It's Masters Sundays, one of the best days of the sports calendar. We have an Englishmen at the top of the leaderboard. Both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are in contention. A fifty year old could win this! This can only mean one thing: a live blog.
Alright, before I begin, here's how things are going to go down: from the beginning to end of CBS's network coverage of the final round, I'll be right here, bringing you updates as well as sharing my thoughts and opinions as the final moments of the tournament winds down. Feel bored and want to join in? Go right ahead. After all, I have 5+ hours to fill, and I need all the help that I can get.
Without further ado, let's get started. Now, since we won't have enough room for one full blog post, we're going to separate this into two parts. This is part one, which takes place between 12:40 p.m. and 3:40 p.m.:
12:40 p.m.- And we're off! You know, some people are watching in HD. Others, like Comcast and Cox cable subscribers, are watching this in 3-D. Me? I'm watching this on my fully functional, 15 year old Sony 28-inch standard definition TV. Joining me alongside is my esteemed colleague/father mj50. He'll be here to provide the Tiger hate. I have a good feeling about this!
12:50 p.m.- Here's a quick reminder of the leaderboard through three rounds while we're waiting:
1. Lee Westwood: -12
2. Phil Mickelson: -11
3. Tiger Woods: -8
4. K.J. Choi: -8
5. Fred Couples: -7
6. Ian Poulter: -6
6. Hunter Mahan: -6
6. Ricky Barnes: -6
9. Anthony Kim: -5
9. Y.E. Yang: -5
12:55 p.m.- Five minutes left!
12:59 p.m.- One minute left! The anticipation is killing me!
1:00 p.m.-
Here we go.
1:05 p.m.- And starting things off with our network coverage is probably the greatest golf announcer/ one-liner extraordinare Jim Nantz. Jim Nantz is calling his 25th Masters Sunday today, and he says he will continue to do it until he calls fifty. And now that he doesn't have that family of his, it appears that this can be achievable. Joining Jim are 50 other announcers throughout the course, with the leader analyst being 3 time Masters champion Nick Faldo. We're gonna keep an eye out on how many time he'll overreact to a shot. He likes doing that more than Illinois governors love prison (Note: that's my new stereotype I've created. Pass it on.)
1:06 p.m.- A nice start already, as we've just seen a replay of Nathan Green, who remains at +13 for the moment, making a hole-in-one at the 16th. This is going to be a good day.
1:08 p.m.- With none of the featured pairings teeing off right now, CBS is showing us 60 year old Tom Watson making a birdie putt at the second. Tom is trying to be the first person to win a green jacket hours after CBS showed a replay of him win the tournament in the seventies. And wouldn't THAT be something, huh?
1:10 p.m.- A few more things to mention before I continue:
- The final pairings are Mahan/Poulter (1:10 p.m.), Couples/Barnes (1:20 p.m.), Woods/Choi (1:30 p.m.), Westwood/Mickelson (1:40 p.m.)
- There aren't really fifty other announcers on the course for CBS. More like seven, not including the guys covering certain holes on Masters.com.
- All of the times are mentioning are in the Central standard time. But those of you that have read this site already probably know this, so you should be fine.
- I hate Phil Mickelson with a passion. So, if you see me write positive things when Phil hits a bad shot, you now know why.
1:14 p.m.- Okay, that eagle by Adam Scott was pretty epic. And look at that, we've seen a hole-in-one and one of the most epic eagles ever in a span of eight minutes. it just seems that only the Masters can do that, right?
1:20 p.m.- I wonder what PGA tour commissioner Tim Finchem would hate to see more: a fifty year old win the sport's biggest tournament, or a guy that took a self-imposed five month absence from the game to win the sport's biggest tournament?
1:30 p.m.- As of on cue, Tiger Woods starts the day off by hooking the shot to the left. He did the same thing last year. For those of you that are expecting Tiger to come from behind and win, don't bother. He has never won a major while trailing after 54 holes (3 rounds). The only way I see this happening is with him birdie-ing or eagle-ing the par five 5s and remaining better than +2 on all the other holes.
1:34 p.m.- Billy Payne sounds like a robot.
1:40 p.m.- Phil Mickelson starts off at the tee with a standing ovation by the crowd. I think we know now who the crowd is rooting for.
1:44 p.m.- Tiger watch: bogeys the first, falls to -7, now tied for fourth. He really needs to bounce back at the par five second.
1:48 p.m.- Lee Westwood, the current leader, hits it off a tree on his second shot after a hooked first shot. Geez, are they just begging Mickelson to get the Green Jacket (Note: for those of you that don't know, the Green Jacket is the prize you get for winning the Masters. So not only do they get a ton of money, they get a new suit as well).
1:50 p.m.- Quick update: Westwood bogeys, Mickelson pars, and Couples birdies. The leaderboard as of now:
Westwood and Mickelson: -11
Couples and Choi: -8
Woods: -7
(Note: I'll try to update you on the leaderboard as much as possible. Maybe once every twenty minutes? I'll see.)
2:00 p.m.- Things not going well right now for Tiger. He was unable to hit his third shot out of the bunker, and pars the second, continuing his bad start. Meanwhile, Choi birdies the second and moves to solo third at -9. Choi reminds me of last year's champion Angel Cabrera, an underrated International player who has played consistent throughout the tournament, but not many realize it until he's in it in the final round. Keep a big eye on it.
2:01 p.m.- Forgot to mention that Faldo was completly shocked after Woods's terrible bunker shot. This will be fun.
2:04 p.m.- Anyone else disappointed that that big roar by the crowd at the third hole was just a long par putt made by Couples?
2:07 p.m.- According to Ian Baker-Finch, the reason Tiger Woods is struggling right now is because of....his new wedges. Right.
2:09 p.m.- "What are the golfing gods doing?" "My goodness, if he loses the Masters, that will be talked about for years!" "This is the most ridiculous moment I have ever seen!" Those are quotes Faldo used to describe a little pine responsible of missing Mickelson's birdie putt. Did CBS pay him to be this overreactive of every little detail?
2:11 p.m.- Couples just birdies his second straight hole to advance to -9, two shots off the lead. Did I mention that he's fifty?
2:15 p.m.- You know what's the best thing about the Masters? The fact that there's only four minutes of commercials per hour. Makes the action feel more suspenseful, unlike whenever CBS went to commercial break after every timeout of the NCAA tournament. Definitely one of the best idea thought of by the Augusta golf club.
2:19 p.m.- Crap! I'm so preoccupied by mentioning Couples's age and Faldo's overreactions that I forgot to mention that Westwood is now the leader at -12 after birdie-ing the 2nd. Sorry about that.
2:27 p.m.- Sorry, Ian Baker Finch. As David Flaherty explained, it isn't Tiger's clubs that are responsible for today's struggles. It's his state of mind! By the way, he just bogeyed the fourth, going now to -6, six back of Westwood.
2:29 p.m.- I bet you that none of the kids on the Exxon Mobil commercials will grow up to be scientists.
2:30 p.m.- Since there are only three sponsors today, I'm going to give the best commercials honors to AT&T. I don't know what they're message is, but they are entertaining.
2:35 p.m.- Westwood bogeys the fourth while Mickelson pars. They are now both tied with the lead at -11. I'm taking a break. See you in fifteen minutes, everyone!
2:50 p.m.- Here's the video of the pine that drops right during Mickelson's 2nd hole birdie attempt that Nick Faldo went crazy over. Apparently, I'm not the only one that hates him, but God as well.
2:55 p.m.- A quick update of the leaderboard:
Lee Westwood (birdied 5th): -12
Phil Mickelson: -11
K.J. Choi (birdied 6th): -10
Fred Couples: -9
Anthony Kim (now in the picture): -7
Ian Poulter: -7
You'll notice that Tiger isn't in the top six right now. Well, you can thank his new clubs, state of mind, and pressure for that.
2:58 p.m.- Okay. Okay. Whoa. Whoaa. WHOAAAAA! Wow! And just like that, Tiger is back in it. Hit a long fairway shot into hole, giving him an eagle and improving his score to 7 under. And it's all on me for reverse-jinxing him. NO ONE DENIES THIS!
/Bill Simmons joke
3:04 p.m.- Switched to the White Sox/Twins game for a little while. Bottom of the eight, tied at 4 and runners at 1st and 2nd for Chicago. Put it this way: I'd be more shocked if they can get a run here than Tiger's eagle. That's how bad the team has played thus far into the season.
3:07 p.m.- Andruw Jones scored the go-ahead run in the 8th for the Sox. Jones is a pinch-hitter, so this makes this an ever bigger accomplishment since it took the team over 100 games to get a pinch-hit RBI last year. This can only mean two things: someone will miraculously come back to win the tournament. I can feel it!
3:07 p.m.- Andruw Jones scored the go-ahead run in the 8th for the Sox. Jones is a pinch-hitter, so this makes this an ever bigger accomplishment since it took the team over 100 games to get a pinch-hit RBI last year. This can only mean two things: someone will miraculously come back to win the tournament. I can feel it!
3:10 p.m.- Lee Westwood just came within an inch of holing it from the six foot deep bunker at the seventh. Had he made that, we would've had a hole-in-one, two epic eagles, and a long bunker shot in what isn't even considered the best part of the final round!
3:14 p.m.- A quick note on my fascination with Faldo's overreactions: it isn't that I hate him (I actually think that he's the best golf analyst in the business), it's just that funny. And now back to the action...
3:16 p.m.- I'm very disappointed at Phil Mickelson today. No birdies, no bogeys, just pars, pars, pars. Come on, Phil, where's your patented double bogey that we usually see, huh?
3:21 p.m.- Quick update: Tiger birdies the 8th. He's -8 now, four shots back of Westwood. Choi birdies the 8th as well, improving him to -11, one shot back of Westwood. Couples makes a great 2nd shot in the 9th, and is a few feet away for a birdie to improve to -10, two shots back at Westwood. Did I mention that Lee Westwood is the current leader?
3:26 p.m.- Crap! Mickelson makes a nice 2nd at hole #8 to give him a nice birdie opportunity. From now on, I shall give Mickelson nothing but compliments. Worked last year when I did it in my mind.
3:29 p.m.- All right, Phil! -12 and tied for the lead! I feel good about him!
3:32 p.m.- It took a half hour to find, but I finally found it. Here's Tiger's eagle shot at the 7th. Pretty great, huh?
3:33 p.m.- Aw, cheer up, Phil! At least you didn't hit it any wider!
3:37 p.m.- Tiger update: After starting the day off with three bogeys, he has now birdied the 9th, his third straight hole with a birdie or better, to improve to 9 under par. And he did it with those new wedges, too! That should count as an extra birdie!
And that's gonna do it for now. Click here for part two.
And that's gonna do it for now. Click here for part two.
No comments:
Post a Comment