Saturday, April 9, 2011
Welcome gang to the first ever Saturday 5-at-10. We're going to move really quickly (especially since we can't post photos from the greater Augusta-area).
Here we go...
That was Tiger-ific
As wc-triple7 noted late Friday, the second round was vintage Tiger Woods.
You go 7 under on the final 11 holes at Augusta National, you get to be called anything you want.
No Eldrick Woods yesterday - it was all Tiger folks.
Our Masters leader board
Matt Kuchar - the 5-at-10's pick - was among the double-bogey victims at the treacherous par-3 12th. Alas.
With Tiger's charge, here's the updated leader board of the "Mastering the masterful Masters top-5 masters challenge:"
With 5 points (5 for McIlroy; 2.5 each for Woods and Choi)
Mrs. 5-at-10 - Matt Kuchar, Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson
Nick Bonsanto from ESPN 105.1 - Phil Mickleson, Tiger Woods, K.J. Choi, Bubba Watson
With 2.5 points (Choi or Woods)
Kburgess - Bubba Watson, KJ Choi, and Rickie Bieber (Fowler)
Bigbearzzz - Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson
Mcpell - Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar, Eldrick "Tiger" Woods
CelticVol - Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods
WC777 - Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson (also known as Dill Pickelson)
scole023 - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson
BigHacker - Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland
SportTalk 102.3's Quake - Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson,
SportTalk 102.3's Cowboy Joe (he is a cowboy after all) - Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Luke Donald, Matt Kuchar
Pretend Al Davis ("I'm coming for you EC.") - OK, Tiger ("Duh."),
Charlie Sheen - Tiger Woods, Fred Couples
SportTalk 102.3's Dr. B (he is a doctor after all) - Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson, Martin Laird
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Rest of the field
OTWatcher - Phil Mickleson, Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, Fred Couples, Lee Westwood.
5-at-10 - Matt Kuchar, Nick Watney, Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood
BIspy4 - Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood
EC - Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson
ElJefe - Bubba Watson, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson, Bo Van Pelt
TFP golf writer David Uchiyama - Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson Masters storylines everywhere.
This is the 75th Masters - and it's the 25th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus' magical win in 1986 - and it could be shaping up to among the tournament's most memorable.
Look at the leader board and the possibIlities; Tiger's in the mix; so is Couples; the young guys look awesome; and there are some huge, Huge HUGE names like Mickelson, Westwood, Dustin Johnson, et al., just outside the top 10.
Question for you gang, what's your dream scenario for Sunday?
Here's the 5-at-10 dream scenario: On Saturday, Tiger gets even more in the mix, Phil makes a huge move, Rory stands tall, and Couples' back holds up. Dream final two groups: Tiger-Phil followed by Rory-Couples, and buckle up.
It's one game, but...
It may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the Braves roughing up Cliff Lee and the Phillies on Friday was huge for mentally for this relatively young Atlanta club. (And its first-year manager, which TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer covers HERE.)
The Braves may lose the next two - goodness forbid if anyone thinks we're Braves homers - but standing face-to-face with the Phillies and their No. 1B ace is important.
This and that
- Bye Manny. Loved to watch him hit, but we'll just put him on the pile of cheaters with the rest. Alas.
- Oso's Bulls have clinched homecourt in the East. Huge edge there is that the Celtics and Heat will beat on each other in the Eastern Conference semis.
- Hey, welcome to the win column Red Sox. Did you see the interview with Dustin Pedroia, dude's a first-team pick for the All-Jim Furyk team (guys who age 10-plus years when they take their hats off).
-Did you see the "progress" made in the NFL labor negotiations? The NFL owners got on a conference call with the players to discuss getting to together and discussing the issues. This has regressed to the point of being a middle school romance. All they need to do now is pass some notes "Do you wanna talk? Yes or No"
What you got? Until later today...