When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Stewart Cink filed this "Tweet' after round one:
Watching some of the ESPN replay. I'm getting hosed on the coverage!
I don't have the heart to reply to his post that it might have been that orange shirt. I even tried to find a photo of it but the extensive Augusta.com photo gallery wouldn't show it.
Then again Stewart, if it's any consolation, they really didn't show that many other golfers today.
Golf Channel has added Jim Gray to its team and if his first appearance Thursday is any indication, we're in for some really profound insights. After comparing Tiger to the many great athletes he's been around, including Mike Tyson (!), Rich Lerner then asked Gray to compare Augusta National with the other great sporting venues Gray has been to. He was sounding nervous and rattling off clichés before unleashing this head scratcher:
It has withstood the test of time. The faces are very, very similar throughout the course of the years, but they also change, and they've changed with the game, but you know what was, is now what is. And that's what everyone can relate to.
Got that?
Gray also plugged a new Golf Channel show he's on with Lerner. His opening feature is an up close and personal with Donald Trump and his "beautiful" golf courses. Can't wait.
...wow, did anyone else catch the Brandel Chamblee, John Hawkins, Frank Nobilo discussion about the possibilities for excitement at Augusta?
Let's put it this way. They aren't buying Billy Payne's claims about the weather. Nobilo was probably the kindest, focusing on the green speeds, but Hawkins and Chamblee effectively dismantled every assertion that the course has been improved by the changes.
I point this out because, well, many of us suffered through so many years where these chats touted the changes as progress. It's just shocking to hear it going the other way in such extreme fashion. I feel like such a moderate after hearing that exchange!
Dottie Pepper just chimed in that the tree planting was well intentioned but the trees have grown!
We'll give her points for being critical but generally you have an architect who can envision how newly planted trees will grow and impact play over time. Just not at Augusta, apparently.
Ryan Ballengee interviews John Huggan from Augusta.
At 39, he will be the oldest of the five non-pros competing at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, with Woods and 100 other golfers including Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman.
“I’m not going to look anything like those guys,” said Wilson, co-owner of stations in Gautier, Mississippi, and Theodore, Alabama, on the Gulf Coast. “I’ve got a lot of stuff that I don’t do textbook.”
The professionals will vie for a purse that in 2008 was $7.5 million; this year’s will be disclosed April 12, the match’s last day. While Wilson can’t pocket any money no matter how low he scores, he prepared by playing Augusta 15 times after gaining “honorary member” status with his amateur triumph.
“I’m pretty sure I have worn out my welcome,” the Ocean Springs, Mississippi, resident said.
Supposedly that is is Bubba Watson shaking hands with Tiger Woods. Not a Spackler impersonator. The image was captured by Kendrick Brinson and is posted on the Augusta.com gallery:
I don't know why this strikes me as caption material. Maybe it's that The King's driving looks a wee bit maniacal as he drives former USGA President Buzz Taylor around the course? Or am I over-analyzing? From AP, via Augusta.com's gallery:
Here they are.
Looks like Stewart Cink should have plenty to Twitter about.
If I'm a former winner, once I see curry flavored, I'm heading to the regular menu until the dessert, which sounds good. Scott Michaux reports. No word yet on whether the service will reflect Trevor Immelman's preferred pace of play.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
