<p>Idad, If they pair Padraig with Kevin Na, you can hit the skip 5 minutes button a few times. It was excruciating to watch Na at the Players…</p>
<p>Yeah, Na is excruciatingly slow, with that unusual preshot routine. But I thought he was working on that. That is Kevin Na i’m thinking of isn’t it?</p>
<p>So Rory is looking better. Like someone said, he is still spraying it, but there is one course where you can spray it a little (as long as you are REALLY LONG off the tee) and that is Augusta. The countdown begins!</p>
<p>Mickelson talked today about how the greens have stayed soft for the last five years and he expects them to be receptive this year. I think he’s in for a surprise. For several years now, the weather has been wet. I think the sustained dry weather leading up to the tournament will let the National get the greens rock hard between Wednesday and Thursday. I don’t think that the club wants receptive target-golf greens.</p>
<p>^^Agreed. Far more enjoyable when the greens are like lightening. I think it has been a few years since we have seen someone putting off the green: on in 2, off in three! Some of the opens have been that way. But some of those setups are downright silly. The 18th at Olympic in 1998 comes to mind, as Payne Stewart watched his putt dribble away from the hole 25 feet. And at Shinnecock’s #7! I hung out there for a few hours and it was just brutal. People were chipping up from the left side of the green and watching as the ball came up to the hole and rolled all the way back down into the rough. They were actually watering the green in between groups to slow the green down on Wed. or Thur. </p>
<p>But that is a big difference between Open setups and the Masters: Augusta is just super slick and the greens don’t appear tricked up (at least not on TV) but on some of the open setups, the slopes of the greens together with the speed sometimes make them a bit tricked up.</p>
<p>Watched a lot of the Par 3 contest. It’s fun to see the little kids in the caddie outfits :D. Best week of golf every year !!!</p>
<p>Today was the first time I watched the Par 3 contest. The little kids were cute and some of those old timers still hit the ball well! There was one guy out there who is 91! God willing!</p>
<p>Apparently there is a 14 year old Chinese kid playing in the Masters. That’s awfully young, but then again the way the Chinese count age, the kid could actually be 10. :)</p>
<p>Can you believe the kid is in eight grade! I can’t imagine his nerves. Then again, maybe he is SO young that nerves will be less of a factor and he will just be out there having “fun.” Anyway, can’t wait for tomorrow. Best four days of golf all year!</p>
<p>The kid may be 14, but he’s won Asian Amateur and played a fair amount in Europe…very talented. Hope he makes it to the weekend…
Par 3 was fun—loved Jack Fleck at 91! And seeing Arne, Jack and Gary. True masters and gentlemen.</p>
<p>I saw a 5 minute bit on ESPN about the young golfer him and my reaction was actually one of feeling sorry for him. I know his parents are travelling with him, but I got the impression that it is too much for a 14 year old to handle. He is going to have a lot of attention on him globally this weekend. My 15 year old is a late bloomer, so my age appropriateness gauging may be off, but I wish the kid had a few more years of maturity under his belt before the Masters. </p>
<p>On another note, I got three traditionally underperforming golfers in the company pool. The people in charge claim it’s decided by a random generator in excel, but I have my doubts. I guess I just paid $5 for a Monday “treat.” Expensive bagel!</p>
<p>Who are the three? They are predicting a thunderstorm rolling into Augusta at around 4:00 which is broadcast time. Ugh!</p>
<p>It’s amazing how composed these young golfers are though. They are used to it and while off the course he will have a lot of attention, on the course they tune it out. You don’t get to that level if you can’t.</p>
<p>Just as a heads up, there is high def streaming video at <a href=“http://www.masters.org%5B/url%5D”>www.masters.org</a>.</p>
<p>One feed is Amen Corner. A second available feed is 15 & 16. Third feed from the range. There will be featured group feeds starting at noon. I’m sure that will be following Tiger around early. Probably Rory or Phil late.</p>
<p>…and right now you can also one of two “featured groups” that has “the kid.” And he is doing well. 2 over looking at a birdie putt now on 12.</p>
<p>A few observations:
- I love hearing the birds chirping in the background. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>It’s funny how many guys have green shirts on today.</p></li>
<li><p>The azaleas are clearly not all in full bloom yet.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I just found out my neighbor scheduled his vasectomy for this morning so that he could lie on the couch and watch the Masters guilt free! Amazing!</p>
<p>My H scheduled his 4 wisdom teeth out Thursday morning of Masters 2010 for the same reason…I was a little irritated, because I had to keep fetching ice, drugs, etc. for him while trying to watch the tournament…</p>
<p>Just finished the DVR of the first round.</p>
<p>1) What an unfortunate era in golf fashion. Between the wide white belts and the bowling shirts covered in logos, there were some seriously ugly outfits today! The green and black adiddas team uniform was butt ugly. And how did Rory convince Nike to make shirts that ugly, with the white trim? Looked like something you’d wear driving an ice cream truck… We need Monty Python to do a skit on “British fashion”. :)</p>
<p>2) On to serious stuff, some pretenders at the front of the field. Sergio will make Chernobyl look like a minor incident by the time he’s finished his meltdown this week.</p>
<p>3) Tiger had a workman-like round today. Didn’t really make anything, missed a couple of good opportunities, but wasn’t having to do much scrambling to shoot 70.</p>
<p>The Master’s smartphone app streams the live coverage too :D.</p>
<p>Freddie Couples is in one of the feature groups today :D</p>