TV guys said if Scottie hadn't made so many mistakes he'd be leading in Houston by 5, instead he shot 66 and is in a 5 way tie for 1st at -9.
I thought for sure that Scottie was going to make the 7 footer to force a playoff but he didn't and Jaeger got his first win on the PGA Tour. On to San Antonio for the Valero at the TPC San Antonio a course I've played about 4 times, and I don't want to go back!! Turtle top greens, bunkers everywhere, etc. Just eats my lunch. But the J.W. Marriott is a great place to stay, been there several times for meetings. It's very family oriented and has great food IMHO. BTW the ACC Championships are going on in 2 weeks. I wonder if that is where BuckeyeT plays his golf? ACC Championships April 18-21 at the Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington, NC.
Played there many times, just 2-3 miles up the road from me. My first reaction was that it's a really short course for the boys to play but then I see it's for the girls only. It's a fun little track in a nice community. The boys will be playing theirs in Charlotte. We sponsor an ladies college event here at my club every fall. Always fun, but very humbling to see these young ladies play. The short skirts always bring a smile back to my face tho.... https://www.landfalltradition.com/
Rory is in field at the Valero and is favorite of course. Jordan Spieth is in the field along with Matsuyama and the young gun Auberg.
Well JT fired Bones today. He's not been playing well and I guess he felt something had to be changed and the caddie is what is changed. Big surprise, the caddie hasn't missed any of his putts.
Watched the LPGA the ladies who had the afternoon tee times were screwed by the weather The wind made it impossible to have a good round.
The Augusta National Women's Amateur will play their final round tomorrow. I've watched some of it and the young ladies have played very well. The contestants are almost 100% college players and Im always surprised at how many of them are foreign players who have come to the US to play college golf.
The Augusta National Women's Amateur was won by a Brit who had the lead and then lost it and then got it back and she got the win. The Valero was won by another who'dat Askay Bhatia. Denny McCarthy ran him down from behind on the back 9 and forced a playoff, actually he was in the lead and Bhatia had to sink a putt to force the playoff but popped his shoulder out celebrating and had to get some treatment. But McCarthy played the 1st hole badly and Bhatia could have 3 putt and won, but he made his birdie putt and got his ticket to the Masters punched. Oh yeah and world #1, Nelly Korda, won her 4th straight tournament at the Match Play in Vegas. She goes for 5 in the 1st major of the year in 2 weeks in the Chevron in Houston.
Masters Week, best week of the year. Scottie the favorite, Rory the most talked about since it's yet another attempt to get the career grandslam. Most are predicting that Tiger has a good chance of making the cut, but unlikely to finish the tournament. 13 LIV Golfers, including of course Jon Rahm the defending Champion. Sadly Bernhard Langer was going to play and make it his final Masters, but his unfortunate Achilles injury nixed that, I don't see Phil in the field not that he's playing well enough but I thought as a former Champion he had an exemption.
Par 3 contest was today. Always a fun watch, low key, family members sometimes step up and take a swing, some have great swings some don't! No Par 3 contest winner has ever won the Masters that year; Rickie Fowler wins this year so x him off as having a chance to win this weekend! Weather is going to be a problem tomorrow morning, heavy rain and wind are possible. Nick Dunlap, Jon Rahm and Matthew Fitzpatrick are the first group off tomorrow morning.
Bryson in the clubhouse with an outstanding round of 65, Currently a 3 shot lead, Scottie is tied for 2nd at -4 but has a few more holes so he could get closer and as I typed this another birdie and he's in solo 2nd at -5. Jason Day is trying to bring back baggy pants, or dad pants when most of the players are wearing skinny pants!
This would be interesting. Scottie Scheffler's wife is coming into the home stretch of her pregnancy and Scottie said if she goes into labour during the Masters he's picking up his ball and going home. During the Par 3 Contest ahead of the opening day this time around, Scheffler had his sister Sara with him to caddy, reported the Augusta Chronicle. Asked by a reporter during his round what his plans were for if Meredith went into labour, Scheffler’s response was unequivocal. “I’ll be out of here! I think first child wins over quite a... over many things in my life,” he replied. Meredith notably caddied for Scheffler in both 2022 and 2023 during the Par 3 family day and he has previously said she’s “learning” about the game during their time together, having not previously been a golf fan. And although she is not due until nearer the end of the month, Scottie said his wife is “resting up” and that he knows if the call comes then it’s an important one - even if he’s heading into the final stretch top of the leaderboard. “If she calls me while I’m on the 17th, then I better go home,” he told ESPN.
Scottie finished off the day at -6, heck of a round. Tiger played well, not spectacular but a solid -1 on the 1st nine. The most impressive thing was his driver ball speed was in the neighbor hood of 180
Well it's going to be a long day for Tiger Woods, he's at -1 and through #13 when they blew the horn.. Will have to come back tomorrow AM and finish.
Re Scottie. What serious golfer even takes the chance of concieving in July? Everyone knows that the Masters is in April. Gotta leave the club in the bag.
I seem to remember that when Payne Stewart won the Open at Pinehurst that Phil was in a somewhat similar situation.
Talk about a windy day, scoring was difficult to say the least. Even putting was difficult. They asked Bryson on a scale of 1-10 rate the wind's impact and he said 10. He finished up at -6 with a bogey on #18 and Scottie was 6 holes behind him with 2 par 5's and the announcers were talking like Scottie could come in with a 2 or 3 stroke lead, but instead he finished -6 as well. Rory was awful today, not a single birdie on his card and he was wild off the tee. When Rickie Fowler finished on 18 they said he needed to birdie to make the weekend because the cut was at +5 and he was at +6, he didn't make the birdie and the comments were how much everybody hoped he'd made the cut. But play behind him moved the cut to +6 and he's playing this weekend. Tiger had a good day all things considered and only one amateur made the cut, Ohio State's Neal Shipley who is a grad transfer from James Madison. Should be great weather for the weekend no high winds or rain. Only 13 players in red figures.
It's probably happened before but I don't remember the leading score being higher on the second day than it was on the first. I wasn't impressed originally when Tiger finished +1 because that was the originally projected cut line. Turns out he was 5 strokes above it. I'm not familiar with Hojgaard. All I know is he could be a big help playing scrabble.