Oh, yeah. The history, the drama, the bikini-waxed greens. Augusta’s got it all.
I’m picking Woods to win as well, followed by Singh, Mickelson, and Lehman. Lehman’s a bit of a dark horse, but he’s been playing pretty well lately, which is more than I can say for Els.
[slight hijack]So… when Tiger wins, is it the Grand Slam? I say yes; if you’ve got all four major trophies, that’s good enough for me. Just MHO.[/slight hijack]
As do I.
If I were Tiger, I’d get 'em all together, get a photo taken, send a copy to each and every person who’s said it’s not a grand slam and ask them to return the photo of themselves with all the major trophies they’ve had at one time.
Then I’d point to my bank account and tell 'em all to get fucked.
I’m predicting Mickelson to be in the lead going into the final round. Tiger’s going to start slow (he was off last week) but once he dials it in, he’ll make his charge and take over the lead for good on Sunday as Mickelson self destructs a la Greg Norman.
IMHO, if this happens, it’s technically not the Grand Slam for Tiger.
I agree with WIGGUM that Mickelson will self destruct. I pick Tiger to win. I think Davis Love III will come in the top 5, as will Singh and Els. Technically it’s not the Grand Slam, but it’s pretty damn close!
Ah, Augusta National, the Mecca of American golf. Sure it’s a gorgeous course - it should be. They spend millions on landscaping every year to make sure every azalea is in perfect bloom. Sure it’s the perfect test of a golfers skill. Amen corner has made and broken it’s share of golfers over the years.
But the thing I like best about The Masters is that it’s the last sporting event of any ilk with the balls to jerk around the TV networks. While other sports bow down to the TV gods (You want us to move game time up 4 hours on one day notice to suit your needs while inconveniencing 50,000 paying fans? Uh, OK.), Augusta National says “Want to televise our tourney? Follow our rules. Cut back on the commercials, show the golfers instead. Only bring down announcers that we approve. Don’t want to play by our rules? Screw ya. We did just fine before TV coverage and we don’t need you now.” Damn, that’s refreshing.
You can sit down in the late afternoon without being pillaged my mind-numbing commercial interuptions. (Though I wouldn’t mind seeing the new Tiger/Nike commercial again – the one where he hits three balls, through three different windows, on three different stories of a building, with the same club.)
The Players Championship got ridiculous, especially late in the day when there’s only 4 or 5 groupings left on the course.
As to the beauty of the course, there’s none beautifuller. I’d love to be able to play it in the spring. Yeah, it’d kick my ass, but at least I’d have a good excuse.
I just had to chime in again and say that I’m ridiculously excited about the Masters. I realize the masses feel that watching a golf tournement is about as fun as watching grass grow or paint dry, but that’s only because they don’t realize the pure talent that these players posess. Seeing someone nail a wedge to within two feet or make a putt on a glasslike surface makes the hair stand up on my arms. The commercials for the PGA say it best, “These guys are good!”
I really hope that Mick can do it – he deserves to have a major under his belt. But I agree that he will probably do his usual thing and fade late.
As for the Grand Slam “controversy”, if Tiger wins this week I propose that the PGA gather everyone who has ever won the four majors in a row and have them vote on whether it has to be done in one year to have it count as a Grand Slam. Heh.
ChiefScott has already seconded this, but let me add my strongest concurrence, Doc. If MLB were to do the same for the World Series, I might actually start watching it again.
Damn straight, mannie! It bugs the hell out of me that it’s even an issue. Who’d’ve thought it could be done, any which way - and now that Tiger is one good weekend away from doing the impossible, they want to raise the bar. Cheez. :rolleyes:
If a bunch of old farts don’t want to celebrate what may be the most remarkable moment in the game’s history, then I’m for segregating them in some distant corner of one of the galleries, so that if Tiger pulls it off, they can whine to each other without involving the rest of us.
Well - if anyone wants to come see the last three days - they can stay with me. I live - literally - across and down the street from National Hills. Certainly within walking distance! I don’t have any tickets but there are lots of people on the streets selling them for about $4000 a day (are people nuts?). Its suppose to be around 80 degrees and sunny for the rest of the week.
And a Grand Slam means calendar year. Don’t cheapen it just to say Tiger did it. I’m sick to death of watching Tiger win everything and people fawn over him, just like I got sick of Michael Jordan and the Bulls.