The Masters committee expected bad weather, so they moved the tees up and put the pins in accessible positions. There was a little wind and rain, but nothing like what was forecast, and so scores dipped deep into red as 31 of the 96 players broke par.
Tiger Woods had never broken 70 in the first [...]
Masters Round 1: A Day of the Unexpected
April 8th, 2010 · No Comments
Tags: The Majors
Pet Peeves Part 1: People and Players
February 8th, 2010 · 2 Comments
Announcers on Fred Couples
On October 3 of last year Fred Couples (he is listed as FRED at the PGA Tour) turned 50. Finally these announcers will start calling him by his name, not by that silly sounding Freddy, which has made him seem like a little kid for the last 20 odd years.
PS: I [...]
Tags: Golf in General
A Solution to Woods’ Bad Behavior
September 8th, 2009 · 3 Comments
Tom Watson calls Tiger Woods the greatest ever (even though he’s Jack Nicklaus’ great buddy), yet he deplores Woods’ behavior so much he wrote him a letter (Golf Digest, October):
I did write Tiger a note earlier in the summer about his behavior, but it’s personal. Don’t know whether he received it, and I don’t want [...]
Tags: The Game
Nicklaus is the Greatest Links Golfer
July 24th, 2009 · 1 Comment
During last week’s Open sportscaster/former pro golfer Peter Alliss offered the opinion that Tom Watson is “the greatest links golfer. Peter Alliss is dead wrong.
Yes, Watson has won five Opens to Jack Nicklaus’ and Tiger Woods’ three, which makes him most prolific Open champion of the Modern Era. But this alone does not make him [...]
Tags: 2009 Masters Coverage · The Majors
Tom Watson is Second Winner
July 20th, 2009 · No Comments
All week long Tom Watson was talking about the spiritual side of golf, a notion that had first made itself evident to him 32 years earlier at the Duel in the Sun. As you no doubt have heard a dozen times this week, Watson turned to Nicklaus on the 14th tee of the final round [...]
Tags: The Majors
Watson Upsets Woods in the Duel at Turnberry
July 17th, 2009 · No Comments
Tom Watson had won his second Duel at Turnberry in the biggest upset in the history of sports.
Going into the Open the 59 year old Watson was, as memory serves me, a 1,000 to 1 to win while Tiger Woods was listed at 7/4 when I penned my preview on July 11th . But, after [...]
Tags: The Majors
Day 1 at the British Open
July 16th, 2009 · No Comments
Woods’ Wide Rights Return
Just when it looked like Tiger Woods had mastered his driver and would never lose another major, the wide rights returned. The announcers said that he hit four, and that he was lucky to draw some great lies following his errant tee shots. He also made bogeys on 15 and sixteen when [...]
Tags: Tiger vs. Jack
Tiger Woods’ Streak is on the Line
July 1st, 2009 · No Comments
Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have ridiculously stringent criteria on what makes a successful season. One major title or more makes a great year. No majors and the season is a disaster.
During his prime from 1962 through 1980 Nicklaus had 12 great years and seven disasters. To date, Woods has chalked up nine great years [...]
Tags: Tiger vs. Jack
Tiger’s Grand Slam Bid Well Under the Radar
March 17th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Early last year Tiger Woods brazenly asserted that ”I think it’s easily within reason,” in referring to the Grand Slam
Remember that he said that with a bum knee. Then he went out and finished second at Augusta and won the US Open before retiring for the year.
If Tiger could be so confident with a bum [...]
Tags: Tiger vs. Jack
Short Shots from the Masters
April 11th, 2008 · No Comments
2008 Masters Coverage - thru 4/15
Golf Channel Lays an Egg
I ragged on Andy North a bit yesterday, then wondered if there was a chance he was right and I was wrong about the third hole. Nope. The only easier holes on Thursday were the four par fives, as expected, and the twelfth, which played the [...]
Tags: 2008 Masters Coverage