OT: Masters Eve, a quick survey
1. Is this the best sporting event on the calendar, year after year?
In my opinion, yes. Beautiful venue, spring, the players are playing for more than money, they are playing for membership in the most exclusive club in golf and possibly all of sports.
2. Greatest Masters ever?
1986 Jack Nicklaus wins his 6th green jacket.
1997 Tiger Woods wins by 12 strokes.
2004(?) Phil Mickelson wins his first major on 18 and gets 3 inches of air in jubilation.
3. Who do you WANT to win, and why?
I like a guy who has paid his dues, had a great career, and would see this as a cornerstone to same. Names that come to mind are Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, and Ian Poulter (gosh did I just name 4 Europeans?)
Who will win?
Adam Scott repeats. Horse for the course, the monkey's off his back, and he is entering his prime.
1. I'm partial to tennis as a sport, but Wimbledon is up there. It's got the tradition and a similar feel to the Masters. But, I'll definitely be watching some golf this weekend.
3. I'd like to see Rory win.
Love to see Freddie win anytime too. But he does already have a seat at the Champions Dinner.
If you're talking about great shots, yes, Phil on 13, Watson on 10 in the playoff was incredible, and Woods' chip on 16 was the greatest Nike commercial of all-time.
Best sporting event year after year? You can't be serious. March Madness, the CFB National Championship Game, and the Super Bowl are all about 100 times better than the Masters, especially without Tiger Woods.
Lordy, Lord, Lord: I will allow your March Madness into the discussion, but the Super Bowl while a great event and hugely popular, is just too disco. The NFL is a cartoon. The college finals in football is so often just ho-hum.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:35 AM ^
STARTS TOPIC ASKING FOR OPINIONS AND ARGUES WHEN GETS OPINIONS
April 10th, 2014 at 12:54 AM ^
April 10th, 2014 at 12:46 AM ^
just a silly question. If golf is your favorite sport than you probably consider the Master's the best sporting event on the calendar. For me it's Wimbledon and The Champions League final. For the average American sports fan it's March Madness and the Super Bowl.
He signed a golf ball for me at the Buick Open when I was little. I'm sure it won't happen again now that he's getting older, but I still like watching him..
April 10th, 2014 at 12:42 AM ^
HELL YES
I agree with you on 3, which is why I've always been a John Daly fan.
What's really cool is that Daly has his own drink. Similar to an Arnold Palmer, which is half iced tea and half lemonade, a John Daly is half iced tea, half Busch Light and a cigarette butt...
April 10th, 2014 at 12:04 AM ^
April 10th, 2014 at 12:17 AM ^
Agree on the field.
It's probably not a club I would want to be a member of, but I do think they do a tremendous job of preparing the course and holding a tournament that is true to its tradition and roots. Everything else changes, but the Masters stays the same. There is room for that in sports and society.
What golf course, even a shitty municipal golf course, is not an environmental problem? You may know something the rest of us don't about Augusta National, and you may only play on pesticide-free, no-fertilizer greens, but I don't know what world that is in.
Different golf courses cause different levels of environmental problems. At one end are links courses in Britain and Ireland built hundreds of years ago with minimal alteration to the land as it existed, where the grass is still allowed to go brown if there's not enough rain.
Augusta National is the exact opposite of that. It's an artificial creation made to look natural by extreme levels of intervention in nature. They can do it because the Masters gives them almost literally more money than they know what to do with.
This seems like a waste to me, to spend so much money on a course that gets very little play during most of the year, even though every golfer in the world would love to play there. But it's a private club, and they can do what they want with it.
The bigger problem is that American golfers watch the Masters and see Augusta National as a perfect golf course, and they start to expect the courses they play to look like that. And that leads to lots of wasted money, needless environmental damage, and more expensive golf courses.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:26 AM ^
2. I guess Tiger.
3. I'd like to see Rory win. Seems like a good enough guy and I'd like to see a new star rise as Tiger wans. And Rory has the best chance to that guy..
April 10th, 2014 at 12:29 AM ^
will undoubtedly be on an endless loop if I find myself in Hell.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:36 AM ^
April 10th, 2014 at 12:42 AM ^
1. not the best, but probably top 5
2. tiger '97. ridiculous.
3. dufner ftw.
I enjoy playing golf, but it's tough to watch on TV unless Tiger is making a push. Nobody else on the tour interests me. I won't be watching this year.
1. No, but I love it. 2. TIger's chip-in. 3. Russ Henley.
Yeah that was pretty good.
How about Larry Mize chipping in on 11 to beat Greg Norman in a playoff?
Memorable Masters...
1988 Seve Ballastaros when asked how he four putted 16. "I miss, I miss, I miss, I make."
Back to back by Waldo Faldo. Didn't like him as a golfer, hated that he won the Masters even once...pretty fair commentator.
Freddy's win in 1992. Obviously made memorable with the ball hanging above the water, Sunday on 12.
1994: Gary McCord asked to never return after suggesting that the greens at Augusta received bikini waxing. Both parties should do the right thing and get him back out there.
You heard it here, Marc Leishman wins that jacket!
I will never understand how anyone can enjoy watching something as dull as golf, or baseball, or soccer. But obviously I'm in the minority here.
as I am, I would still say March Madness is a bigger event. But definitely top 4 with the derby, super bowl.
1986 Masters still the best for me. Cemented my interest in golf - amazing Sunday round by Jack. Nothing like that image of him raising his putter as another birdie drops.
I will be pulling for Ernie and Phil. Perfect golf year for me is Ernie winning the Masters to add a green jacket he deserves and Phil winning the US Open.
1) I guess I'm just not a golf fan. It's a major event on the tour, but I've never bought into the hype. It feels like much of the love is self-created through slick marketing. But I guess within the golfing world it probably is the biggest deal.
2) Mickelson in 2010 because, again, took some stones for that shot.
3) I guess Garcia, just because he feels like he's been so close. And I don't know, maybe some crazy last-gasp run by Woods would be interesting.
Agreed completely about the marketing aspect of the Masters. I think a lot of the Masters hype & love comes from the South, because they don't 'own' much as far as professional sporting events go and this is one thing they can say is theirs.
It's basically Talledega for a lot less people who happen to have a lot more money, except I think it'd be more fun to go to the Dega 500 than the Masters.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
located south of the Ohio River, do you know what Myrtle Beach, Southern Florida, and Augusta, Georgia all have in common? Answer, golf and yankees.
As for NASCAR, of which I'm absolutley not a fan, there are more NASCAR events in Michigan every year than there are major golf tournaments. The next time Oakland Hills hosts the US Open, will that be the north's Pure Michigan 400 of golf?
Having grown up in Michigan and lived in the south, I've learned two undeniable truths.
1.) The movie Deliverance is an accurate depiction of the US south
2.) Michigan experiences 11 months of freezing cold and snow and people from there never get cold.
1. Greatest event every year? Eh, not sure I can agree, but it's definitely top 5. Just too much else to compete with it, especially if Michigan is in a NC game for football, basketball, or hockey.
2. Greatest ever Masters performance is Tiger in 1997, but Sunday was a formality with no drama. These past two years with the playoff drama have been great, with some incredible shots (Bubba's 40 yard hook with a lob wedge, Cabrera's cold-blooded approach on 18 last year to force the playoff).
3. I'd like to see either Dustin or Rory win - probably Dustin with all the heartbreaks he's had, to pull through and win the big one would be nice. And Rory to atone for the atrocity that was his last 10 holes in 2011; he could have pulled a Tiger on everyone and just threw it all away.
4. I do think Rory pulls through and wins this week. Aside from Tiger, he's probably the most naturally talented player on the tour, and should be contending week in and week out. With two majors already in his pocket, he joins Phil in the "3/4 of the Career Grand Slam" club. And ignites some talk of him catching Tiger in career majors in the process.
but not the best. I like March Madness, the NHL playoffs, Opening Day in Detroit, and the British Open more, but the Master's always means Spring is here.
Greatest Master's ever - I think when Jack won the event in 86'
Who do I want to win - Rory, Keegan or Dustin Johnson
Who will win - Since Woods is no longer in it, I think Adam Scott or Keegan
1. I wouldn't say it's the greatest sporting event of the year, but it is the culmination of a great sports month that includes March Madness, Opening day, and the masters, signalling the transition from a long winter to spring and soon Summer.
2. I'd say 1997 Tiger win, because that's what started me actually understanding golf and enjoying watching it on TV.
3. I personally still root for Tiger, but since he isn't in it, I like an older guy like Jim Furyk.
4. I'll say Matt Kuchar wins. He's played some good golf lately and I gotta pull for USA.
My cousin is a huge golf nut; he's got the country club membership and watches the golf channel all day on the weekends whenever he isn't playing. He takes time off work to watch the Masters. A couple years ago, I carpooled with his family to my aunt's for Easter, and I didn't pay attention to the fact that it was Masters weekend. Big mistake. We had to stay at my aunt's till like ~8:30 PM (dinner was at 2 and I would have gone home at 5 if I drove myself) because my cousin refused to go home until it was over. There was a Tigers game that went to extra innings, and we didn't see any of it because the guy refused to give up the remote to the only TV in the house. So I have a certain hatred for the event because it wasted my evening one time.
I used to play golf when I was a kid -- it was good way to hang out with my dad on a Sunday morning -- but I couldn't give two shits about the sport now. Waste of money. If I want to enjoy the outdoors, I'll hike through the woods for free.
To be fair, the Masters comes once a year for four days. Tigers play at least 162 times a year and the game was in April, not down the home stretch or the playoffs. I think your cousin was justified :P
but it was a wild Tigers game
Phil's shot from behind tree on the pine needles in 2010 (IIRC) is still one of the greatest shots I've ever seen. Incredible. Maybe my biggest Masters memory.
1. The Masters is a great event, but not the best. I equate the course to a playboy model, beautiful yet everything has been touched up. Do they really have speakers playing birds chirping in the trees? Do they really dye Rae's Creek so it is not as muddy on TV? Can the announcers be more boring? I will watch but it is always with a tainted eye.
2. Tiger '97, Scott '13, Nicklaus '86
3. Rory, Westwood, Poulter, Stricker (want to see a first time winner at Masters or 1st Major)
1. LOL no, not even close haha. It's the Masters. Watching golf will never be the greatest sporting event of the year.
2. Tiger's shot on 16 in 2005 was pretty awesome.
3. Lion Kim. UofM golfer.
April 10th, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
1. Yes, this is my favorite sporting event of the year. March Madness is great but I would only enjoy that more than the Masters if Michigan won the whole thing.
2. My most memorable Masters was the 1995 Ben Crenshaw after his mentor Harvey Penick had died. He broke down on the green after he sunk the putt.
Greatest shot, Tiger 2005 16th green chip in.
3. I want Rory to win. I'm looking for some younger guys to get behind and breakout to winning several tournaments a year.
My two picks to win would be Adam Scott or Rory McIlroy.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^
1. I'm looking forward to watching it, but it's not even my favorite golf event on the calendar. Ryder Cup (I know it's not on the calendar every year), British Open and US Open are all higher on my list. World Cup, NCAA march madness, UM vs OSU football are all much bigger in my eyes.
3. I always root for one of the old-timers and an amateur. Their presence is something that adds to the appeal of the Masters for me.
No sporting even comes close to touching March Madness. How many other sporting events have people getting vasectomies so they can stay home and watch games?!
2. No clue. I don't pay much attention.
3. The guy in the hat because he has on a hat.
I'm an amazing golfer. The last time I went golfing, I only lost 36 golf balls in the first 12 holes. I'll be the guy in the hat winning the Masters.
It's a great sporting event. That being said, I can't really be bothered to even watch it until Sunday, and even then probably the back 9 or so for the last few groups. I actually LIKE golf but watching a 4 day tournament on TV? Egads. If you want to GO to it that is probably amazing, but watching 4 days of it on TV? ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz.