2008 - he had his chance Masters victory a few years ago but has been more famous for his misdeeds out of golf then accomplishments within golf. Woods won't learn from his mistakes, he doesn't need to. The media and fans never held him accountable and never will.

 

[white is right]

Well isn’t that just dandy, another Asian wins a golf tournament. Nice that us Americans can provide easy prize money to all those Korean gals and now Japanese men. Clearly no one here wants it.

The talking heads kept on repeating the theme of Matsuyama breaking the bank with the Masters win and his career earnings will now be 1 Billion dollars off of this win, even if his career went off of a cliff similar to Mike Weir's career after his Masters win.

I too was disappointed that nobody really challenged the Japanese national as he looked flustered at points playing the back 9 and could have pulled an epic collapse if somebody put real heat on him.

 

[Don Wassall]

The talking heads kept on repeating the theme of Matsuyama breaking the bank with the Masters win and his career earnings will now be 1 Billion dollars off of this win, even if his career went off of a cliff similar to Mike Weir's career after his Masters win.

I too was disappointed that nobody really challenged the Japanese national as he looked flustered at points playing the back 9 and could have pulled an epic collapse if somebody put real heat on him.

Matsuyama hadn't won in four years on the PGA Tour before yesterday despite being in what should be the prime years of his career and had slowly but surely declined from the number two world ranking, so it's possible he could pull a Weir or an Immelman, but he has more "upside" in his game than those two.

Although he came close to a collapse in the last several holes, from the back nine of the third round after the end of the weather break on Saturday through the first nine of the final round he was a machine, notably better than anyone else, and that's how he earned the green jacket.

 

[Booth]

Gary Player's son has been banned from The Masters for life for holding a box of golf balls his father was going to use. He did it while they were introducing Lee Elder.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/go...e-masters/ar-BB1fDIuX?li=BBorjTa&ocid=U453DHP