I dunno if anyone else is watching this, has to be the most INSANE golf tournament in history. Tl;dr Rory McIlroy basically had this won like 4-5 times, but each time he chunks a wedge or yips on a putt, and Justin Rose drains a bird on 18 and after Rory misses a 4 footer to win on 18 they’re heading to a playoff. I won’t even mention Patrick Reed holing out for an eagle 2 on 18, Bryson DeChambeau sliding slowly out of contention, or Ludvig Åberg triple bogeying 18 after having a chance at the solo lead 2 holes earlier.
I’m watching as well, and it is indeed insane. Åberg finished bogey-triple bogey and dropped from tied for the lead to 7th place.
And…Rose hits a fine shot and has a birdie chance on the first playoff hole, followed by Rory hitting his ball about 3-4 feet from the pin.
Rose hit it 15’ behind the hole, but Rory just parked it 30 inches from redemption, maybe. But Rose has to hit his first…
Rory earns his flowers. Honestly he’s the modern day GOAT. I have a weakness for Danish golfers but man, they’re on the struggle bus.
He sobbed for a solid 30 seconds after that putt.
As did I.
This was the most draining sporting event of my entire life. Which is saying something.
So is he gonna retire now? or will we continue to see him?
Hell he’ll probably win the Calendar Slam now.
The Masters seems good at generating exciting golf. But I think it will be quite a while now before it produces a final day to match this one.
That was bloody insane. It was “all over brace shouting” three times. I was watching at home when the last group teed off and Rory lost his lead on the first hope. Then I was off to the gym, when on tuning in on the little screen I saw he was suddenly 3 up. Left the gym to hit the grocery store and saw the score that Bryson had fallen away completely but Rosie and Aberg had joined the chase. 30 minutes later I was home and turned on the Telly to see that it was a three way tie.
And that was all before the ridiculous birdie by Rose, the answer by Rory and the painfully close misses on 17 and 18.
Just nerve racking.
Plus the number of holes where the player out of position off the tee ended up nearer the pin on the green. Just ridiculous recovery shots.
All the drama you could ask for.
Even my wife noticed that the event was unusually loud for a golf tournament, though she had no interest in understanding why.
That was pretty incredible. Couldn’t believe Rory dumped it in the sand off the first 2 tees.
Then Bryson decided he really didn’t want it.
So it was basically a runaway for Rory, until he decided he couldn’t hit a freaking wedge! Man - I’m a complete hack and I would DIE if I hit that wedge into the creek! And then on 18? 
He really worked for that win!
Great tourney. But the Masters always kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth seeing all those racist members completely running things. And Jim Nantz - just shut the fuck up!
For me, this was the best Masters since 1986 when Jack won his 6th Green Jacket.
Rory was the human highlight film, which included some awful shots, the approach shot on #2, #13 and #18 (in regulation). and some bad drives.
His shots seemed to be either 9 or 10 out 10. or they were 2 out of 10.
But somehow he got it done. ANGC delivered another great tournament.
I don’t watch golf anymore because the endless shrieking and chanting has become just too much for me (as I’ve said before, it was better when everyone whispered), but I did catch the Sportscenter highlights. Man, what a wild round. McIlroy, you’ll remember, turned down a huge payday from the Saudi-owned LIV tour only the see the league he remained loyal to completely sell out. Athletes doing the honorable thing even if it ends up screwing them are a rare breed, so I definitely felt he was definitely due for something really good. And then…the blunders. I still remember the days when Tiger Woods could practically name his score, and seeing McIlroy fail to put the nail in again and again must have been crushing. I feel he should’ve won this by at least 4 the way he was playing rounds 2 and 3.
Anyway, I’m glad he pulled through in the end, not only for him and posterity (Just six Grand Slams! In the entire history of the PGA! Arnie never made it, for crying out loud!), but because I’ve seen the total meltdown that golf media goes into when the wrong guy wins, and let me tell you, you couldn’t pay me to relive the '99 Open Championship. I also really hate the idea of “choke” being thought of as a horrible disaster that indicates a serious character flaw as opposed to something that happens all the goddam time in sports (You were all there for the Final Four, right?), and the less I have to hear about it, the better.
On a related note, I’m also glad this kills any talk of a “PGA Tour Game Cover Jinx”. I think’s it’s safe to say we really dodged a bullet there. 
A final round as exciting as yesterday’s garners a whopping 13 posts. Once again, we prove that golf is simply of no interest to Dopers. I’m not a huge sports fan - golf is likely the college/pro sport I watch on TV the most (and I don’t watch much of that.) But it kinda confounds me that these boards can have such healthy thread on F1 racing, skiing, etc, but not golf.
Modern golfers have some amazing skills - compared to the old days, the putting and short game are a thousand times better, and driving distance/accuracy is excellent.
But… why on earth can’t they hit a wedge??? If I missed a pin by 20 yards on my dinky little country course, I’d be in the bushes on the adjacent hole looking for my ball.
Most of them CAN definitely hit wedges quite well, most of the time. As a weekend hacker who carries 4 wedges, I’m consistently astounded at the wizardry around the greens - and w/in 100 yards.
My thinking is that, when they miss badly, they are trying to cut things too closely. Essentially going after what we might call a “sucker pin” from a les than optimal angle. I also understand that on course such as Augusta or the US Open, their optimal targets are ridiculously small - like a table top. Add in wind and them trying to shape shots, and if any one factor is just a tiny bit off…
But when they miss as badly as Rory did with those 2 short shots - or even the 7-iron or whatever he hit on 18 the first time, those are just bad shots. Proof that even the pros hit them occasionally.
I’m more surprised when I see folk 3-jack as so many did yesterday - especially from such short distances. I’m i have a tricky putt, I often find myself giving up any hope of sinking the first, and just try to cozy it up for a kick-in 2-putt.
And when they spin their drivers wildly, it just really points out how differently their games - and the courses they play on - are from me just trying to knock it onto the fairway at the local muni.
Had somebody started a thread earlier, we probably would have had a lot more posts. @John_DiFool started the thread AFTER the round was completed, just before the first playoff hole.
I was in a four-person text thread during the entire round. The thread got really interesting when Rory double-bogeyed the 13th.
Same here. I was in an intense discussion on WhatsApp with people on four continents (including places where it was the middle of the night). I don’t think of this place as the one to talk about sports much.
I hear ya. I also don’t think to connect sports and dope together, though. I just forget I guess.
It was incredible to watch. I was really pulling for Rory. He seemed to be playing really aggressive to start and was hitting terrible, great, and unlucky shots. Then built an “insurmountable” lead and played very conservative which led to a truly awful shot into the water. Since both aggressive and conservative play was leading to some bad shots, he went back to aggressive and (barely) got it done.
Very fun and exhausting to watch.
Perhaps. But I’ve been consistently impressed at the lack of action in previous golf threads - with the possible exception of a Tiger vs Jack discussion. The Majors threads have especially gone nowhere.