After a magnificent back nine on Saturday, three-time Masters champion finds himself just one shot back of the lead heading into this year's final round.Good afternoon, everybody! Hope that you've been enjoying your Easter Sunday thus far. You know, it's been far too long since I've gotten the chance to live blog anything. And with today being the final round of the Masters Tournament, one of the best days in all of golf (and all of sports, really), I figured that now would be the time to break this drought. Plus, I've been doing a live blog of the Masters' final round for the past two years now, so I also thought that it would've been a good idea to do it just for continuity's sake.
Anyways, It's setting up to be another very interesting finish. Yesterday, for instance, there were eight different players who had at least a share of the lead, and today with we start the day with a leaderboard that includes four different major champions and seven different Top 25 players in the top ten alone. Every Masters Sunday has also had its share of memorable moments (remember how good last year's tournament was, for instance?). What will be the things that we will be talking about by the time that this day is over? Will there be any surprising rallies, any disappointing collapses? Will there be another surprising victor this time around, or will an experienced veteran hold on and show that they've still got the goods to win one of the sport's biggest events? Personally, I'm already excited just thinking about it! So, without further ado, let's put on our best patron faces, and watch to see how the rest of this afternoon unfolds:
12:30 p.m. CDT- We're officially thirty minutes away from CBS' coverage of the event. In the meantime, here's the first of many updates of the leaderboard just as the majority of the final groups are set to tee off:
1. Peter Hanson: -9 (1:40 p.m. CDT start time)
2. Phil Mickelson: -8 (1:40 p.m. CDT start time)
3. Louis Oosthuizen: -7 (1:30 p.m. CDT start time)
4. Bubba Watson: -6 (1:30 p.m. CDT start time)
5. Matt Kuchar: -5 (1:20 p.m. CDT start time)
6. Hunter Mahan: -4 (1:20 p.m. CDT start time)
6. Henrik Stenson: -4 (1:10 p.m. CDT start time)
6. Padraig Harrington: -4 (1:10 p.m. CDT start time)
6. Lee Westwood: -4 (1 p.m. CDT start time)
10. Paul Lawrie: -3 (1 p.m. CDT start time)
Obviously, we're all interested to see if Mickelson can become only the fourth player to win a fourth Green Jacket after having what can be best described as a very disappointing performance in round 1. Considering his history at this event these last few days and his success at the back nine, I have him as the favorite to win the tournament even if he is only one shot back.
I'm also interested in seeing if Hanson can continue to play consistent golf in this round and not fall to the pressure of this event. He may be the 25th best ranked player in the world, but he's only won five pro tournaments in his career while never finishing better than 7th in any major tournament. Now, he's going up against one of the best players of his generation in the final pairing of the day with the spotlight all on him. Will he be able to handle it? Right now, I'm not so sure about that. At this point, I have a better feeling that we're likely to see Oosthuizen, Watson, Kuchar, Mahan, Harrington, or fellow Swede Henrik Stenson win than him. Hope that he proves me wrong, though!
12:35 p.m.- There isn't anything new to tell you at this point, so I guess I'll just give you a look at the weather conditions for this afternoon. So far, judging from the Weather.com projections and from the live feeds that The Masters' website has of both Amen Corner and holes 15-16, it appears that we're set for what should be another beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon at Augusta, with temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. The winds should be a tad bit high, with projections of it appearing to be between 10-15 mph, so expect that to factor into play.
12:40 p.m.- Leading up to the coverage of the final round, CBS is currently re-airing highlights from the final round of the '87 Masters, the ones in which Larry Mize upset both Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros (then numbers 1 and 2 in the world) to win the tournament in sudden death with this fantastic shot. In a related note, poor Greg Norman. That guy has been so close to the Masters in a number of occasions, yet always lost (usually in the most embarrassing of fashions). He's probably the only great golfer that I could think of, outside of Phil Mickelson, who is probably just as much famous for his major championship losses as he is for his victories.
12:42 p.m.- My father, who I've been referring in this blog as mj50, has joined me in watching the final round this year and for the first time since 2010. As a big Phil Mickelson fan, he's obviously going to root for him to win today. Personally? I'm rooting to see Westwood take this one. The guy has usually finished well in Majors these past few years (seven Top 10 finishes since 2008), yet has never been the one to win it all.
12:47 p.m.- Checking at the leaderboard just before the 1 p.m. TV starting time, no one who is currently playing on the course has yet to make a serious move on the leaderboard. Everyone who has already teed off is currently at -1 or worse. Bo Van Pelt, who was one of the players in serious contention on Masters Sunday one year ago, is currently at Even following a -7 round that even includes a hole-in-one at the 16th hole. He now has a chance to finish the tournament with a 64. All he needs is a birdie at the 18th. If anything, his round today proves that the conditions of the course today does give players that are at 4 shots back or worse a chance to gain some ground later on.
12:53 p.m.- Van Pelt birdies at the 18th hole, finishing at -1 in the tournament and completing a final round score of 64. A bit too late to get in contention, as he started the round at 7 over, but still really impressive nonetheless. He did tie the low score for a Sunday round, after all! Meanwhile, there is approximately seven minutes left to go before CBS officially starts their coverage of the event. The countdown is on.
12:55 p.m.- Five minutes left!
12:59 p.m.- One minute left!
1:00 p.m.- Alright, it's 1 o'clock. Time to set in the mood...
1:05 p.m.- Adam Scott and '92 Masters champion Fred Couples birdie at the 10th and 2nd hole respectively, putting them at 3 under and in the top ten. Meanwhile, CBS is finally showing the highlight to Van Pelt's impressive performance. The man is now in a tie for 17th. A spot in the top 16 and an automatic berth for next year's Masters is still within his grasp. Let's hope that his effort in this round gets rewarded with that, at least.
1:08 p.m.- A rare Tiger Woods highlight in this year's Masters, as he birdies at the 13th hole to get into 4 over. After starting with an even par first round, Woods took a tumble in the second round and hasn't rebounded since. Looks like the "Tiger's back" comments that has re-appeared in great force after his victory at Bay Hill two weeks ago is going to take a bit of a break for the next few weeks.
1:14 p.m.- Sean O'Hair, like Couples, birdies the 2nd to take himself into the group at 3 under par. Meanwhile, Lee Westwood starts his final round with a bogey at the first. Meanwhile, CBS is showing the opening tee shots that Palmer, Nicklaus, and Player had on Thursday morning for what must be the dozenth time. Did I mention that Mickelson watched those opening tee shots take place on Thursday? Don't worry, Jim Nantz will probably tell you this at least four more times by the time that this day is finished with.
1:16 p.m.- Speaking of Jim Nantz, here he is right now going through his usual "Hello, friends" routine and introducing himself in his famous syrupy voice, along with the day's main analyst, Sir Nick Faldo, the three time Green Jacket recipient.
1:20 p.m.- CBS's 15th hole announcer, David Feherty (who also started a talk show on the Golf Channel not too long ago) makes a case for last year's Masters being one of the best. Can't disagree with that, as last year's final round was pretty phenomenal (I mean, just look at all the hyperboles I gave out during last year's live blog for proof). Speaking of last year's Masters, Charl Schwartzel just completed his final round and goes to the clubhouse at a disappointing +8.
1:26 p.m.- Another birdie for O'Hair, this time coming at the 3rd hole. He's currently put himself in the group at -4 now, and among the groups of golfers in-contention. Meanwhile, more bad luck for Tiger, as he hits it in the water at the 13th hole. This has been the most surprising aspect of Tiger's game this week: his struggles at the par 5s, which are usually the holes that he has done the best at.
1:33 p.m.- As the Mickelson/Hanson pairing is set to tee off, Louis Oosthuizen hits a good second shot at the 1st hole to set up a decent chance for birdie. Meanwhile, Westwood birdies the 2nd to get himself back into 4 under while Mahan bogeys to start off his round.
1:37 p.m.- Nick Faldo is talking about visualizing curves. I don't know why I felt the need to record this. And yet, I'm doing it anyway. Right now. And...it's done.
1:41 p.m.- Good tee shots down the middle for both Mickelson and Hanson to start off their rounds. There are no more golfers left to tee off in this final round. Meanwhile, it appears that the pressure has gone to Watson early. He threw a tantrum after hitting his second shot at the first, and now finishes the hold with a bogey to take him down to 5 under, the same score as Matt Kuchar.
1:43 p.m.- Correction: the same group as Matt Kuchar AND Padraig Harrington, as the three time major championship birdies the 2nd to also take him to 5 under par. I have a feeling that this is a guy who will be quite a prominent challenger heading into the back nine.
1:50 p.m.- The first signs of Hanson's jitters, as he hits a poor 3rd shot at the 1st from one side of the green to another. He'll be battling for bogey. Speaking of bogeys, Mickelson putts a very soft shot in what can be described as a poor misread. It appears that he will be battling to stay at even par for this round as well.
1:55 p.m.- For only the fourth time in Masters history, and for the first time ever at the 2nd hole, a golfer hits a double eagle. That's right: A DOUBLE EAGLE. That man was Louis Oosthuizen. Not only that, but Oosthuizen's albatross has just skyrocketed himself to solo possession at the lead, from -7 to -10. What a moment!
1:57 p.m.- Another fun fact about Oosthuizen's albatross: it was also the first one to ever be televised. So, even if Oosthuizen doesn't pull off the victory, at least he will go away from this knowing that he made history today, nonetheless.
1:59 p.m.- The best part of Oosthuizen's shot, though? The fact that he took the ball that he struck, now instantly one of the most famous struck golf balls in the sport's history, and just threw it to the stands.
2:01 p.m.- Mickelson takes par at the 1st hole, while Hanson bogeys. Both now enter the 2nd hole at -8. I can only imagine the reaction they will have once they hear about what Oosthuizen did a group ahead of them.
2:16 p.m.- Apologies for the ten minute delay. Occasionally, I will either be flipping between this final round and today's Bulls/Knicks game. Also, there are times when I might even be experiencing some labtop problems. Either way, I will try to minimize these long gaps without any updates going forward. Anyways, here's all of the important stuff that happened since I was gone:
-A good par putt at the 3rd hole by Oosthuizen to keep himself in the lead at 10 under par.
- Par putts for both Mickelson and Hanson, keeping them both at -8 and two shots back of the lead.
-Matt Kuchar, a Georgia native himself, birdies the 3rd hole. He improves his score to -6.
-CBS tries to remind you once again about how rare of a moment Oosthuizen's double eagle was, playing a segment about Sarazen's 1935 double eagle that got a bridge named after him on the Augusta course. I wonder how long they've been storing that video just so they could use it for precisely this moment.
2:19 p.m.- Apparently, Adam Scott just had a hole-in-one on the 16th hole to take himself to 3 under par. Unfortunately, CBS has yet to show it, and has only mentioned it in passing with David Feherty pointing out a huge roar that disrupted Bubba Watson from making his birdie attempt at the 3rd hole.
2:23 p.m.- Birdies for both Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter at the 6th hole, which put them both in the group at -4. Meanwhile, still no sign of CBS replaying the Scott hole-in-one. I guess they're just punishing those who didn't feel like watching the Masters.com feeds of the 15th and 16th holes.
2:27 p.m.- Oosthuizen makes his first bogey of the day, dropping to -9. Mickelson misses a birdie attempt at the 3rd hole, settling for par and is now one back of Oosthuizen. Meanwhile, Hanson bogeys the 3rd. He continues to drop, now three shots back of the lead. The current look at the leaderboard:
1. Oosthuizen: -9 (4)
2. Mickelson: -8 (3)
3. Hanson: -7 (3)
4. Kuchar: -6 (4)
4. Watson: -6 (3)
6. Harrington: -5 (5)
2:30 p.m.- Adam Scott continues his late rally, birdieing the 17th hole after his hole-in-one at the 16th, which puts himself along with Harrington at 5 under par. Meanwhile, Mickelson hits an absolutely disastrous 2nd shot at the 4th hole, with the ball hooking, hitting the stands, and then bouncing into the woods behind it. His chances of surviving the hole with a par does not look good.
2:33 p.m.- So, after much delay, CBS finally replays Adam Scott's hole-in-one, the second of the day after Bo Van Pelt did it in route to his final round 64. Took them long enough!
2:36 p.m.- Mickelson struggles to get the ball out of the woods at the 4th, and now needs to get it out of the bunker to save double bogey. Meanwhile, here is a clip of Oosthuizen's albatross for all those who missed it, or just want to see it again.
2:43 p.m.- Mickelson misses the bunker shot, and has to settle for a triple bogey. His terrible shot at the 2nd hole costs himself big time, as he now drops to -5 and a tie for 6th. Meanwhile, both Watson and Harrington birdies to tie with Hanson at -7, two shots back of Oosthuizen. Still plenty of golf to play, folks.
2:45 p.m.- Tiger Woods' disappointing performance at Augusta comes to an end with a birdie at the 18th hole, putting him at an overall score of +5 for the tournament. His quest to win a 15th major will have to continue for another two and a half months.
2:46 p.m.- More poorly recorded video of earlier events! Here is the hole-in-one that Van Pelt made at the 16th hole just a little bit over two hours ago. When Adam Scott's hole-in-one becomes available, I will try to post it as well.
UPDATE: And now, here's Adam Scott's hole-in-one:
2:49 p.m.- Unfortunately, I'm going to have to take a 15 minute break, for there is Chinese takeout at my home in need of being in my stomach. See you then!
3:04 p.m.- And...I'm back! Here's a recap of all of the major things that happened while I was gone:
-Matt Kuchar: Birdies the 7th hole, moves up to -7
-Ian Poulter: Birdies the 9th hole, moves up to -5
-Adam Scott: Pars the 18th hole, takes the clubhouse lead with -4
-Lee Westwood: Bogeys the 8th hole, moves back to -4
And now, another quick recap of the leaderboard:
1. Oosthuizen: -9 (7)
2. Kuchar: -7 (7)
2. Watson: -7 (7)
2. Hanson: -7 (6)
5. Harrington: -6 (8)
6. Poulter: -5 (9)
6. Mickelson: -5 (6)
8. Scott: -4 (F)
8. Westwood: -4 (8)
8. Mahan: -4 (8)
3:09 p.m.- So, Hanson misses a chance to get within one of Oosthuizen, missing his birdie attempt at the 6th. He currently remains in the three-way tie at 7 under par. So far, no big developments to make note of. I, will, however, show you the photo that I took personally of Mickelson's difficult lie in the woods following his horrendous shot at the 4th hole:
Yikes.
3:17 p.m.- Oosthuizen drives it right down the middle at the par 5 eighth hole. Meanwhile, Hanson now has a 2nd consecutive attempt for a birdie at the 7th hole. He missed his chance to make a birdie at the 6th. Will he be able to make one this time?
3:20 p.m.- Nope. Hanson misses yet again. Once more, he remains two shots back of Oosthuizen. Meanwhile, Mickelson saves par at the 7th as well, but that 4th hole still haunts him as he yet again remains at -5 and four shots back of the lead.
3:23 p.m.- Congratulations to 20 year old Patrick Cantlay for finishing this year's tournament with the top amateur score at +7! I hope to see more success from him in the future.
3:25 p.m.- With three hours in the bag of my Masters final round LIVE! blog, I'm deciding to split this thing into two. If you want to continue reading this, join me in part 2, which should begin in about five minutes. Otherwise, thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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