Masters Gossip - Wednesday

A seedy little corner for us to discuss the more vacuous masters stories of the week.

Post gossip and discuss gossip;


Tiger is not back
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/bunker-mentality/tiger-obstacles-masters-glory-082549143.html

Jason day has an injured foot
http://au.eurosport.com/golf/day-to-play-masters_sto3222100/story.shtml

Tiger is Rory’s number one fan
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/masters-tiger-woods-heaps-praise-on-rory-mcilroy-16140202.html

Donald wants more golf on the BBC
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/luke-donald-urges-bbc-to-increase-golf-coverage-16140201.html

Mickelson reckons the masters will be a birdie fest
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/usatoday/article/38959139?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CGPG-Sports%7Cp



So post anything and everything you find on the masters, it is the first major of the year so lets go all out and totally over expose ourselves to every little bit of it.

Paddy Power are refunding all losing bets if Cocknose Woods wins. Also each way placing down to sixth. Get your bets in before par three comp.

No one else got Butler cabin fever?

What's Charl making everyone eat at the dinner this year?

Barbecue, so I heard. Was mentioned a while ago, and I think special permission was needed for outdoor cooking / eating etc. And if it is outside, there might be some TV coverage?!?

The Masters is the best major for a punt, given it's always the weakest field...................97 players declared and immediately im excluding the following as eachway contenders: 6 amateurs, O'Meara, Crenshaw, Olazabal, Stadler, T.Watson, Langer, Lyle, Woosie & Mize. That leaves 82 serious contenders.

Can anyone explain to me what is the story with Ross Fisher in 2012 ?He's only played 3 times (all the Gulf swing).............he is in the field for Augusta

John, Ross Fisher is in the field because he finished in the top 16 at last year's Masters. He hasn't qualified any other way. Edoardo Molinari and Ryan Palmer are also in based purely on last year's Masters performance.

Always enjoy the commentators and the familiarity with the course each year.
Maybe because the camera positions are essentially the same.
How about a Masters drinking game?.
Half a pint each time somone mentions'the patrons,the pine straw,the wind swirling down here on 13,raes creek,amen corner'
Better get some stock in

I dont think a set of photo's have better captured the elevation changes and undulations of ANGC better than this set;

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,51672.0.html

Probably saw this already, but I thought it was a nice piece of sideline 'gossip' written by Doug Fergusson about the lack of color/flowers inside the Augusta National grounds this year. I agree, that little detail may have quite an impact on the whole experience of being there...

http://www.times-standard.com/ci_20308777/bloom-is-off-augusta-national

Have to admit I've 'robbed' the place when I was there (sorry Mr. Payne). I picked two leaves of magnolia tree (fallen to the ground, of course) from somewhere along the 11th fairway I think and hid them in the Masters booklet that I had in my hand and they are now still very well preserved in my daughter's mini herbarium... And I just resisted in the end the temptation of picking a couple of azalea flowers as well, they probably wouldn't have lasted the whole trip anyway...

Some small changes to the course:

http://www.majorschampionships.com/masters/2012/news/phil-mickelson-sees-changes-at-augusta-national-030812.cfm

On the menu - Chef Charl was hoping to grill and serve himself but Billy Payne nixed that:

http://tourreport.pgatour.com/2012/04/03/champions-dinner-traditional-south-african-fare/

Couple of points.

1. I see Dustin Johnson has pulled out with injury

2. Hope someone can point me to the right answer, I see on Sky Sports New ticker it states course record is 63, shot by Nick Price in 1986 and Greg Norman in 1996. Now my question/query/quandary is this. How can Price and Norman be the holders of the course record at -9 when since those rounds from what I've read they've added something like 600+yards to the course?

Surely any change to the yardage is therefore a change to the card, thus making historical course record null and void! After all just because par is the same the course is still totally different to what it was when these scores were made?

Maybe I'm being dumb but I just wondered

Masters Pairing are out:

http://www.masters.com/en_US/players/pairings/index.html

Deja vu for Rory (2011 Final Round). paired w/ Cabrera and Bubba. that should be a fun group to watch

Bit disappointed that Bae is with Woods. I usually have a bet on the golf Majors. Try and pick an each-way bet that would get me more money if they came 2nd to 5th than the winner outright. I've picked Bae, Van Pelt, Snedeker and Day. Hope Bae doesn't get overawed with the hoopla surrounding being paired with Woods.

Fader - I agree! Last year, the course record at my home course was broken two times in 24 hours during a pro tournament. But on two holes they played the most forward tees (ladies tees to us Yanks) and on two other holes they the middle tees. Length is still the primary defense for any golf course, and by adding 600 yards to Augusta it's a different animal.

Bad news about Dustin; this is a long streak of seven out of ten Majors favouring the Southern boys, Augusta, Congressional, Atlanta, Augusta, Kiawah, Augusta, Pinehurst. Tough for Carolina Johnson to miss out on one.

I see Luke Donald is passing up the par 3 contest tomorrow, perhaps to avoid the par 3 winner "jinx". I still say if he was serious about stacking the deck, however, he'd rent a flat in Northern Ireland!

one of tiger's old (alleged) transgressions anchoring for sky sports news at augusta...

According to Doug Ferguson, Dustin Johnson re-injured his back lifting a Jet-Ski.
Makes perfect sense to be doing that just before The Masters.

http://www.weiunderpar.com/post/the-masters-2012-adam-scott-returns-to-the-site-of-the-major-he-lost-only-he-doesnt-believe-that

Did anyone ever think Adam Scott lost the masters? Shooting a 67 is a very good score for round four of a major. A 65 is seriously unlikely at best.

There are reports that Martin Kaymer scored a hole in one on the 16th on a practice round... [OK, impressive]

... via a skim shot across the water... [he did WHAT?!?]

Martin, I dare you to try that during the tournament.

skydriver, you can find it on youtube.... Together with Vijay Singh, who did the same thing a few years back.

Ben Crenshaw
Bernie Langer
Sandy Lyle
Larry Mize
Olazabal
Mark O'Meara
Craig Stadler
Tom Watson
Mike Weir
Ian Woosnam

Lyle, Mize and Woosie? They might as well bring in Larry, Moe and Curly!

C'mon, they should get rid of that criterion #1; they should meet at least one more criterion to get in.

Skydriver wrote:There are reports that Martin Kaymer scored a hole in one on the 16th on a practice round... [OK, impressive]

... via a skim shot across the water... [he did WHAT?!?]

Martin, I dare you to try that during the tournament.

yeah Vijay has done it before as well- all the pros go for it

As I was munching on my breakfast, came across this from last night's Masters Champ Dinner:

Spoiler:

Looks to me at least, like a mixture of 'boring and crazy'. I'm not too fussy with food in general but was expecting something a bit more imaginative for an event like that... these guys could do with a French (no chance this year) or Italian winner in future.
And without Charl's inputs that would've looked boring, full stop. Mind you, by the time I got to read the 'Monkey gland sauce' bit my breakfast almost came to a steep end...

I don't even want to contemplate how the menu would look if one of the Koreans will win...

lol biltong, barbeque and vanilla ice cream!!

that menu is nice enough - dont get me wrong- however its just abit mental. Charl obviously is a typical saffa

Check out the new gossip folks.


Does anyone else get the feeling Tiger is trying some sir Alex mind games on poor R-mac?

How do you guys think Tiger's new game suits Augusta? He is playing a fade now, has anyone paid attention to how he has been drawing the ball over the last few months?

See W.Hill has now upped Rorys price to 9/1 #freemoney

Got my bets in. New irons coming my way if any of them come in

incontinentia

The tee shot on 13 requires a draw along with the tee shot on ten. Other than that I generally think the need for a draw to win the masters has been a myth annually perpetuated by the media. If you look at the photo tour I posted somewhere above yesterday you will see greens that could be tough to hold. Meaning a softer landing fade will make it easier to hold the position of the green you want to putt from.]

As the photos show, putting from the wrong part of the green can be very dangerous and surely a fade makes this easier?

I've gone for Y E YANG & Kyle Stanley both at 125/1. Yang was good around Augusta last year I think and Stanley is the up and coming star with Keegan so thought it was worth a bet!

Did Mickelson or Weir play with a left handed draw or fade?

Don't think the Masters is anymore difficult to win than any other really. Not exactly a US Open is it?

Seems silly then that Kaymer tried to change his swing to suit Augusta. There must be more to it than 2 holes.

The masters has a pretty high percentage of 'class' winners to be fair, in recent years it has had a couple of anomolies- like the time when half the field was knocked out due to bad weather early on thursday and then late on friday(so the same players got hit with it) or vice versa

incontinentia


I am sure there are a few more tee shots, like 9, where a draw is the easier shot but when you consider the importance of the greens and how you are positioned on them it would be an odd decision to change your shot shape to a draw just for the masters.


Mysti/super

Do you not think the "fluke" winners of the masters are of a higher calibre than the "fluke" winners of the other majors?

I personlly think that the masters has a very high percenatge of quailty winners, certainly not like our open championship.

I think weather/conditions is the main factor that creates the odd supposed 'fluke' player. look at the below winners since my birth year.. 90% are quality

2011	Charl Schwartzel	South Africa	−14	2	1,440,000
2010	Phil Mickelson (3)	United States	−16	3	1,350,000
2009	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	−12	Playoff (3)	1,350,000
2008	Trevor Immelman	South Africa	−8	3	1,350,000
2007	Zach Johnson	United States	+1	2	1,305,000
2006	Phil Mickelson (2)	United States	−7	2	1,260,000
2005	Tiger Woods (4)	United States	−12	Playoff (2)	1,260,000
2004	Phil Mickelson	United States	−9	1	1,117,000
2003	Mike Weir	Canada	−7	Playoff (2)	1,080,000
2002	Tiger Woods (3)	United States	−12	3	1,008,000
2001	Tiger Woods (2)	United States	−16	2	1,008,000
2000	Vijay Singh	Fiji	−10	3	828,000
1999	José María Olazábal (2)	Spain	−8	2	720,000
1998	Mark O'Meara	United States	−9	1	576,000
1997	Tiger Woods	United States	−18	12	486,000
1996	Nick Faldo (3)	England	−12	5	450,000
1995	Ben Crenshaw (2)	United States	−14	1	396,000
1994	José María Olazábal	Spain	−9	2	360,000
1993	Bernhard Langer (2)	Germany	−11	4	306,000
1992	Fred Couples	United States	−13	2	270,000
1991	Ian Woosnam	Wales	−11	1	243,000
1990	Nick Faldo (2)	England	−10	Playoff (2)	225,000
1989	Nick Faldo	England	−5	Playoff (2)	200,000
1988	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	−7	1	183,800
1987	Larry Mize	United States	−3	Playoff (3)	162,000
1986	Jack Nicklaus (6)	United States	−9	1	144,000
1985	Bernhard Langer	West Germany	−6	2	126,000
1984	Ben Crenshaw	United States	−11	2	108,000
1983	Seve Ballesteros (2)	Spain	−8	4	90,000
1982	Craig Stadler	United States	−4	Playoff (2)	64,000
1981	Tom Watson (2)	United States	−8	2	60,000
1980	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	−13	4	55,000
1979	Fuzzy Zoeller	United States	−8	Playoff (3)	50,000
1978	Gary Player (3)	South Africa	−11	1	45,000
1977	Tom Watson

Not really gossip..but...

I watched some of the preview programmes on Sky last night - and one of them was Tiger winning his first Masters. I was struck (and impressed) by a number of things... he didn't seem to spit back then, he smiled a lot, he engaged with other players a lot more and with fans a bit. I guess I've grown very cynical about him, but it's not just familiarty - he seemed to be a much nicer more genuine person back then. His play was of course amazing, but then it always is, but part of me was a bit sad for losing that Tiger and getting the one we have now.

Some people that say charl was a fluke winner(especially americans)- i would disagree, i think obviously rory let the field of the hook and charl capitalised - however i think charl is on a level with gmac and poddy in terms of overall quality!

looking above at the scores - was it 2007 when the weather knocked out half the field?

It looks as though it was due to plus1 winning and zach capitalizing. i would say that he is the lowest quality winner, and i think most would agree.

From that list I think only the following have not won anther major; (including the masters)

Stadler
mize
couples
Weir
johnson
immelman
charl

A good sign that those winning are very good players on a more regular basis.

Could it be the intended nature of the course is the best set up for finding out who is the best player?

I think its also fair to say that immelmen,weir,charl,stadler and couples were top quality golfers in there prime as well.

I think it could be argued that due to the masters having a small field it is easier for the best to win..

In my opinion players ranked 51+ may not be worthy of inclusion in a major due to the fact they bring too great a probability that there is a "fluke" win. So the masters partially deals with this issue.

It is also the case that the better players tend to have great short game and recovery skills. Something a us open set up can negate.

As you mentioned the weather is less of an issue compared to an event like the open.


An augusta set up as alister Mackenzie would have intended is a huge part in ensuring the best players win. Notice the higher proportion of anomaly winners as they moved to a us open type set up.

Personally Mc . I have checked out all the other major's winners, and the masters holds truer for class winners, and i personally feel it is the best tourny by far and the best to win, and i reakon most pros would say the same!

The sky preview show banged on about Charl's putting, but for me he has one of the best swings in the game. A perfect position at the top and hits it a mile with a small fame and no violence on the way down.

i was just thinking and you know what?

The braddley slam is not getting enough talk in the media or here on v2, it is still on guys.

I have been reading alot of american press- lol they are discounting everyone bar tiger and rory!!

we think our press is bad here- Rofl

Bradley is the real deal, has continued to play well this year and I'd say along with Rory he's one of the form players of the last few months. Most importantly he can perform under pressure.

His driving stats a few weeks ago were awesome- something like 3rd in distance and 6th in accuracy.

It would be funny if both Woods and Coco missed the cut. The American wouldn't know what to do and Kelly Tilghman would dry up.