Hello, Friends.
So it finally became time to stage The Masters for 2020 this past weekend, after a seven and one-half month delay. The Masters is always must-see-television for golf fans, and even for non-golf fans, and especially more so in this crazy year of 2020. However, unlike most years, this version offered very little drama or edge of the seat excitement. World Number One Golfer Dustin Johnson seized hold of the tournament by the end of the second round and had a four shot lead after the end of the third round. Bogies on 4 and 5 for yesterday caused his lead to slip to two strokes early on, and that made it look as though DJ would be seriously challenged, but a birdie on number six righted the ship, and Johnson would go on to earn a five stroke victory and set a Masters scoring record of twenty under par. He recorded only four bogies throughout the 72 hole event. That is astonishing.
He is a most worthy Champion.
The sight of Augusta National without fans Patrons was pretty astonishing, although we have gotten used to such sights at sports events in 2020. If possible, seeing it in such a natural state made it - in my mind, at least - even more beautiful, even without the azaleas and other flora in full bloom as they are in April. I suppose sports are always better when played before packed houses, so let's hope that full galleries of fans Patrons will be on hand come April, but for this one year only, I am glad we got to see Augusta National as we did this past weekend.
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Runner-up Cameron Smith finished at -15, a score that would have won the Masters in 78 previous years, and had all four rounds with scores in the sixties. Was anyone else as surprised as I was to learn that that was the first time that that had ever happened at The Masters?
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As always, CBS coverage of this Tradition Unlike Any Other was superb, even if Jim Nantz always appears to be close to openly weeping when talking in hushed and reverential tones when speaking of the Augusta National, Bob Jones, Alistair MacKenzie and the hallowed Traditions of The Masters. I loved the drone shots of the golf course. I didn't miss Peter Kostis. I did miss David Feherty, and I liked Dottie Pepper and Trevor Immelman on the coverage. Verne Lundquist on 16 is truly a CBS Tradition Like No Other. I am willing to bet that he knows the contours and quirks of the 16th green better than any of the golfers who play in the tournament every year. And Nick Faldo is always good, too. Doesn't take himself too seriously as so many of the other ex-golfers now doing the TV gig. I was, however, wondering what the deal was with his sideburns. Looks like he's trying to bring back 1968 again.
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This will go down as a mere footnote to the tournament, and if it happened to any other golfer in the field we wouldn't be talking about it all. I am referencing the 10 that Tiger Woods took on the Par 3 twelfth hole yesterday.
The five time winner and defending champion started the day at -5 and was something like T-24. Seven shots back and with over twenty guys ahead of him, he wasn't going to win The Masters this year, and who could blame him if all he wanted to do was go out, play quickly, and get it over with. On the infamous twelfth hole, the shortest hole on the course, he rinsed his tee shot into Rae's Creek, put it into the water two more times, and ended up with a septuple bogey 10 on the hole. Now at this point, no one, but NO ONE, would blame him if he really did check out both physically and mentally after that. Didn't happen though. He played those final six holes in five under par, going birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie. The mental strength it took to do something like that is as amazing and as impressive as almost anything Woods has ever done on a golf course. If you play golf, even if you are a hacking amateur like me, you know how mentally hard it is to recover and play even decently after thoroughly screwing up on a hole.
Tiger Woods, six weeks short of his 45th birthday, is still one of a kind.
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Bryson DeChambeau was the talk of the golf world, positively and negatively, coming into The Masters. If you follow the game, you know that he's a bit of an oddball in his approach, and he talked openly about a course like Augusta National would play like a "par 67" for him. Karma can be a bitch, and it bit Bryson in the butt this weekend. He finished the tourney at -2 and way down the track, and was never really a factor at all. I softened my opinion of DeChambeau after reading the cover story on him in the current month's Sports Illustrated, but I was still glad to see him served up some humble pie this weekend. At the same time, I'm sorry that it turned out the way it did. Golf in general is a lot more interesting when he is in the mix on the weekends, and this Masters would also have been bit juicier if it was DeChambeau, instead of Cam Smith or Abe Ancer, chasing down Johnson on Sunday.
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Heard this interesting tidbit on the Tony Kornheiser Podcast this morning. Dustin Johnson now has both a Masters Championship and a US Open Championship on is resume. How many other golfers currently active in the PGA Tour can make that same statement?
The answer is TWO. Tiger Woods and Jordan Speith. Are you as surprised as I was that this is such a short list?
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Finally, a $7.50 investment on Fan Duel made by me last week on Dustin Johnson to win The Masters turned into a $78.75 payout, so you know for whom I was rooting.
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One great thing about a one-time Masters in November is that we only have to wait a little less than five months until we get to do it again!
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