# PGA Tour 2015

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 1, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549 "2015-02-01T22:26:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/41 "2015-04-10T19:45:16Z")

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> [@Baron\_Greenback](#):
>
> The thing that peeves me about the Masters is that there were very limited opportunities to watch Jordan Spieth’s round live today. C’mon Augusta, get over yourselves.

He was shown live on the internet coverage for the last nine holes, but I agree, its time we have more live coverage on TV.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/42 "2015-04-10T20:10:31Z")

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> [@Baron\_Greenback](#):
>
> The thing that peeves me about the Masters is that there were very limited opportunities to watch Jordan Spieth’s round live today. C’mon Augusta, get over yourselves.

Was that Augusta’s decision or ESPN’s/CBS’s?

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**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/43 "2015-04-10T20:21:38Z")

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> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Was that Augusta’s decision or ESPN’s/CBS’s?

I don’t have access to either of those networks, but it looks like it’s Augusta’s decision.

> **[Why does the Masters TV coverage start at 3 p.m. ET?](https://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/04/why-does-the-masters-start-so-late-what-time-is-the-masters)**
>
> Everything’s in place. Just show us some golf!

They don’t need the money so it’s up to them, but come on guys, throw us a bone.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/44 "2015-04-10T20:36:04Z")

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> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> Isn’t there is this Irish kid, whazziname, won a few majors here and there…?

Rory came along quite a bit later. And IMO he truly is an all-time great.

I’ve argued many times, including on this board, that “most majors” is way too simplistic a yardstick to evaluate golfers. Before the mid-70’s or maybe even later, the majors often had weaker fields than regular PGA events, and even now, it’s possible for a journeyman to have one hot week and win one – look at 2009, when it happened three times in a row.

I think the yearly awards (money title, Vardon, POTY, most PGA wins), along with major wins, gives a much better picture of who the best golfer is.

There have only been five golfers who won all those awards and two majors in the same year, and Rory is one of them (the others are Hogan, Palmer, Watson, and Tiger). So based on that, I’d put him in the top five of all time, talent-wise. He’s too young to have the career stats to back that up, but if he stays healthy, and doesn’t lose interest in the game, I’ll expect his accomplishments to match his potential.

Based on today’s performance, Spieth has graduated from prodigy to phenom, and shows not only amazing talent, but amazing maturity for his age. He should be able to close this out, since the only guy within eight shots of him is Hoffman.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/45 "2015-04-10T20:37:15Z")

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> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Was that Augusta’s decision or ESPN’s/CBS’s?

Entirely Augusta’s. CBS/ESPN would have ten hours of coverage a day if ANGC would let them.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/46 "2015-04-10T20:52:05Z")

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> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Oh, and did I say Fuck Tiger? 😃

Yes, a couple of times. Looks like he’ll end up in the top 20 today, which IMO is very, very encouraging.

> [@](#):
>
> Hey, I don’t begrudge Tiger all his accomplishments.

Well, that’s big of you, since unlike football or baseball players who receive enormous salaries and sometimes even championship rings, even if they have a rotten year, Tiger had to earn all his wins.

> [@](#):
>
> But his days are over, and I’m sick of hearing about him.

He shot a 69 today while making birdie on only one par-5, indicating that there’s quite a bit of upside potential. It’s way, way too early to say he’s finished. I doubt we’ll ever see another 2000, from anyone, but we may well see another 2013 from Tiger.

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**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/47 "2015-04-10T20:57:33Z")

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Yeah, bad day for the Tiger haters. They thought he was done and the yips were permanent. Oh, well.

He comes in without a competitive round in 9 weeks and really, hardly any in 15 months and shoots 69 on one of the hardest courses in the world.

He looks way better than I thought he would. If his back holds up, he could be the old Tiger in a month or two.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/48 "2015-04-10T23:42:50Z")

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Well, some pretty big names have moved closer to Spieth, so maybe it isn’t over yet. But the way he’s been playing, not just this week but all year, it would be a major upset if he didn’t win, even with the likes of Phil and Ernie chasing him.

In his interview, Spieth said he expected to see difficult setups for the weekend, because the Masters committee doesn’t want to see anybody shoot -20.

I’m not so sure. I think that they would be delighted to see somebody take the tournament record away from Tiger.

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**Author:** ![parkona\_driveway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d26b3c/32.png) [@parkona\_driveway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parkona_driveway)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/49 "2015-04-11T00:53:32Z")

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> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> Well, some pretty big names have moved closer to Spieth, so maybe it isn’t over yet.

Yup, the late players torched the back nine. Here are the course stats:

[http://www.masters.com/en\_US/scores/stats/cstats.html](http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/stats/cstats.html)

I find this hard to believe, but according to the stats, both of the finishing holes were top-3 for difficulty Thursday, but today they were the two easiest par-4’s on the course.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/50 "2015-04-11T00:54:38Z")

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Tiger is paired with Sergio tomorrow. What could possibly go wrong there?

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/51 "2015-04-11T18:01:53Z")

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Oops, look who just got into the top ten! Only ten back of Spieth now. It’s over!!!

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**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/52 "2015-04-11T18:08:43Z")

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9 back now.

I did have to chuckle at the lead headline at [Masters.com](http://Masters.com) being “Fowler setting the pace on moving day”, while Tiger gets 3 birdies in his 1st 4 holes and blows past him.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/53 "2015-04-11T18:27:11Z")

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In case anybody doesn’t know, you can follow any player in (almost) real time at [http://www.masters.com/en\_US/scores/track.html](http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/track.html). It also keeps the history, so you can replay every shot from every round. It also has links to videos, if there’s one for that hole. The top guys usually have half a dozen holes on video, even if they weren’t on the main broadcast.

The only way it’s not miles better than the usual PGA tracking is that I don’t see how to do more than one player at a time.

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**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/54 "2015-04-11T18:28:57Z")

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Either players are playing very well or the course setup continues to be ‘soft’. Lots of birdies being made from the also rans.

I am going to enjoy the afternoon.

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**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/55 "2015-04-11T19:11:29Z")

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Daniel Willet’s putt for an eagle there on the 8th. He basically holed that over a relief map of the Himalayas.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/56 "2015-04-11T19:45:31Z")

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Spieth on 4… he should have gone thru his pre-putt routine after backing off. Seems like he jumped in to putt way too quickly.

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**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/57 "2015-04-11T19:48:08Z")

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Speith needs to ignore the leader board full of sharks behind him.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/58 "2015-04-11T19:58:46Z")

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So does Spieth. 😉

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**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/59 "2015-04-11T20:01:46Z")

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Wasn’t it great to see Jack Nicklaus hit that hole-in-one? 75 years old.

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**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-tour-2015/711549/60 "2015-04-11T20:14:47Z")

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> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> So does Spieth. 😉

He seems to be holding up despite my catastrophic mispelling 😃

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