Brooks Koepka is wayyy in the clear @ -12, tho his two co-leaders from round 1 have just teed off. He is completely on his A game from tee to green-when healthy he is the best ballstriker in the world.
Meanhoo we are witnessing in real time defending champ Scottie Scheffler coming down with a very bad case of the yips. He 4 putted #9 from 30 feet below the hole, and three-putted #13 just now from 15 feet. Each of his strokes on the short ones were these jerky stabs, which is typically a dead giveaway that the player in question has come down with said affliction.
The latest in efforts to stir up interest in a golf thread around here?
Gotta admit the LIV split - and our cancelling of cable - has greatly decreased my interest in pro golf. I’d be thrilled if Tiger’s leg fell off, or he at least missed the cut. But doesn’t look like either of those will happen…
I became disenchanted w/ The Masters some time back after I made a mistake of reading a few books about the club and tourney. Not a wonderful group of white men. The best thing about it IMO is the limited commercials.
They do love to enforce their quirky rules very strictly at Augusta. Last night a few “patrons” were seen running so the abandonned golf for the day and sent everyone home!
Bobby Jones is often spoken about in hushed tones around there still, but he tacitly must have approved of certain questionable former club policies, such as never inviting otherwise-qualified black golfers (until Lee Elder forced their hand).
The former is apparently still a possibility according to those who wax lyrical about his struggles. Tiger, doncha know, is a walking circle of life about whom the poets sing.
Expect another push to get him electric cart privileges after this. Such suffering, especially by his fans, cannot be borne.
With the weather finally clear at Augusta (if still cool and breezy), they completed the third round this morning, and it looks like the fourth round will be completed today, with the final pairing (Koepka and Rahm) teeing off shortly.
Woods, who barely made the cut yesterday, withdrew this morning, due to a flare-up of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. I watched some of yesterday’s play, and he certainly looked like he was moving painfully.
Brooks Koepka may simply have hit his endurance limit, still 2 back no birdies in 19 holes now. Jon Rahm is now in control. Phil Mickelson in the clubhouse at -8, so Rahm needs a 37 or better on the back to avoid a playoff. Jordan Spieth almost tied Phil, but simply made too many mistakes this week, 21 birds…
Annoyed at the announcer after he talked about Jordan missing the fairway in 2018 when a bird would have gotten him in a playoff with a 62. No, he didn’t hit it left that year-he hit it right down the middle, but hit it too high and it ticked an overhanging branch and dropped down in the rough 150 yards off the tee, resulting in a bogey.
Noticed those branches have been extensively trimmed this year.
It is so curious how pro golfers will get hot and just have an amazing year or part of the year. Rahm is definitely doing it this year! And once again, Dopers don’t care!
I guess I’m happy that Rahm beat Koepka. I think Rahm is less of a jerk, but more likely I just don’t know the jerkiah things he’s done. Are there any pro golfers who aren’t jerks that I can root for?
Other important questions that came up as I watched a few holes:
Are all the bird sounds artificially added? Are some of them actually live?
What goes through the mind of the people who shout “get in the hole” for every tee shot? Do they think it helps the players? Are they just caught up in the moment and briefly lose their mind? Do they realize how stupid it is and are doing it to troll?
It seemed to start with Tiger Woods’ galleries, years ago, and now it seems to just be a thing. My suspicion is that the idiots (and they are idiots) hope to be heard by their buddies on TV. “Did you hear it when Tiger was teeing off on 16? That was me!”
Here’s an article from Golf Channel, from a few years ago, about some specific fans who shout specific trademark phrases. It seems like it all comes down to wanting to be heard on TV.
I am a birder. Every one I heard today is native to the area, and there are sections of the course which are dense enough that you’d think quite a few species would be nesting in there (such as along Amen Corner, heard a towhee today which likes to nest in such dense areas), along with the ones which nest high the trees. I know that it’s been said that there are speakers all over the course which pipe in fake bird songs, but they can’t all be bogus…?
But I also know that under that seemingly pristine grass there are buried creeks and pipes and reservoirs and heating systems galore which help drain and warm the course. Not much of a base for a healthy ecosystem to thrive.
As far as the tournament goes Koepka has to be feeling pretty devastated. He can hopefully build on what he did here this weekend. Rahm must be one of the strongest players out there (other than maybe DeChambeau)-he has this ridiculously short backswing but is so powerful he just blasts the ball into oblivion. But his course management today was utterly impeccable. I keep hoping Jordan “21 Birdies” (9 today) finally learns some of that, because if he does he’ll likely never lose. [He has the record from 2015, of 28]
Had stuff to do this weekend (like get caught up on Battlebots…surprised how long that took). Don’t like how announcers and network guys get so completely flustered by rain delays, so that killed some of my interest. Still was able to get in about half of the final round.
I still have some casual interest in the sport, but right now there just isn’t anything I’m interested in talking about. I’ve said my piece on the LIV Tour, Tiger’s increasingly desperate fight for relevance, and why all the crap at Phoenix sucks. Jon Rahm had a great comeback story two seasons ago (being forced out of the Memorial in the final round due to Covid and winning the US Open two weeks later) but otherwise is largely a blank slate. The morons who scream nonsense after every shot are a big turnoff for me and is a big reason why I have so much trouble following most events. I don’t give a flaming crap about their motives or the origin of their beatings, I just want them tossed, and it never happens. And before you ask, no, I don’t brook that garbage in any other sport, especially baseball.
So, ah, there you have it. Oh, ah, just a reminder that Tiger Woods’ exemption lasts for one more season, so we’re going to have to put up with him for while yet.
I’ve never understood why tournaments didn’t oust these yahoos. I think it got worse w/ Tiger, but I think it predated him.
I dunno. He’s one of the top players, in his prime, w/ 2 majors and a boatload of $. I can imagine him being disappointed, but these guys know they win some and lose some.
I hadn’t realized that Rahm 4-putted his first hole on Thursday. A pretty amazing example of how these guys are able to take it 1 shot - and one round - and one tournament at a time. For these guys, the line between :totally hot" and “also ran” is exceedingly fine.
Oh, ah, just a reminder that Tiger Woods’ exemption lasts for one more season, so we’re going to have to put up with him for while yet.
Masters Champs have lifetime exemptions to the Masters. That is why you still see Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer still playing. Tiger has won 5 Masters, so he will be around as long as he wants to be. But many past champs have quit playing (like Nicklaus, Player) because they aren’t competitive and nudged by the tournament to not take up space.
Koepka has 4 majors, not just two. He won the US Open in 2017 and 2018 and the PGA Championship in 2018 and 2019.
How much longer does ANGC have to suffer the ignominy of its past discriminatory practices? Does it ever shed that reputation?
Well, I plead ignorance. Please educate me. Have they REALLY changed? How diverse is their current membership? First black man 1990. First women 2012. How many of each now? Not public knowledge. I understand that they do fund some black and women’s activities/organizations. But given the long history, I’d suggest it reasonable to consider them still “a work in progress.”
I’m often surprised at how few people realize that up until 1961 the PGA was expressly “Caucasian only.”
Correct. This fact is often use to throw shade on the PGA Tour. Incidentally, the PGATour and the PGA are not the same. The PGA split into two entities in the late 60’s, the PGA Tour& the PGA of America.
The “Caucasian only” policy is often cited as a “slight” to the PGATour. It was never a PGATour policy. I see it referenced frequently the time in Golf blogs & twitter particularly when there are GOAT discussions between Jack Nicklaus & Tiger Woods
Baseball was “Caucasian only” prior to 1947. just 14 years earlier. I am not a huge baseball fan, but I don’t think this is no longer a talking point in random discussions about baseball. The difference between 1947 and 1961 is not very much
BTW, Charlie Sifford played 68 PGA events prior to 1961 including 13 events in 1955
Yes, it might be fair to call ANGC diversity, a Work in Progress, but it is a fact that ANGC can not erase its history. I just wondering how long before they shed that ignominy.
Fair question. Not sure what is expected of America’s history of - and present - racial relations. Can you ever put such a thing in the past and say, “We’re good now”? Not sure one needs to wear a permanent hair shirt, but not sure you can just pretend the past is entirely past and just ignore it either.
Personally, absent other factors such as membership in some liberal organizations, I will generally tend to suspect less than enlightened attitudes towards race from most groups of wealthy southern white men. And, I’ve played at many private clubs across the nation. None of them impressed me as hotbeds of liberalism. YMMV.
