I send out a post like this to a bunch of buddies every year. Thought you might enjoy. It's OK by me if you don't.
I really got a kick out of the women's amateur and Drive, Chip, and Putt finals at Augusta last week. Good to see Augusta loosening up a bit. In case you missed it, the son of a Haitian immigrant won the DCP. Feel good story that I'm not going to make political - not even a little bit.
Weather looks to be an issue again this year with rain forecast for Friday-Sunday. I've never actually used a second glove like Phil does (as well as many others) in the rain. Back in my day, we had one glove, no dry towels, and no Gore-Tex. And you know what? We liked it! Where did all these snowflakes come from on the golf course anyway?
The players.
Finau. The ankle guy. Please do something equally grotesque this year. It made my week watching the replay over and over again.
If you didn't get a chance to watch the guy who won in Texas on Sunday (Corey Conners), make every effort to watch his swing. Think Ernie Els and Freddy Couples love child. OK, don't think about that too long, but this guy's got a great swing - for a Canadian.
Look for a star-studded leaderboard this weekend. All the best players seem to be playing well right now with the exception of Spieth. Did anyone catch his 42-31 Saturday in Texas? What is he? A 4-handicapper?
The Spaniards Garcia and Rahm. The vandal and the reformed hothead. What are the chances we see Garcia moon walk across #18 green to spite Kuchar who is playing behind him? The better money is that Rahm will hit 2 balls in the water on 12 Saturday, break all his clubs except his gap wedge, and treat us to one of the most interesting 6 holes of golf (and language) we've ever seen.
Kuchar. The cheapskate. He will announce on Wednesday that his oldest son is going to caddie for him during the Par 3 and promptly pay him $10,000 for his 9-holes of work. That's twice as much as he paid the caddie in Mexico who helped him win earlier this year.
Rory. The wee-Irishman. I think he might just complete the career Grand Slam this week. Or he'll hit one way left again on #10 on Sunday, buy Augusta and remove ALL the trees.
DJ. The guy everyone wants to be. Are he and Paulina still together? If not, can I get her number? DJ's the one guy who should win this tournament for the next 4-5 years, but he can't keep it together between the ears for 4 days at Augusta any better than his family can walk down stairs.
Rose. Hate him. Almost as much as Poulter (except I love Poulter's twitter).
Tommy (Boy) Fleetwood. Just cut the hair already, and switch to Tom. Please.
Rickie Fowler. The heartthrob (now engaged). He'll excite us and he'll be in contention until sometime Sunday - I'm guessing it'll be #3 or #7 where a disastrous triple (maybe even a snowman) will unhinge his chances. Then, in the post-round press conference, he'll break Jordan Spieth's and Justin Thomas' record for using the word "we" to talk about himself and the shots he hit.
Bubba. Please. Wear. All. White. All. Week.
Woods. The old man. As long as his glutes are activated, he's got a chance.
Koepka. Kid is a winner. No one really talks about him at all. Strange.
DeChambeau. One of my new favorite golfers. Why? Because it's not the length of the shaft, it's how you get around the course. Did you hear that Paulina?
Phil. He still doesn't care about a 4th green jacket as much as he does a U.S. Open trophy, but he could contend this week. Either that or he'll spray a drive onto someone's pimiento cheese sandwich, hit it through a cup of beer and onto the 13th green (all in a losing effort). Philmeinto cheese anyone?
Freddie. Jeez, he's 59?!? He's the Steve Spurrier of golf. Greatness just sort of came naturally to him. He didn't have to work for it, but he wasn't cocky about how good he is like Spurrier. Watch his most recent interview with Feherty to get the full picture. I bet he shoots in the 60s Thursday or Friday and misses the cut - especially if it's raining.
The Swedes. Even though we need more Swedes in golf (and in America), I'm not picking any of them to compete this year.
And the Nancy Pelosi golf clap goes to... Patrick Reed (aka Baby Phat). Not humble. Not nice. Not well-liked. Everything cliche about golf wrapped up in one package. At least he's American (as all the winners of all the American majors should be). And anyone is better than Danny Willet, right?
My pic for winner this year. Xander Souffle. Or is it Schauffele? He set the course record at Kapalua this year. He's young and cool-headed. And he's sneaky long (they used to say that about Jim Furyk, but I never believed it). We haven't had a weird-last-name winner since Oosthuizen. It's about time. Did I mention he's the only 20-something member of the Spring Break crew without a major?
The real winner? Golf because of the ubiquitous Play 9 commercials. Trying to get more people into golf in this short attention span age. Well, any true golfer will tell you that 9 holes is NEVER enough. The question we should really ask is why didn't the Scots play 10 holes on the way out?
I really got a kick out of the women's amateur and Drive, Chip, and Putt finals at Augusta last week. Good to see Augusta loosening up a bit. In case you missed it, the son of a Haitian immigrant won the DCP. Feel good story that I'm not going to make political - not even a little bit.
Weather looks to be an issue again this year with rain forecast for Friday-Sunday. I've never actually used a second glove like Phil does (as well as many others) in the rain. Back in my day, we had one glove, no dry towels, and no Gore-Tex. And you know what? We liked it! Where did all these snowflakes come from on the golf course anyway?
The players.
Finau. The ankle guy. Please do something equally grotesque this year. It made my week watching the replay over and over again.
If you didn't get a chance to watch the guy who won in Texas on Sunday (Corey Conners), make every effort to watch his swing. Think Ernie Els and Freddy Couples love child. OK, don't think about that too long, but this guy's got a great swing - for a Canadian.
Look for a star-studded leaderboard this weekend. All the best players seem to be playing well right now with the exception of Spieth. Did anyone catch his 42-31 Saturday in Texas? What is he? A 4-handicapper?
The Spaniards Garcia and Rahm. The vandal and the reformed hothead. What are the chances we see Garcia moon walk across #18 green to spite Kuchar who is playing behind him? The better money is that Rahm will hit 2 balls in the water on 12 Saturday, break all his clubs except his gap wedge, and treat us to one of the most interesting 6 holes of golf (and language) we've ever seen.
Kuchar. The cheapskate. He will announce on Wednesday that his oldest son is going to caddie for him during the Par 3 and promptly pay him $10,000 for his 9-holes of work. That's twice as much as he paid the caddie in Mexico who helped him win earlier this year.
Rory. The wee-Irishman. I think he might just complete the career Grand Slam this week. Or he'll hit one way left again on #10 on Sunday, buy Augusta and remove ALL the trees.
DJ. The guy everyone wants to be. Are he and Paulina still together? If not, can I get her number? DJ's the one guy who should win this tournament for the next 4-5 years, but he can't keep it together between the ears for 4 days at Augusta any better than his family can walk down stairs.
Rose. Hate him. Almost as much as Poulter (except I love Poulter's twitter).
Tommy (Boy) Fleetwood. Just cut the hair already, and switch to Tom. Please.
Rickie Fowler. The heartthrob (now engaged). He'll excite us and he'll be in contention until sometime Sunday - I'm guessing it'll be #3 or #7 where a disastrous triple (maybe even a snowman) will unhinge his chances. Then, in the post-round press conference, he'll break Jordan Spieth's and Justin Thomas' record for using the word "we" to talk about himself and the shots he hit.
Bubba. Please. Wear. All. White. All. Week.
Woods. The old man. As long as his glutes are activated, he's got a chance.
Koepka. Kid is a winner. No one really talks about him at all. Strange.
DeChambeau. One of my new favorite golfers. Why? Because it's not the length of the shaft, it's how you get around the course. Did you hear that Paulina?
Phil. He still doesn't care about a 4th green jacket as much as he does a U.S. Open trophy, but he could contend this week. Either that or he'll spray a drive onto someone's pimiento cheese sandwich, hit it through a cup of beer and onto the 13th green (all in a losing effort). Philmeinto cheese anyone?
Freddie. Jeez, he's 59?!? He's the Steve Spurrier of golf. Greatness just sort of came naturally to him. He didn't have to work for it, but he wasn't cocky about how good he is like Spurrier. Watch his most recent interview with Feherty to get the full picture. I bet he shoots in the 60s Thursday or Friday and misses the cut - especially if it's raining.
The Swedes. Even though we need more Swedes in golf (and in America), I'm not picking any of them to compete this year.
And the Nancy Pelosi golf clap goes to... Patrick Reed (aka Baby Phat). Not humble. Not nice. Not well-liked. Everything cliche about golf wrapped up in one package. At least he's American (as all the winners of all the American majors should be). And anyone is better than Danny Willet, right?
My pic for winner this year. Xander Souffle. Or is it Schauffele? He set the course record at Kapalua this year. He's young and cool-headed. And he's sneaky long (they used to say that about Jim Furyk, but I never believed it). We haven't had a weird-last-name winner since Oosthuizen. It's about time. Did I mention he's the only 20-something member of the Spring Break crew without a major?
The real winner? Golf because of the ubiquitous Play 9 commercials. Trying to get more people into golf in this short attention span age. Well, any true golfer will tell you that 9 holes is NEVER enough. The question we should really ask is why didn't the Scots play 10 holes on the way out?
