It is finally Masters week!!

Oh man, feels like such a long time coming this year. It is finally here! Who ya got??

For no reason whatsoever, and I've said a whole bunch of times that he would never win a major, I've got Dustin Johnson this week.

If his back is healthy, I think Jason Day is the favorite. If not.. then it gets pretty interesting. Could see Bubba Watson making another run. Spieth has been shaky so far but he's still so good you can't count him out. Phil also seems due for a run at a major.

Should be a fun weekend though.

As a fellow lefty of course i"ll be pulling for Phil, if not him i hope Dustin Johnson wins. My darkhorse is gonna be Brooks Keopka. Par 3 contest was crazy today.

Phil is done. Thank goodness. I'm a lefty too but man I strongly dislike that guy. I will always root for the Filipino Jason Day. I was picking him for these things years before he became fashionable. I think he will be around for sure. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he wins it, but my gut tells me he just doesn't go low enough this weekend. I'm also feeling Louis and Charl. I'm always suckers for them though. I love watching Louis swing a golf club. I miss Eldrick.

Tical21":30xg9quq said:

Phil is done. Thank goodness. I'm a lefty too but man I strongly dislike that guy. I will always root for the Filipino Jason Day. I was picking him for these things years before he became fashionable. I think he will be around for sure. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he wins it, but my gut tells me he just doesn't go low enough this weekend. I'm also feeling Louis and Charl. I'm always suckers for them though. I love watching Louis swing a golf club. I miss Eldrick.

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Not a big Phil fan either, but its foolish to write him off in the Masters.. he has been in the Top 10 15 of the last 21 Masters. He'll hang around.

Plus Phil has been playing really well this year.

Tical21":rswh0dx5 said:

Oh man, feels like such a long time coming this year. It is finally here! Who ya got??

For no reason whatsoever, and I've said a whole bunch of times that he would never win a major, I've got Dustin Johnson this week.

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Always around the 1st of the new year I'm thinking, a little over 3 months until the Masters, Can't wait!

Final round Sundays we'll get 18 in and home around noon when the final groups are just teeing off. Order some pizzas and hym and haw at all the great shots we wish we could pull off.

As a favorite, I'd love to see Jordan win back to backs. Will he pull that off I don't know, but I'll say this now, when it's all said and done he'll have more major victories than Tiger. When his flat stick is on, no one putts better. If he can hit fairways and greens. look out.

As a dark horse, well kinda dark, he hasn't won a Major yet, I'm going with Rickie Fowler. If he can conjure up the mental toughness to win in a 3way playoff at the Players Championship like he did at Sawgrass last year, he's got a chance.

peachesenregalia":1nwqek0n said:

Wee Rory to finally get over the hump. He has to show up with his putter though. Rest of his game has been great this year so far, but his putter keeps letting him down.

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I can't in my right mind believe he has any kind of chance while putting cross-handed. That is Freddy Couples type desperation. His head isn't in a good place with the putter. Your feel and touch has got to be immaculate at Augusta, and putting cross-handed is something you kind of do to take feel and touch out of the equation.

It kind of breaks my heart to see Rory going to this. I thought he was one of those classic, strong-minded types that would be strong enough in his conviction to never resort to gimmick putting. Perhaps you could have seen it coming as he's always had that strange choke follow-through. Maybe he's never actually seen himself as a truly great putter. Kind of strange for a guy that has won as many majors as he has at his age.

400WattHPSHawk":3g9ixe8i said:

Tical21":3g9ixe8i said:

Oh man, feels like such a long time coming this year. It is finally here! Who ya got??

For no reason whatsoever, and I've said a whole bunch of times that he would never win a major, I've got Dustin Johnson this week.

Click to expand...

Always around the 1st of the new year I'm thinking, a little over 3 months until the Masters, Can't wait!

Final round Sundays we'll get 18 in and home around noon when the final groups are just teeing off. Order some pizzas and hym and haw at all the great shots we wish we could pull off.

As a favorite, I'd love to see Jordan win back to backs. Will he pull that off I don't know, but I'll say this now, when it's all said and done he'll have more major victories than Tiger. When his flat stick is on, no one putts better. If he can hit fairways and greens. look out.

As a dark horse, well kinda dark, he hasn't won a Major yet, I'm going with Rickie Fowler. If he can conjure up the mental toughness to win in a 3way playoff at the Players Championship like he did at Sawgrass last year, he's got a chance.

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I'm not a believer yet that Jordan is on that level. He's got that "it" factor, he definitely does. He is as good at willing himself to victory as anyone in the current game. He's a shot maker. It wouldn't surprise me at all if I'm wrong. He's got the confidence to do it. I just don't love his swing. He's a little loose at the top and a little off-plane. Definitely gets it to work for him though.

I've got Charl Schwartzel in my fantasy league. (1 pick per event, can only use each player once)

At the beginning of the year I had Spieth slotted this week but he's been (sort of) inconsistent whereas the Schwartz has finished top-20 in all events played this year plus 1 win and consistently great Sunday closing rounds.

For perspective in my league here are the number of picks per player:
Scott - 11
McIlroy - 8
Day - 7
Bubba - 4
Fowler - 4
Rose - 2
DJ - 2
Spieth - 2
Oosthuizen - 1
Koepka - 1
Mickelson - 1
Schwartzel - 1

I really think this is Rickie's week - he is steller in poor weather (statistics back this up). But I have him slotted as my PGA Championship pick.

Really surprised Patrick Reed isn't in the convo here. He's been top-15 in just about every tournament and he's really coming on strong of late. He's fired up and I think poised to contend for the green jacket come Sunday.

Day's the favorite, my pick is Bubba............but I'm rooting for Fowler to finally win his first major.

As a long time golf fan, I love this new crop of young phenoms finally coming into their own. Well mannered, respectful but with their own personalities that are really adding to the enjoyment of the game..............and if you were out at the US Open last year like me, REALLY breathing life into the young fans who followed guys like Jordan, Rory and Ricky around like rock stars.

Spieth off to a fast start today with an opening round 66

Jason Day 3-under through 7.

Could be shaping up to be a great battle this weekend between the Top 2 golfers going right now.

peachesenregalia":29tgtsi2 said:

I'd say we can probably safely rule out Rickie at this point. Rough first round for him.

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+8, Yikes!

Not sure how this is possible, but Ernie Els SEVEN putted the first hole today

[vine]iItzE50xUth[/vine]

peachesenregalia":2afkj41s said:

Hasselbeck":2afkj41s said:

Spieth off to a fast start today with an opening round 66

Jason Day 3-under through 7.

Could be shaping up to be a great battle this weekend between the Top 2 golfers going right now.

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Day bottled it on the 15th. I worry his back thing might be catching up to him. Wee Rory had a typically up-and-down round for himself today, if he can iron out a couple of kinks, he'll be bang in the running come the weekend.

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Yeah Day came apart on the back 9. He shot a front 9 31 and a back 9 41. Crazy.

Wind is definitely going to be an issue the next two days. Not sure Spieth will shoot another 66 so Day and all those by him aren't out of it yet if they can put together a nice round.

Sgt. Largent":7sjn8lrn said:

Day's the favorite, my pick is Bubba............but I'm rooting for Fowler to finally win his first major.

As a long time golf fan, I love this new crop of young phenoms finally coming into their own. Well mannered, respectful but with their own personalities that are really adding to the enjoyment of the game..............and if you were out at the US Open last year like me, REALLY breathing life into the young fans who followed guys like Jordan, Rory and Ricky around like rock stars.

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Yep. The next dozen years are going to be absolutely unreal. You've legitimately got ten or so guys all relatively young that are going to be playing well more often than not. They say it is a big three, but how can you not include Adam Scott and Bubba? Then you've got the guys like DJ, Rickie and even guys like Matsuyama, Koepka, Louis and who knows how many others? Rose isn't going anywhere anytime soon. We're going to be seeing guys go toe-to-toe for years! Think about the Ryder Cups and President's Cups. What IF Tiger has another run in him where he gets up in the mix for a couple years?

Time for El Nino to win his first major??? Hope Sergio has another great round Friday. Have always been a fan of his iron play.

Anywho, dammit, I should have picked Spieth. Lots of other big names had a terrible first round; see: Scott, Bubba, Fowler, DJ...

Hasselbeck":17aj2ycg said:

Not sure how this is possible, but Ernie Els SEVEN putted the first hole today

[vine]iItzE50xUth[/vine]

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This was unreal and hard to watch. Wish it would have happened to someone else, Ernie is a classy guy.

I am with you all on the Masters week. There is a tournament that a quite a few of the guys in the local association used to go to in Buhl/Twin Falls Idaho area. Practice rounds on Friday, then a 2 day tournament that is flighted. If you call in, you are in. If they are full, they do not bump people for a higher flight or better player. I have not played it in over 10 years and cant play at the moment due to injury. We jokingly call it the Idaho Masters....as it is the Buhl Amateur. They really cater to the players too. Steak dinner on Sat Afternoon.

Anyhow, I really like how Spieth looks so far. I like how his caddy is a down to earth person keeping Jordan calm and not freaking out on every shot. A caddy like that is worth his weight. Lefty is always in the hunt and I expect him to be so this weekend as well. Big Easy has gotten bigger and still has class. I like his chances to come back as He knows the course as well. As one of the other posters on this string has said, I like the new young upstarts too. I think the game is still in great shape with all those players infusing their dreams in this game. Last week was interesting too with the gentleman only winning 2 tournaments thru the Nike/Nextnewnamedotcom and PGA tours. And yes, I am not forgetting Jason Day. I think he has potential to make a run if his caddy can keep him calm and focused too.

BTW...I am not on a pickum for this tournament....just enjoying the good shots and usually picking a club higher for each shot than the pros.

pretty cool shot here, practice of course
[youtube]tWh6s6bLOSA[/youtube]