OT: Thursday at The Masters Open Thread
With the first group already going in Augusta thought I'd start an open discussion. Notable group tee times:
Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Cheng Jin - 9:26am
Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau - 9:48am
Phil Mickelson, Marc Leishman, Henrik Stenson - 10:43am
Bubba Watson, Branden Grace, Ian Poulter - 12:44pm
(Odds Favorite) Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Ernie Els - 1:06pm
Martin Kaymer, Bill Haas, Rory McIlroy - 2:01pm
Work productivity will be down a lot on my end today and tomorrow.
Masters.com has full coverage for the whole tournament. ESPN coverage starts at 3pm EST
This should be a great Masters. Outside of the usual suspects, I'm very interested to see how DeChambeau does. For those unfamiliar, he's a very interesting golfer (who is still an amateur and majors in engineering at SMU). He swings a single-length set of clubs and tries to repeat the exact same plane of motion on every swing, regardless of shot situation. He's gotten a "mad scientist" reputation of sorts for the complicated testing and practice methods he uses, as well as the type of toe and heel weight combinations he uses on his clubs. Here's a couple recent articles on him for those interested:
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-most-interesting-thing-about-bryson…
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/you-have-to-see-bryson-dechambeaus-mast…
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Good ~6 minute SC Features bit on him too:
http://espn.go.com/golf/masters16/story/_/id/15110740/bryson-dechambeau…
Interesting, but I am selling that. He may win a golf tournament or two but golf is more instinct than science. The game is based on being able to adapt to circumstances, you cannot control the circumstances by making them adapt to you. He is an interesting tidbit but I don't think he will ever be much more than that, IMO.
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there is a difference, that is the thing. If he his having to "simplify" the golf swing in order to do it consistently than he is sitting at the wrong table. Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, these guys needed to "learn to swing" just like you and I needed to "learn to breath." What he is doing is compensatory and I don't think it will stand the test of time.
I too am definitely intrigued by DeChambeau. Think that group of him and Spieth is the most insteresting today. Hope he has a good showing and can emerge as another young (future) winner in golf.
Absolutely love Masters weekend, I'm with you on the low amount of work productivity that will be done today and tomorrow. Should be a very good Masters, now if only I was down there to see it in person.
Coverage begins at noon PST on ESPN? Does anyone see anything earlier than that?
Masters.com has full coverage all day
I would not call it full coverage. While they report all things going on and have streaming, it's only for featured groups, Amen Corner, and holes 15 and 16. Clearly that is better than nothing, but it still sucks compared to what we should be getting.
is covering the practice tee and interviews as far as I can tell. I haven't been able to get any shots yet. I'm going to keep trying though.
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me Bubba and Spieth and you can have the field. (Although Rory is going to come raging back to conquer all of mankind here pretty soon, would not be surprised if it started here).
has to eat a lemon stuffed with glass.
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My company sponsors Jason Day so that makes us coworkers right?
very close friends as well.
I love golf and the Masters. If only I could, you know, actually WATCH more of the tournament. Every year their TV coverage sucks. Obviously I love Adam Scott and Jason Day, but Rickie Fowler is my favorite player.
National has always been weird about coverage. At least now we get to watch the whole final round of the leaders instead of picking up coverage at in the middle of the round. My dad tells me that in the sixties and seventies the last four holes of the final round was shown on TV, that's it. My how times have changed.
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First Featured Group is live and amateur Cheng Jin is having a rough start with two shots in the trees.
At his best, he was the most fun to watch of probably any golfer, in my opinion. Still, there are so many good golfers on that list above, including a ton of younger guys. This is the greatest weekend in golf.
are a lot of good players, many of which are intriguing to watch, but there is no Palmer or Woods right now that really compels you to watch. I love golf and love watching the majors but Tiger's rapid decline has certainly left a void that the tour is struggling to fill.
is something missing. I can't put my finger on it. I like him a lot and he is a draw, but I don't view him as somebody that can transcend the game. I thought Rory could be that next guy but he is just wildly inconsistent and does not appear at that interested.
I think it's because golf has had many great young men win in the past. The middle class, white kid makes good isn't really a compelling story in golf because it has always been the story of golf. I think the most humanising moment of his young career is when he was trying to cover his bald spot last year before getting the jacket. He's on top of the world way ahead of schedule and his brain did what ours would do, attack his insecurities in the best moment of his life.
Great course, had the opportunity to play it once many years ago.
The UM course is beautiful and very fun to play. I'm by no means a well-traveled golfer in terms of top courses played, but the Michigan course was, in my opinion, one of the best I've played. Doesn't hurt that you're staring down the big house on a few of the fairways either.
went on Monday, said it was more crowded than in past years. Unfortunately for him, his golf vacation means that he has to work all weekend. Bummer for him. I'll watch.
Apparently for many years they limited coverage to the back 9, mostly to maintain the aura/mystique of the course and tournament. To me, the very limited commercials (4 minutes per hour) more than make up for the limited coverage. Though I admit I would probably take Thursday and Friday off and watch 12 hours on TV if that's what they showed...
I would absolutely take off Thursday and Friday if it meant showing rounds one and two from the start.
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It's the best time of the year! Opening Day just happened, NCAA Final Four, the Masters and spring football. Plus playoffs for NHL and NBA right around the corner. The only thing missing is real Michigan football.
I think you're mistaken because the best time of the year is when NCAA football starts in either late August or early September.
coincides with the onset of bad weather in the midwest, though, so it is kind of bittersweet.
Saturday Sep. 3rd. I plan on waking up around 4am. I'll throw some ribs on the smoker and mix a tallllllll bloody mary. Start prepping for other game day foods ( I normally cook for 30 even though there's only two of us). Watch a few hype videos or maybe a game from last year still on the dvr. I'll wake the wife up about 8am because I'll be too pumped to just hang around by myself. She'll cuss at me for waking her up on a Saturday and ask what the hell is wrong with me when she sees me in my jersey with beer-n-hand. That's when I use my get out of jail free card and tell her I made her pancakes, eggs and bacon. She's always been a sucker for pancakes. I'll proceed to turn on gameday and sit on the couch holding my football. I'll probably see my neighbor a couple times outside while I'm checking on my ribs. He'll probably be out there overcooking hamburgers and hot dogs with an ugly ass green Staee shirt on. I'll greet him with either a "howdy neighbor" or "Fuck Sparty" depending on the number of beers I've had. Once the game starts, my wife will start questioning her life decisions... it happens every year. She'll probably be back in the bedroom by halftime watching netflix because she won't be able to take me saying, "This is the year, baby. I feel it" anymore. I'll take a 4 hour power nap after our shutout, smooth things over with the wife and tell her I was just excited and it was the first game and don't worry it won't be like this every week. She'll mumble something about how she hates football season and I'll tell her don't worry... we only have 14 games left.
Ernie Els just seven-putted the first green from 3 feet. I am not sure how that happenned but it apparently did.