You Again

by Mulligan Stu on Apr 10, 2008 8:42 PM EDT

So Justin Rose is leading The Masters after Day 1 again ... I guess we shouldn't be surprised. He's one of those golfers who has a game for Augusta, and should probably be wearing a Green Jacket at some point in his career.

Nobody is a surprise, really, in the first round. Not even Brian Bateman. First-round surprises are one of the many traditions at Augusta. Bateman will fade away, and I think Trevor Immelman will fade, too (although not as far as Bateman) - his putting is just too mediocre.

Tiger Woods didn't make a birdie on Thursday, and didn't make much of an impression. Well, except for a chip-in eagle on No. 15 that got him back to even-par, where he finished. So Tiger is four off the lead.

But only 18 golfers broke par today. Rose, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson are the big names who accomplished that feat, are probably the golfers that Woods is measuring his 72 against right now. "How many strokes did I give Rose today? Furyk? Phil?"

Leaderboard
Justin Rose, 68
Trevor Immelman, 68
Brian Bateman, 69
Brandt Snedeker, 69
Lee Westwood, 69
Ian Poulter, 70
Robert Karlsson, 70
Zach Johnson, 70
Stephen Ames, 70
Jim Furyk, 70

And More Notables
Paul Casey, 71
Retief Goosen, 71
Phil Mickelson, 71
Stewart Cink, 72
Justin Leonard, 72
Tiger Woods, 72
Vijay Singh, 72
K.J. Choi, 72
Luke Donald, 73
Steve Stricker, 73
Mike Weir, 73
Padraig Harrington, 74
Ernie Els, 74
Geoff Ogilvy, 75
Rory Sabbatini, 75
Adam Scott, 75
Fred Couples, 76
Sergio Garcia, 76

Full Leaderboard

Looks like court and I gave the double-whammy to Ogilvy, and me to Sabbatini. (I'll blame the Waggle Room jinx, not the Par-3 jinx, if Rory misses the cut.)

But Ogivly and Sabbatini are both capable of getting back to level-par or below tomorrow. I think we can write off Fred Couples, alas.

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I have Ernie Els ...

so not looking good right now. But I also picked Zach as my 'darkhorse' candidate and that's looking pretty saucy right now. And I also mentioned Phil would be in the hunt. Shank you very much!

You know why divorces are so expensive? They're worth it - Willie Nelson

by Shank You very much on Apr 10, 2008 9:06 PM EDT reply actions

who ??

Ogilvy ? Never heard of him. I'm pretty sure I had Ian Poulter !! (hey - what was that over there ??)

There was a lot of good golf out there today. Only a few real roars from the gallery, but a lot of good golf.

How about Sandy Lyle ?!!?? The 50 year old, '88 champion had it to three under until 3 bogies coming in took him off the first page of the leaderboard.

Tiger made Nike happy again - his eagle chip-in at 15 had another short pause to pose the Swoosh for everybody. (how the heck does he do that ? not like it's not hard enough just to chip in on those greens - Tiger gets the logo in the right position)

Brandt Snedeker looked like he was having a good time playing with Tom Watson...and Watson seemed fairly impressed with how Snedeker played.

And no - I'm not pulling off of Ogilvy - but the weather prediction for the weekend is not looking good. He has the length to handle a rainy day - but he's such a high ball hitter, I wonder if he has the low shots for a windy final round.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Apr 10, 2008 9:17 PM EDT reply actions

Weather ...

I saw your diary on the bad weather. I'm of two minds - one the one hand I like to see the weather perfect at the Masters so that anyone can catch up (whether it favors high ballers or not), but otoh I kind of like the idea of them having to grind it out in the muck and cold. I know they've kind of had to do that off and on over the past decade - so it wouldn't be a novel situation by any means, but I don't often mind seeing them play that course more like a British Open venue, at least in theory.

You know why divorces are so expensive? They're worth it - Willie Nelson

by Shank You very much on Apr 10, 2008 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions

that's fine, but...

...how about making the bad weather on Friday and Saturday ? A little drizzle and breeze is ok those days, but Sunday at The Masters should be warm and sunny.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Apr 10, 2008 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed!

And if we could get Jim Nantz to de-cheezify his commentary along with nice weather on Sunday, I'd be perfectly content! But I think we have a better chance of seeing perfect weather Sunday than Jim Nantz toning down the Velveeta.

You know why divorces are so expensive? They're worth it - Willie Nelson

by Shank You very much on Apr 10, 2008 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions

shank!

Jim Nantz has tapped into the true spiritual meaning of and metaphysical importance to trying to get a little white ball into a hole in the ground. In other words, he's one of THOSE nitwits.

by bogeymcduff on Apr 10, 2008 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Weelllllllllllll...

...ol' Nantzy's more on the marketing side of the metaphysics. :-)

Besides, what's wrong with injecting a little bit of the spiritual when you're in a place like Augusta National ?

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Apr 10, 2008 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Fore Right had him pegged

http://foreright-bob.blogspot.com/2008/04/masters-preview-jim-nantz-prepares.html

by The Constructivist on Apr 11, 2008 6:38 AM EDT reply actions

That's pretty funny ...

but I think there's a grain of truth in that joke. I remember when U Conn won the NCAA b-ball back in 99, and he said something that sounded SO prepared - something like 'some say You can't, tonight they said U Conn!' Can't the 'moment' just happen?

I mean, seriously, what kind of a person honestly likes this stuff? They've GOT to be someone who listens to Jon Secada and thinks Jay Leno's funny.

You know why divorces are so expensive? They're worth it - Willie Nelson

by Shank You very much on Apr 11, 2008 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions

nothing new...

...the business has become so marketing oriented that hosts spend all kinds of time thinking up ridiculous catch phrases.

The one that always pops into my head is the "do you believe in miracles...YES!" line from Al Michaels at the '80 Olympic hockey semi against the USSR. He worked on that one for a long time.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Apr 11, 2008 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions