Three guys over 50 at -2 or better. Not too shabby. Sandy Lyle is even par as well.
Non American golfers have officially taken over the game.
Michael Campbell has fallen off the face of the earth since he won the US Open a few years back.
I think they ought to nudge a few of these past champions off the course. I know Gary Player said this was his last Masters, but Ray Floyd and Fuzzy Zoeller need to go too. Come in for the Champions dinner and hit a ceremonial tee shot, but give up your spot to a deserving young pro.
The past champions do not use up a “spot” that would otherwise be occupied by someone else if they didn’t show up. The number of players at The Masters is dependent upon the number who manage to qualify (according to pre-set criteria), combined with the number of past champions who decide to play. The presence or absence of a past champion changes nothing.
The Masters has been trying to get past champions to “retire” from competition earlier than in years past, however. This is because the strengthening of the course results in them often shooting some very unattractive numbers. That slows down play considerably. In addition, if the past champion throwing up an 82 is playing with someone who is younger and fresher, that tends to make it harder for that player to produce a decent round.
The way I figure it is, if you can’t expect to break 80, you shouldn’t be there competing any more. Maybe that should be lowered to 78 or so.
Well today, everyone broke 80, even geezers like Player and Floyd (and I mean that term in a good way).
Good to see the Shark with a 70. Tiger’s there too, and, while he is known for middling opening rounds, turning up the heat during the last 3 days, it may be that an easy course may work against him (on the theory that a harder course better separates players of differing skills, an easier course less so).
Resolved: Phil Mickelson is the Brett Favre of golf.
I don’t even like golf, but I’m constantly hearing about him. Older white sports commentators have such a hard-on for the guy, and I do not understand it.
I guarantee that I know as little about football as you could about golf, so I don’t know how Favre’s compares to current/past QBs. But I’d think on just about any possible measure, Phil is right in the top group of current golfers (behind Tiger, of course.) I’m not going to look up the stats - you can if you are interested, but I think he has around 36 wins and a couple of majors. I’d be surprised to learn more than 5 active players have more than he.
Plus, as much as he has achieved, there is also the impression that he could have accomplished even more, but self-imploded on the biggest of stages. He has an “exciting” game and phenomenal ability - even tho he has not always succeeded in sealing the deal.
Finally, he seems to connect with a great many fans. Sure, a great many people think he is a dick (tho I have yet to see any good basis for that view). But I watch a lot of golf and Phil is right at the top of the pros in terms of interacting with the fans and media.
Never thought I’d see someone complain about anybody other than Tiger getting his dick sucked by the announcers.
To make the weekend you have to be within 10 shots of the lead,Is that correct?
To “make the cut”, players must be in one or both of the following categories: (1) within 44 places of the lead (ties counting) or (2) not more than 10 strokes behind the 36-hole score set by the leader. These rules have applied since the 1961 tournament; from 1957 to 1960 the best 40 scores and ties and those within 10 strokes of the leader made the cut.
Mickelson gets tons of abuse. He is joked about for man boobs, bad conditioning and until he won a major was called a loser and choker. He does not get great press. I suppose his arrogance is part of the problem. The way he took risks was treated with scorn. But, the people have always liked a gambler.
When I requested cites for Lefty’s arrogance before, all I was given was that magazine article about the 10 least liked athletes, and a couple of similarly vague references to FIGJAM.
What odds would you want to bet that no matter how big the lead is at the end of today, come Sunday p.m. he’ll be on the front page of the leaderboard?
MAYBE one or 2 players won’t completely fall apart. And MAYBE one or 2 players will get hot. But you KNOW that at the very least Tiger’s gonna keep putting up those even par, -2, -2 rounds. And at the end of the day, 4, 5, or 6 under is gonna place you in the top 5 of most majors.
