2011 Masters

[mr. synellinden]

Midway through the second round, I think a Masters thread is due.

As of now, international players are owning the top of the leaderboard, which continues the trend in recent majors.

Mickelson is lurking about 5 shots back and Tiger, currently 7 back, tees off in about a half hour.

I just heard one of the commentators on The Golf Channel say that this is the most important round for Woods since his return at last year's Masters. I think that might be a little dramatic, but I agree he needs to show something today. Golf needs him to be a contender again, with or without Mickelson competing for the lead. Another major weekend without Woods in the mix would be bad for golf in general and will increase the buzz that Woods is never going to return to excellence.

Oh, and look out for Fred Couples who is making a run up the leaderboard today and is only 3 shots off the lead. He's 52 - would be the oldest to win a major - 6 years older than Nicklaus when he won in 1986. He might be the only guy who would be the fans' favorite in a Sunday final pairing with Tiger.

[Indoor66]

Without Tiger the Pro Tour has no big draws for TV audiences. He has been the face of golf and he provided the sizzle and drama that drew in viewers. There is no other player who can draw an audience like him. If he fails to regain form, the game will wither until a dominant personality shows up on the Tour. Most out there are bland and boring.

[weezie]

I heard on ESPN radio that the Augusta ground crew ices down the azaleas if the weather is too warm leading up to the event in order to have everything blooming nicely for the cameras. Thought that was interesting. And there you have the sum of my golf chat contribution for today.
Oh, and Padraig Harrington is cute.

[hurleyfor3]

Most out there are bland and boring.

Mickleson? Bubba Watson? Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Angel Cabrera, Anthony Kim... all bland and boring, huh? Fred Couples is five back, what about him? Geoff Ogilvy's four back... ever hear some of his interviews? YE Yang got an entire continent more interested in golf; you may recall how he did it.

OK, Jim Furyk is boring and a level-headed in a Tom Watson kind of way. I like him anyway. Retief Goosen is as boring as South Africans get. (Which is to say, add Immelman and Els to the non-boring list.)

This is Exhibit A for what annoys me about the Tiger phenomenon. None of those guys have 14 majors, and I grant there is a correlation between teevee ratings and how well Tiger is doing. (Not that Augusta cares.) But to say the rest of the Tour is "bland and boring"... well, try paying a little more attention.

[rthomas]

I would have to rank that as one of the best final days of the Masters ever. As one of the announcers said toward the end, there was someone from every continent except The Arctic and Antarctica - I don't know if that was true but there were a lot of different flags on the leader board. And they were all playing at a high level.

I kept hoping for a 5 way tie at the end.