The Official 2010 Golf Majors Thread - The Masters

[Dr. Sak]

For those able to watch, Masters.com is streaming Amen Corner and some featured groups right now.

[Lathum]

Do they have any news on Tiger?


i wish he would just go away

[Dr. Sak]

Tom Watson finishes his first round at -5

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Are there any other traditions like the Masters?

[spleen1015]

I met 4 elderly gentlemen at a bar on Monday night before the Duke/Butler game. These guys go to the Final Four and the Masters every year for 2 weeks vacation. This year was their 9th year in a row.

Sounds like a nice vacation.

[Dr. Sak]

I was at a practice round two years ago on a Monday. The site of that course is just breathtaking.

[MikeVic]

Woods -3 through 9 holes. Not a bad start so far.

[Solecismic]

It's odd, having a sporting event with only one participant.

I used to be as Tiger-neutral as humanly possible. I don't watch golf, and it's not like he cheats on the golf course.

But the new ad from Nike? Out of context testimony from a dead dad who was also a great believer in infidelity? Yeah, I'm anti-Tiger now.

I hope the whole Masters loses. Not just its one participant. I'm rooting for the golf course itself to swallow everyone, Tiger, announcers, spectators, everyone. Just open up the earth and swallow the entire spectacle.

[Dr. Sak]

Couples takes the out right lead at -6 with one hole to go.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

But the new ad from Nike? Out of context testimony from a dead dad who was also a great believer in infidelity? Yeah, I'm anti-Tiger now.

I read about this earlier today on a marketing industry site. Sounds like a very bizarre choice for the ad (which was also the initial take from some everyday normal ppl who work in the industry). Very questionable judgment on the part of Nike and/or their agency IMO.

[k0ruptr]

its crazy, but i'm definitely rooting for tiger to do well.

[Radii]

In non tiger news, Fred Couples just gave Curtis Strange a fistbump at the start of their interview in the clubhouse. Definitely the oddest thing i've seen all day.


In Tiger news, the Nike ad is creepy as hell to me. I really dislike it. But on the course, whatever, I just want to see good golf and Tiger being out there always makes golf better. His off the course activities really have no impact on me. I'm sure I root for countless NFL, NBA, and MLB players who do worse. Sunday during a major is 100x better if he's involved, so go Tiger.

[Karlifornia]

I think it's funny how big of pussies golfers are when it comes to distractions.


/likes golf

[flounder]

A friend of mine just scored tickets, so I'm headed out to the National this morning.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by flounder

A friend of mine just scored tickets, so I'm headed out to the National this morning.

I am jealous! Enjoy!

[flounder]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

I am jealous! Enjoy!

Thanks! We had to give the badges back at 2:30, and we got stuck in traffic so we didn't get there until 11:30. We still got to see Angel Cabrera play Amen Corner and Tom Watson tee it off at #1. We also saw Phil on the putting green and Tiger on the driving range surrounded by about 20 security guards.

This was my first time being there for the tournament. It was great just to be back out on the course, but I think the practice rounds are a lot more fun.

[k0ruptr]

Everytime I see Phil Mickelson , I think of David Simms of Tin Cup. hahahaha

[Logan]

Amazing eagle for Lefty, on the heels of another eagle.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kinda cool (wandered through the room while my wife was watching), only the 3rd time ever for b2b eagles in a Masters round.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Kinda cool (wandered through the room while my wife was watching), only the 3rd time ever for b2b eagles in a Masters round.

He just came within 6 inches of making it three in a row.

[Big Fo]

That's just awesome from Mickelson.

Couples had a great chip-in to get into third place.

[Dr. Sak]

Phil is on fire! He is by far and away my favorite golfer. This run right now reminds me of his final round in 04 when he won his first Masters.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've realized that I've probably crossed another one of those waypoints in life somewhere along the way. I find myself pulling for guys like Watson & Couples based on the gray hair/age factor, much the same way I've done for guys like Harry Gant & Mark Martin in the past.

[Eaglesfan27]

That was an amazing shot by Phil.

[k0ruptr]

Phil is on a date with destiny right now, and so far the panties are off and she has googly eyes.

[Dr. Sak]

What a great finish...brought tears to my eyes.

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

What a great finish...brought tears to my eyes.

I teared up too, emotional win for the whole family.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

I teared up too, emotional win for the whole family.

Me too. What an emotional win and scene with his family. And what a contrast to that worthless piece of shit Woods.

[Dr. Sak]

I've never been a Tiger fan but I found myself actually feeling a tad bad for him this week. That was until his final interview then I remembered why he is and always will be a piece of shit.

[Lathum]

What did he say in his interview?

[Dr. Sak]

They asked him about how he (in so many words) let some vulgarities out Saturday and Sunday. They asked if he has taken strides in controlling his emotions and how is he coming along with that.

He responded with a bit of arrogance and said that he doesn't know what people expect of him, and that is just the way he is on the course.

Maybe you would have had to see the interview, if I find it on youtube I'll post it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

They asked him about how he (in so many words) let some vulgarities out Saturday and Sunday. They asked if he has taken strides in controlling his emotions and how is he coming along with that.

He responded with a bit of arrogance and said that he doesn't know what people expect of him, and that is just the way he is on the course.

Maybe you would have had to see the interview, if I find it on youtube I'll post it.

Yep.. that interview caused me to believe he hasn't changed one bit and just lowered my opinion of him even more.

[Chief Rum]

I didn't see the interview, but it sounds like you guys are asking him to change what makes him great at golf--his competitiveness. He obviously lets it out in nonconstructive ways at times, but if that's what makes him great at golf, I would rather he kept on trucking and screw what everyone thinks.

The off the course shit, though, he needs to fix that.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I didn't see the interview, but it sounds like you guys are asking him to change what makes him great at golf--his competitiveness. He obviously lets it out in nonconstructive ways at times, but if that's what makes him great at golf, I would rather he kept on trucking and screw what everyone thinks.

If he would have said "Yes I slipped up a few times, I am still going through an ongoing process to make myself a better person and golfer." Something to the effect...I wouldn't have felt this way. But he came off as smug and arrogant.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

If he would have said "Yes I slipped up a few times, I am still going through an ongoing process to make myself a better person and golfer." Something to the effect...I wouldn't have felt this way. But he came off as smug and arrogant.

But you expect him to change on the course. I'm not thinking he's wrong for not saying that, I am saying you're wrong for expecting him to change that. He has no obligation to you to make that change, and he can make himself a better person in other ways, and not make changes that deprive him of his full ability on the golf course.

As for smugness and arrogance (and putting aside this is your impression), he has always been that way. Not sure why people think Tiger is going to become Jesus in five months.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

the thing that gets me is he completely revamped his swing to something that was supposed to be consistently repeatable (esp under pressure) and he flails more now than he ever did in his youth.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

But you expect him to change on the course. I'm not thinking he's wrong for not saying that, I am saying you're wrong for expecting him to change that. He has no obligation to you to make that change, and he can make himself a better person in other ways, and not make changes that deprive him of his full ability on the golf course.

As for smugness and arrogance (and putting aside this is your impression), he has always been that way. Not sure why people think Tiger is going to become Jesus in five months.

Chief he has said that he wants to control his emotions and outbursts on the course. This is from his press conference on Monday...

He also said that his demeanor in and outside the ropes would improve, that he would make a real effort to control his negative outbursts and interestingly enough, try to tone down his celebrations (i.e. fist pumps, we would assume) that sometimes tend to show up his opponents. In short, Woods announced he would be more respectful of the game.

[Scoobz0202]

I didn't watch todays round? Was he pretty bad?

I saw the video of him telling himself that he sucks on Huffington Post but haven't really heard anything else. But even with that video I wouldn't have known he said it if they didn't have a mic jammed up his ass. He didn't have any physical anger..

[Big Fo]

That shot on 13 was brilliant, I don't care that he missed the eagle putt. All week I'd been rooting for him to win and right around then I was getting worried after the wayward drives on 9, 10, 11, and 13 in addition to Choi looking so impressive up to that point. I thought he'd lay it up from there, when he went for it I was thinking "Damn Phil what the hell are you doing.......holy shit what an amazing shot." It was one of the better final rounds I can remember, that shot was a big part of it for me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Y'know who I think probably deserves more credit than they're going to get from this week? Choi.

Drawing Tiger in your pairing once this week is one thing, but four straight days of knowing that you've got that sort of spotlight beating down on you. Even with the warm fuzzy coverage of CBS for this event, well, that's still a good bit of extra baggage to deal with & best I could tell (watching mostly when I passed through the den & my wife had it on), he handled it just fine.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Y'know who I think probably deserves more credit than they're going to get from this week? Choi.

Drawing Tiger in your pairing once this week is one thing, but four straight days of knowing that you've got that sort of spotlight beating down on you. Even with the warm fuzzy coverage of CBS for this event, well, that's still a good bit of extra baggage to deal with & best I could tell (watching mostly when I passed through the den & my wife had it on), he handled it just fine.

He tied Tiger in a 4-round head-to-head match. I'd say Choi did better than handling it just fine.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BrianD

He tied Tiger in a 4-round head-to-head match. I'd say Choi did better than handling it just fine.

Well my thinking there is that the guy isn't exactly chopped liver himself as a golfer.

A rough 2009 not withstanding he was ranked the top 10 in '07, top 20 in '08, and finished in the top 10 of the FedEx Cup standings both seasons. Basically I guess I'm not surprised that he matched Tiger for 4 rounds head to head, especially not a Tiger coming off a long layoff, which left me much more impressed by him putting up with the extra baggage for an entire tournament without it impacting him (as far as I could tell anyway).

[Young Drachma]

Phil put on a hell of a show. I missed the last five holes, but when I left my brother's place he was at -15 and it was clear he was gonna get it. Hell of a performance.

Tiger did well for a guy who took months off and didn't play at all. Glad he came back finally and he can get back to being a golfer.

[TroyF]

I wouldn't have minded what Tiger did on the course if he hadn't himself said he was going to change it.

He's complaining that people are bringing it up after it was him who said he would control his temper. You don't want it to be a story? Don't make a promise you either can't or won't keep. The proper response was "this is a long road to recovery, I will continue to try to control my emotions on the course but I understand it's going to be a work in progress"

Instead it's "Everyone is making too big of a deal of this. What do you expect of me, that I should keep my word?"

I'm now firmly anti Tiger and will be for the rest of his career.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I wouldn't have minded what Tiger did on the course if he hadn't himself said he was going to change it.

He's complaining that people are bringing it up after it was him who said he would control his temper. You don't want it to be a story? Don't make a promise you either can't or won't keep. The proper response was "this is a long road to recovery, I will continue to try to control my emotions on the course but I understand it's going to be a work in progress"

Instead it's "Everyone is making too big of a deal of this. What do you expect of me, that I should keep my word?"

I'm now firmly anti Tiger and will be for the rest of his career.

Well, he's done such a good job with his wedding vows....

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by SteveBollea

Just letting everybody know in this thread so pissed at Tiger that only difference between him and your sporting heroes is that Tiger got caught.

This.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by SteveBollea

Just letting everybody know in this thread so pissed at Tiger that only difference between him and your sporting heroes is that Tiger got caught.

Just letting you know three things:

1) HE DID GET CAUGHT. Sorry, but that does make a difference. When Phil Mickleson gets caught with oodles of women ranging from porn stars to Denny's waitresses, I'll dislike him too. I give the benefit of the doubt to everyone in my life until they prove to me they don't deserve it.

2) I also try not to judge people because I don't know what is happening in their marriage. I think cheating is wrong, but like you said, others do it too. So I usually give second chances to athletes. (see the maurice Clarett thread from earlier today)

3) This isn't about cheating on his wife anymore. Tiger made it a point to tell "me" and everyone else that he was going to become a better person on and off the golf course. Then when he slips up, he points the finger back at "me" for questioning why he didn't do it.

Really? Sorry A-Hole, go look in a mirror. I hope you lose, lose, lose. (and no, I don't think he will lose, lose, lose. Disgustingly, I think he will win at least one major this year, maybe two. . . doesn't mean I have to like it)

[Scoobz0202]

Is the post-Masters interview on youtube? I tried a quick search but couldnt find it.

[mauchow]

The way I look at most athletes: You're not a normal person, I don't give a shit what you do in your everyday life. If you're fun to watch playing the sport you play, I will watch you and enjoy it all the while not give much of a second thought on how many women you're banging or how you may be a murderer.

I won't meet them. I don't care what their feelings are. If we were best of friends, now I start giving a shit.

[Radii]

For the golf fans, Jim Nantz was on Bill Simmons podcast earlier in the week, most of the discussion was about golf, a couple great Fred Couples stories and some good Tiger and Phil discussion. Highly recommended.