PGA Tour: He Who Beats Justin Rose Wins The Masters: Notes from the Ballwasher

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Not really "Notes" this week, just the start of a Masters thread.

There's increasingly little new to say about The Masters, for the most part there's not much new to say about the field, the most likely contenders, or even the course.

The old habit of picking the winner via a process of elimination and seeing who is left when the music stops seems to result in the same cast of characters year after year, largely because nothing much changes.
This year I suppose the emergence of DeChambeau adds some scientific interest, there's the bizarre weight loss by Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth's loss of form, and always the breathless anticipation to see what outfit Tiger Woods is burdened with.

But Justin Rose has only been out of the Top 14 once (T25) in the past eight Masters, he's in good form, his mate Fooch is back on the bag and you'd think he'll be more focused than ever.

If not Justin, WHO?

Dustin Johnson and Rory have 8 x Top Tens between them in their past nine appearances, both are in great form and I'm going to go for the winner from those three no matter how hard I try.

But something a little more sporty: How about Thursday's 10.42 a.m. tee time with Charley Hoffman, Oosthuizen and Leishman playing together - any one of them, perhaps all three should be great each way investments.

Then there's Team GB which hasn't been as strong for 30 years, and is deeper than ever. Casey, Fitz, Tommy & Poults join Justin & Rory, with Hatton, Eddie Pepp and Matt Wallace (leading rookie?) all improving fast.  

Best rank outsider? Corey Conners played as an amateur a few years ago, dusted off an opening 80 with a second round 69 and won a ballsy victory in Texas.

There's so much written about The Masters elsewhere, that I'll leave it at that, except to say the weather is a bit iffy, rain earlier this week, and breezy with chance of thunderstorms thru the weekend.

Koepka could be -14, a lot of putts slipped by. Wife’s away tomorrow, the kids will be watching a lot of films tomorrow afternoon.

Think I may struggle to catch any until late afternoon. Hope Franny picks it up.

I’m not sure if I’m ready for a Masters afternoon. Part of the magic has always been staying up late on a Sunday night watching Seve, Bernhard, Jack, Sandy, Nick or eh Larry win it. I’ll be at a loose end later for sure

I booked an annual leave day tomorrow, specifically because of the usual late finish.

I've got a competition on this afternoon, so will miss every shot of the final round, not a bad thing if Tiger Moobs wins.

There's a 'uuuge storm on its way so conditions will start to go downhill during the day.
It's likely to be breezy for the early starters but timing will be everything as to whether there's a significant window of opportunity for an early bird to "post a score".
But conditions should be spectacular on Monday, though still a bit breezy . . . . . .

Decent starts for the leaders would be crucial I should think, as it's not going to get any easier.

One other thing (for most remaining Europeans?) to play for is the Top Twelve finish that earns a spot in next year's field.

Interesting Kwini, looking down the leaderboard I thought the 9s and maybe the 8s still had a chance but this could bring others into it. I’m particularly thinking of someone not too far back, plays well in the wind and has form for low final rounds in the Masters.

He’ll probably shoot 78 now

Kwini

Do you think this will finish today?

I reckon the 8's (and your 9) are well in this, all down to Franny really; anything below par from him will make everyone else's job exponentially tougher.

McLaren wrote:Kwini

Do you think this will finish today?

Tough call, Mac.
They'll be off at the first sign of lightning so I'd say, NO!
I'd guess that about half the field will make it in.

Eagle for Rory, almost seems like he makes more eagles than birds around here. Hope he doesn't promptly throw those strokes away.

Now the pressure is off Rory will have a stellar round and finish Top 10

Not a fan of Azinger the commentator. He’s fine at studio analysis but when commentating he sounds like he’s squeezing out a particularly spikey jobby

Azinger doing BBC coverage? (or is it Sky?)

BBC, he’s been doing for a couple of years now. BBC only have Saturday and Sunday live so when he was with ESPN it didn’t clash

Rors now -4 for the day, Kisner also.

But some guys in reverse and seemingly out of it, Adam Scott and Dustin Johnson included.

I need to stop clicking on the app as it’s about 30 secs ahead of the coverage and I’ve seen a few scores change before the putt drops

<Saddo post>. I’ve just seen DeChambeau’s hole in one on the 16th. I’m sure there’s a woman in pink who goes ballistic at every hole in one. Behind and to the right of the player as you look at the golfer. She’s been there a few years now.

Frankie treading water but still managing to pull further ahead

Andrew Cotter on Twitter saying they should finish today if they get done before 3 local

Aah beauty from Tiger, pressure back on Franny. 2 shot swing?

The front is kinda breaking up - they could get lucky, could get hammered, tough to tell right now.
Franny losing his radar at just the wrong time.

Great commentary from Butch on Tiger. “He’s catching some gusts, you can see it in his pants!”
You don’t get that from Allis.

Best putt ever that wasn't holed?

Only 4 times a year do we get the back 9 of a major, enjoy folks, lots of golf yet to be played

McLaren wrote:Best putt ever that wasn't holed?

Agreed Mac. Tremendous.

What the hell's going on?

Justin Thomas, 6 back to 2 back in the space of a minute

Three players on -11. Four on -10. Four on -9.

Can't remember a major as close as this one. Seems the rain will extend the drama.

A rain delay would be the worst thing ever for Tiger now.

kwinigolfer wrote:What the hell's going on?

The Masters Committee (or whoever) are really pleased. I suspect.

Please not Cantlay, nothing against him, but he’s not really been part of the conversation (or coverage, not his fault), would be an anti-climax.

An hour or so ago it seemed nobody wanted to win this, now they all do

Molinari in the drink again. Tiger, the title is yours.

Except Frankie

Very premature to hand this to Woods, definitely his to lose though. Guess this is why he wanted to come back so badly, win or lose being in the mix in majors is probably what he lives for.

Woods is gonna do this. Excellent tee shot on the 16th

This is unreal golf and drama and I'm going to need a lie down in a darkened room later.

Koepka not finished yet.

Great for golf, the comeback to masters champion is one of the best in sport. I onow people don't like him, for whatever reasons. But arguably the greatest ever player winning again is great.

Does T12 get into next year automatically? If so Poulter is there.

What a story. Somewhere in Scotland, a man is punching himself repeatedly in the face...

I wonder if Tiger will announce his retirement in the press conference? Not going to get better than this for him.

Well there's number 15 then. Who would bet against more than 18 now?

Unbelievable quality golf under the most intense sporting pressure.

You watched something special there today folks.

Love him or loathe him but there's no debate about it Tiger Woods is the best there's ever been.

Is Tiger back?

Diggers wrote:What a story. Somewhere in Scotland, a man is punching himself repeatedly in the face...

Not sure how kwini will be doing...

Tiger Woods winning (15th Major) has to be the greatest comeback in sporting history.  He has been through hell and back - his personal life went down the plughole, his public persona took a nosedise, his body crumbled to pieces, the next generation of superphysical athletic golfers appeared.  The determination to keep going despite all of this is an example of the type of mindset all time great champions bring to their sport.