Implemental favorites, Nawlins edition

     Welcome to the 2nd edition of my totally unscientific, poorly researched gut hunch picks for players to look out for in this weeks PGA Tour stop.  The Zurich Classic of New Orleans features a strong international contingent, more "who is no. 1" drama and, of course, our favorite for the week, Bubba Watson.

     Why Bubba?  Call it a complicated process of elimination (or don't).  Who else do we have?  Luke Donald?  The world no. 3 is a great pick on the surface, playing well and with the possibility of moving up to the top ranking he has plenty of incentive.  I'm not discounting his chances, but the host course for the tournament, TPC of Louisianna is LONG at over 7,300 yards and has four par fours of 480 yards or better.  Not exactly up Donald's alley.  You could also look at past champions and notice that K.J. Choi is quietly having a nice year, with three top tens in his last four tournaments, including a T8 in the Masters.  K.J. won the tournament in 2002, when it was played on the shorter English Turn Golf and Country Club.  Nick Watney would seem to be the statistician's pick of choice.  No missed cuts in seven tries and five top tens, including a WGC win at the Cadillac Championship at Doral.  In fact, three tier fantasy league players would be well advised to pick Watney for tier A, just make sure Bubba is on your team in tier B.

     Some of the other big names present an interesting challenge when trying to figure their chances.  Graeme McDowell has me wondering if he's going to be one of those players who has a career year, then changes all of his equipment deals to chase the benjamins and is never heard from again.  Camillo Villegas is beginning to show some good form and could be a factor, but I would want to see a bit more consistency before I take him off of the bench.  Justin Rose, last week's winner Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker, local boy David Toms and Spencer Levin would all be viable picks and worth a shot in tiered league formats.
    
     I just can't help but think that this will be Bubba's week.  He can hit 480 yard par fours in driver 8-iron, plays well in this event nearly every year and his game seems to be rounding in to form.  Plus, we're playing in Nawlins, y'all.  How can you not like a guy named Bubba?

Woods' leg injury sets the stage for . . .?

     Tiger Woods' announced he would withdraw from the Wells Fargo Championship due to injuries suffered during the Masters to his many times surgically repaired left leg via twitter and his web site yesterday.  The statement on his website described the injuries as a grade 1 sprain of his medial collateral ligament and a "mild" sprain of his Achilles tendon.  Grade 1 sprains are the least serious sprains, with no significant tearing of the ligament.  The statement went on to say that he hopes to return to action in a "few weeks."

     Predictably, the blogosphere and the twitterverse saw heavy activity immediately following the announcement.  Debate rages on concerning the effect his newest injuries will have on his comeback and on the viability of his breaking Jack Nicklaus's major championship record.  It seems to me that his life and career are beginning to take on a classic three act, dramatic structure and we are deep in to the second act where conflict and challenge reign supreme.  You can almost see the script for the eventual movie or mini-series being written in your head as all of this plays out.  The thing is, human life is not as tidy as that.  As compelling as the first two acts have been, we can't know how this will play out.  To be honest, every announcement of a new setback makes more real the possibility that Tiger is a spent force in golf.  Some things to consider:

• His left knee has been operated on four times (three for ligament damage) and his left Achilles tendon has suffered rupture.
• The long term prognosis for a leg injured that often is not promising.  Further injury due to increasing instability and arthritis become distinct possibilities.
• The physical damage and scarring is fairly easy to predict, less easy to predict is the accumulated mental scarring that comes with repeated injury.  How long before doubts and even an unconscious favoring of that leg begin to effect his ability to make shots, possibly leading to injuries elsewhere?
• Add to that the emotional turmoil in his life for the last five years, starting with the passing of his father.  He went from being on top of the world to, well, what he is now:  An infamous and public serial adulterer, newly divorced, single father of two young children and and oft injured athlete trying to groove a significant swing change whilst recapturing his legendary short game and on-course focus.

     Tiger has either set the stage for the greatest comeback and redemption of all time, or this is just the beginning of a long slide in to irrelevance.  While each new setback can add drama and magnificence to the former, it more realistically adds probability to the latter. I don't think we will ever see the dominant Tiger of the 1999-2003 run again.  That period of time was a unique period in golf history, a nearly four year run of the best golf anyone has ever seen.  The question now seems to be, can Tiger at least recapture relevance where majors and big tournaments are concerned?  Can he once again be on that short list of perennial pre-tournament favorites?    Given his past record of achievement, you can't count him out, seems to be the most prevalent argument among Woods enthusiasts.  I tend to think a bit differently.  Look at his performance since 2006.  You will see a trend that points in the other direction and shows no real signs of being reversed, and in increasing number of signs that would indicate the trend's acceleration.  His health, execution and focus, once touted as his greatest strengths, have been on the downhill slide for the last five years.  The Tiger of the future may wow us occasionally, win here and there, but his days in the forefront of the tour are likely, and sadly, past.

Weekend recap - by the numbers, Heritage Classic finale (maybe) edition

Some numbers from this past weekend's action:

64, 6, 2 - Brandt Snedeker shot a stunning final round 64 to come from six shots off of the lead to tie golf's latest pretender to the throne of the world number one ranking.  He then had to wait for nearly two hours for Luke Donald and playing partner Jim Furyk to finish before beginning a playoff with Donald after the two finished in a twelve under par deadlock.  Three playoff holes later, Snedeker tapped in for a par that sealed the win and denied Donald a place atop the Official World Golf Ranking, which he would have taken from idle Martin Kaymer with a win.  Instead, Snedeker donned the winner's tartan plaid jacket and Donald had to content himself with the second place check and a move from seventh to third in the OWGR.
     Sunday's final round started with 22 players within six shots of the lead, and the short but demanding layout at Harbour Town Golf Links kept the field bunched as several players made runs at the top spot on the leaderboard.  Ricky Barnes and Camillo Villegas surged early but failed to keep the momentum, Tim Herron and Tommy Gainey surged late but also fell short, although Herron did manage to post his first top ten finish since 2008.

1, 2, 3 - Lee Westwood claimed the No. 1 ranking in the OWGR for the second time by firing a three under 69 for a three stroke victory over Thongchai Jaidee in the Indonesian Masters.  Westwood's move in the rankings sparked some controversy as the Indonesian Masters is an Asian Tour event, featuring a much weaker field that the PGA Tour Heritage Classic or the Euro Tour's Volvo China Open, won by Nicolas Colasaerts.  As far as the OWGR, events on the Asian Tour are awarded with the same number of points as are events on the Nationwide Tour, although the Asian Tour is considered a separate entity and not a developmental tour.

     In Champions Tour news, the team of David Eger and Mark McNulty edged Kenny Perry and Scott Hoch on the first playoff hole to win the Liberty mutual Legends of Golf.  The Legends, a two man better ball event started in 1978, provided the impetus for the foundation of the Seniors Tour for over 50 golfers in 1980.  The Seniors Tour would morph in to the Champions Tour of today.

Sunday preview: Battle for #1, haunted Hilton Head and more . . .

     Lee Westwood's 3 stroke victory in the Indonesian Masters has set up a showdown for the world number one ranking, with Luke Donald poised to move in to the top spot with a win in the Heritage classic today.  Westwood will vault to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking if Donald fails to hold his lead in today's final round.

     Twenty-two players will start the final round within 6 shots of Donald's 11 under par total, with defending champion Jim Furyk one stroke back and playing in the final group with Donald.  Other top contenders include Brendon De Jonge and Scott Verplank at -9, and Jason Day, Ricky Barnes and Tommy Gainey at eight under.

     Westwood's win guarantees the number one ranking to a non-major winner for the first time since David Duval took over the top ranking for exactly one week in August of 1999 (Duval's only major championship to date came at the 2001 Open Championship).  This turn of events has generated some controversy, with CBS commentators Jim Nance and Sir Nick Faldo discussing the ramifications during yesterdays' telecast.  Faldo made some telling points, the chief being that if major championships were afforded just 10% more ranking points in relation to other wins, the issue would basically be solved.  Faldo reiterated his feelings with some clarification on his twitter feed after the telecast.

     The twitterverse also highlighted the stranger side on Saturday night, with Ian Poulter's feed describing his supposed "visitor from beyond" in his rented Hilton Head home. Over several posts, Poulter described his haunting experience and sought shelter for the night with friends.  The previous day, Poulter engaged in an unprovoked twitter joust with golf writer Stephanie Wei stemming from Wei's attempts to interview Ernie Els after that day's round.  Poulter described Wei as "clueless" and, in the ironic comment of the week, "intrusive."  If you would like to judge Wei's work for yourself, her excellent blog is a great place to start.  Fan's of Poulter's can follow his spats, intrusions in to other people's business and hauntings as well as his sartorial thoughts, shopping excursions and eating habits by following the link above.  Personally, I think the "Poultergeist" (sorry, I just couldn't) was the ghost of any chance he had to win this week after a sloppy third round 75 dropped him from contention.  Poulter may be the only PGA Tour professional who's twitter feed is more relevant than his game.  #badtrend

    

Implemental favorites

     This week's stop on the PGA Tour is a respite from bomb and gouge and favors players skilled at working the ball, controlling trajectory and hitting irons precise distances.  Pete Dye's tight and twisty layout at the Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head has been the host course for the Heritage since it's inception in 1969 and features tree lined fairways, lots of doglegs and plays through a natural wetlands area to increase the penalty for failing to keep the ball in the short grass.

      Given the nature of the test, I think it's hard to find a better pick for the week than Luke Donald.  In five starts, Donald has a win, and three top tens (including a seventh place finish in the Masters) vs. only one missed cut.  The Englishman is known as one of the premier iron players on tour and he is as hot as the pink shirts he often dons for the final round (we can only hope that the particularly egregious pairing of pink and green was a special Masters edition and won't be repeated).

     One might also consider Matt Kuchar, as the Georgia Tech grad has finished in the top ten in six of nine starts this year.  My sentimental pick would be Steve Elkington, if only because I like watching his swing and he gets next to no TV time these days.  In all seriousness, Harbour Town is one of those tracks where you can easily see an older player winning, as distance is not at a premium.

     My ill-designed for the purpose, no chance in hell pick for this week is John Daly.  If ever a course and player were less suited for one another, I can't bring them to mind.  Then again, I suppose Long John can't be too picky about where he plays these days.  Daly is scheduled for the first tee time on Thursday, playing with Kevin Na and Jesper Parnevik.  Given Na's well known penchant for playing at an evolutionary pace (unless surrounded by trees and high grass) and Daly's ability to shoot 78 quicker than anyone else on tour, I'm guessing tempers and scores will be high.

Johnson and caddy part ways

     In a surprising move, PGA Tour golfer Dustin Johnson and his caddy, Bobby Brown are splitting up.  Brown, who had come under fire from critics for not helping his golfer more during incidents at both the 2010 U.S. Open and PGA Championship, had been defended by Johnson in a recent article published in Golf Magazine.  Johnson was quoted in that atricle as saying, "Bobby and I are fine, no tension, his job is safe."  Johnson had been questioned by Golf Magazine editor at large Connell Barrett about Brown's performance during the previously mentioned incidents and a tee time mix up at the 2011 Northern Trust Open that cost Johnson a two-stroke penalty and nearly saw him disqualified from the tournament.

     Typically, tour caddies relieve their players of smaller, detail oriented responsibilities like checking tee times.  The criticism of Brown's performance in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach last year was centered around his actions, or lack thereof, during Johnson's meltdown early in the final round.  Many observers felt that Brown should have tried to prevent Johnson from hurrying to attempt an ill advised series of shots starting on the second hole.  At the PGA championship at Whistling Straghts last August, Brown was again heavily criticized for not being aware that the sandy area Johnson was standing in off of the 18th  fairway in the final round was a hazard.  Johnson grounded his club in the hazard, which had been rendered difficult to recognize due to spectator traffic, resulting in a two stroke penalty and a tie for fifth instead of a place in a playoff.

     Johnson is next in action at the Ballantine's Championship in Seoul, South Korea next week.  According to his agent, David Winkle, Johnson expects to try more than one caddy before settling on a replacement for Brown."This isn't about finding a replacement as quickly as possible," Winkle said in an email to Golf Digest's Tim Rosaforte. "It's about finding the right person for the long term. More than likely, Dustin will have a trial run with a few different guys before making any decisions. Just as with any player/caddy relationship, it's not just about experience and caddying skills, but also about chemistry."

Weekend recap - by the numbers

   

Some important numbers from this weekend's worldwide golf action:

17, 2 - Seventeen refers to the age of Matteo Manassero, the winner of last weeks European Tour stop.  Manassero closed with a four under 68 to beat Gregory Bourdy by a stroke and 54 hole leader Rory McIlroy by two.  Two refers to the number of wins under Manassero's belt after winning the Castello Masters last October.  Two could also refer to the number of consecutive tournaments McIlroy has failed to win after holding at least a share of the 54 hole lead.

1, 231 - One refers to the number of career PGA Tour wins for Brendan Steele after the conclusion of the Valero Texas Open. It can also refer to the number of strokes he had for a cushion after taking the 54 hole lead, the number of strokes under par he managed to card in his final round, the number of strokes he won by, or the fact that this is the 28 year old Steele's first year playing on the PGA Tour.  Two-hundred and thirty one refers to Steele's Official World Golf Ranking at the start of the tournament, the highest ranking in the final threesome of Steele, Kevin Chappel (Ranked 270) and Cameron Tringale (not ranked).

6 - Six is the number of strokes John Cook carded on the par four 18th hole in the final round of the Champions' Tour Outback Steakhouse pro-am after hitting his approach shot in to the water.  The double-bogey dropped him in to a tie with Jay Don Blake.  Playing the same hole for the playoff, Cook hit a six-iron to six feet for the winning birdie.

3 - The number of consecutive weeks with no tournament on the LPGA Tour after the cancellation of the Tres Marias Championship, scheduled for April 21-24 in Morelia, Mexico, due to the level of drug cartel linked violence in the local area.

0, 8,000,000 - Zero is the number of times the PGA Tour may return to Harbour Town Golf Links after this year.  The Heritage Classic, a tour staple since 1969, is being played without a sponsor this year.  The tournament's most recent sponsor, Verizon, pulled out after last years event and no sponsor has yet been willing to step up.  Lack of sponsorship could render extinct one of the most unique tournaments on tour, as Pete Dye's twisty, tight layout rewards accuracy and shotmaking prowess over length and strength.  Eight million is the number of dollars a sponsor must be willing to pony up to cover tournament costs, just in case you have that kind of scratch laying around.

Duodecupling

     Duffers of the world take comfort!  Every now and then, even the best golfers in the world suffer just like the rest of us do.  In yesterday's first round of the Valero Texas Open, Kevin Na suffered a horrific duodecuple bogey 16 at the par four ninth hole (why yes, it did take me a bit to come up with that term).  Video of his wilderness adventure can be seen above.  Highlights include two tee shots, hitting himself with a ricochet, at least two whiffs and an unplayable lie.  Na made a comeback of sorts, carding three under on the back nine to finish the first round with a smooth 80.  I've heard the term "snakebit" used for a golfer suffering these kinds of travails, but given the scrub he was hacking around in, it seemed like a literal possibility.  Na followed his 80 with a 77 during today's second round to miss the cut by a mile, but give him credit for being able to smile through it all.  He was wearing a microphone and his discussion with his caddy after extricating himself from the woods was priceless, as was his post round interview.

      With a few groups left on the course, Brendan Steele currently leads at -4, with five players tied for second at -3 including Rich Beem, Geoff Ogilvy, and Brandt Snedeker.  Beem, the 2002 PGA Champion, makes his first cut in six tries this season after off-season back surgery.

     Rory McIlroy found the perfect tonic to his Masters hangover, firing an eight under 64 in the second round of the Maybank Malaysian Open to tie for the 36 hole lead at -11 with Sweden's Alexander Noren.

Lone star rises

    

     Today marks the opening round for one of the longest running and historically rich tournaments on the PGA Tour.  Why yes, I AM talking about the Valero Texas Open.  Long a fixture on the post major championship tour schedule and a member of the initial iteration of the PGA Tour Fall(ing down the money list) Series, the tournament has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence due to a change of both venue and schedule.

     Played nearly continuously in San Antonio since 1922 (with breaks for the great depression, World War Two and the 1968 PGA Championship),  the Valero Texas Open boasts  a list of winners that includes 15 major champions and reads like a who's who of professional golf from the 1920's to the present.  Starting with the 2009 tournament, the Valero Texas Open was moved from the Fall Series to its present April date.  This move, allowing the tournament participants to escape the scorching south Texas late summer weather, a significant increase in the purse and a move to the new TPC of San Antonio have allowed the tournament to attract more quality players to the field.  Recent champions include former Masters Champion Zach Johnson and this year's Master's runner-up Adam Scott, who defends his 2010 title this week.

     The European Tour stops in Kuala Lumpur this week for the Maybank Malaysian Open, where the field includes new Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel, world number one Martin Kaymer and Masters 54 hole leader Rory McIlroy.  McIlroy, whose final round collapse resulted in an outpouring of sympathy and praise for the 21 year old Northern Irelander, endured a 22 hour odyssey the day after the Masters concluded.  Flying in a chartered jet with Schwartzel, McIlroy gained further admiration from golf fans world wide by tweeting a pic of himself and the green jacketed champion arm in arm and smiling on the plane.  Upon arrival in Malaysia, both golfers found that their luggage, clubs included, had been misplaced.  The clubs were found in time for McIlroy to post a three under score of 69 in the opening round of the tournament.

    

Lessons learned

     Even 24 hours later, the impressions left from the final round of the 75th playing of the Masters Championship are disjointed and chaotic.  The last three hours of the day featured more competing story lines than a Tolstoy novel and not as much space to develop the story.  I was watching the CBS telecast and the live streaming content and was unable to keep up with it all.  In part, this was due to CBS's insistence on making us watch Tiger read every green, take every step, drink every bottle of water . . .  Granted, Tiger's play was compelling and certainly needed to be shown, but when most of the other competitors are making runs of their own, I think we deserve to see their play and not Tiger's housekeeping.  When Tiger was the dominant force in golf, the "All Tiger all the time" approach to broadcasting was actually justified as he would invariably end up being the most compelling subject.  Not so much, these days.  One of the lessons we learned from Sunday's fireworks is that the younger players won't roll over and steal away when Tiger starts to roar.

     For all of the talk about how the Masters had lost it's essential excitement due to the changes made to Augusta National's length and composition, I think it's safe to say the folks in the green jackets know what they're doing.  Any time you can get the mix of players involved that you had on Sunday, you should be ecstatic.  Lesson number two is, The Masters remains the most volatile, exciting and compelling high-wire act in golf.

     Overnight success is rarely what it's cracked up to be.  Much of the talk around the chat rooms and the blogosphere is about the stunning success of "newcomer" Charl Schwartzel.  Fact is, the twenty-six year old has been a touring professional for eight years, having turned pro at the tender age of eighteen.  He has dominated the South African based Sunshine Tour and owns 7 wins on the European Tour.  He may be a newcomer to the PGA Tour, winning the Masters in his first year playing the U.S. circuit, but he's hardly a new face in the international golf world.  See also a Masters leader board where Bo Van Pelt was the low American not named Woods.  A third lesson learned is that the U.S. tours are no longer the sole locations for the best in the world to play.

     Our final lessons involve what it truly means to be a champion.  Webster's defines a champion as:

1. One that wins first place or first prize in a competition.

2. One that is clearly superior or has the attributes of a winner: a champion at teaching.

3. An ardent defender or supporter of a cause or another person: a champion of the homeless.

By these definitions, I think it fair to say that Rory McIlroy is a champion.  He would have been completely justified in declining interview requests and seeking the comfort of solitude or family and friends.  Instead, he gracefully and honestly answered questions both behind the eighteenth green and in the locker room and even found the time to graciously give his golf ball to a young girl clapping for him behind the ropes after his nightmarish round was over.  Rory may have fallen short of being a champion on the course, but excelled at being a champion in life.  Contrast his behavior with that of Tiger Woods, whose brief post round interview managed to pack ten pounds of sarcasm and condescension in to a five pound sack.  Maybe being an edgy jerk helps to make him the golfer that he is, then again, maybe it just makes him an edgy jerk.  Rory taught us that it doesn't take a green jacket to be a champion, Tiger taught us that a closet full of green jackets does not a champion make.

Rewriting history

     South African Charl Schwartzel became the first golfer to birdie the final four holes to win a major championship today, shooting a final round 66 for a two stroke Masters win over Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day.  Schwartzel's closing charge capped one of the wildest Sundays in Masters history, a day that witnessed furious charges by Scott, Day, Tiger Woods, Geoff Ogilvy and Luke Donald. Ten players held at least a share of the lead after third round leader Rory Mcilroy suffered an epic collapse, throwing the doors open and bringing half of the field into contention.

     The roars started early as Tiger Woods scorched for front nine in five under 31 to get into a tie for the lead.  Woods had the look of the Tiger of old as he combined great ball striking with clutch putting, notably holing an 18 foot, momentum saving putt for par after a poor drive on the ninth.  That save followed an eagle on the par five eighth after a striped fairway wood left a putt of just eight feet. Woods had put himself in position for a back nine run at the title only to stall unexpectedly after a three-putt bogey on twelve, an awful par on thirteen after a seven-iron second shot rolled over the green and missing a four foot eagle putt on fifteen.  Woods finished with a lackluster even par 36 on the back to briefly hold the clubhouse lead.  Ogilvy, at one point birdieing five straight and Donald, recovering from a watery double bogey on 12, matched Woods' at -10  before Scott and Day, who birdied the last two holes, finished their own charges at twelve under.  By that time, Schwartzel had birdied fifteen, sixteen and seventeen to take a one stroke lead and watched Scott and Day finish from his drive in the middle of the eighteenth fairway.  A nine iron to twelve feet sealed the deal and a canned putt provided the exclamation point to a historic finish on the most chaotic Sunday in Masters history.

     There were so many players in contention, so many rounds under par in progress that it was impossible to follow every story line.  You didn't even realize that some of the leaders were in contention until their scores were posted.  Ogilvy birdied five straight and got about 30 seconds of television time.  Bo Van Pelt poured in eagle putts on thirteen and fifteen to get within a stroke of the lead and all you saw was tape delay of both putts going in. Schwartzel chipped in from off the planet for birdie on one, jars his second shot on three for eagle and disappeared from sight until his birdie on fifteen. Every time another golfer appeared on the screen, another spectacular shot was being struck, a long putt was being holed and patrons were screaming themselves hoarse.  Donald, who had rinsed his ball on 12, clawed back to nine under and looked to have run out of luck at 18, with his drive coming to rest right up against the fairway bunker.  He played his second shot with his back to the hole, hit a miraculous shot that bounced off of the pin and took a horrible bounce off of the front of the green.  Fittingly, he then chipped in to post ten under.  It seemed like the only players not lighting it up were the two in the last group. Angel Cabrera turned in a serviceable but futile 71 to post an irrelevant nine under while McIlroy suffered through a nightmarish round of 80.

     What can you say about McIlroy?  His struggles were painful to watch and must have been infinitely more painful to live through.  An erratic front nine of one over par 37 still saw him walking to the tenth tee tied for the lead at 11 under.  He then turned the tenth in to a giant sized putt-putt hole, ricocheting his drive dead left off of a tree and playing his second from between two cabins about a hundred yards from the fairway.  A wedge out left a long third which bounced off of the scoreboard to the left of the green, followed by a fourth shot that hit a tree branch and bounced straight back.  From there a chip and two putts added up to a triple-bogey seven and started a spiral that would see him surrender an additional four strokes to par before he managed to find the clown's mouth and head for the locker room.  The picture of Rory reacting to yet another pull hooked drive on thirteen told the story of the day, his brow resting on his arm, hiding his anguish and frustration and searching for a way to compose himself.  He handled himself with grace and class, talking to the media, signing autographs and praising the winner.  You really have to hope that there are more lessons learned than scars created from today's searing rite of passage.  Golf can indeed be a cruel mistress but on the balance, she gave us a beautiful, soaring experience to remember today.

     Perhaps the most interesting events to come from today's rugby scrum of a final round both come from Woods' blistering front nine charge.  The first is that he was able to mount it at all.  It bodes well for Woods, his fans and the game that he seems to be so very close to his old form.  The second is that nearly none of the young guns on the leaderboard wilted as he was making his run.    Almost to a man, they were inspired to new heights rather than intimidated in to making mistakes.  That, ladies and gents, makes for many more interesting experiences to come.  How many weeks to the U.S. Open at Congressional?

He can run, but can he hide?

     A patient round of 70 and a lead increased were the immediate fruits of Rory McIlroy's labor on Masters Saturday, possibly laying the groundwork for a triumphant march through the pines for Sunday's final round.  Assuming, that is, he can shoot a Sunday score somewhere under par.  A slow start by McIlroy will open the floodgates for his pursuers and allow the majority of the tightly bunched field in to the mix.

     McIlroy finished the third round at twelve under par, four strokes clear of Angel Cabrera, Charl Schwartzel, K. J. Choi and Jason Day.  Adam Scott and Luke Donald followed five back at -7, with Bo Van Pelt at six under, rounding out the group of realistic contenders should McIlroy manage to card a score within a couple of strokes of even par.  An early stumble by the leader, not out of the question given McIlroy's tender age, the quality of his competition and the fact that this is his first Sunday in serious contention for a major title, could lead to the most wide open Masters Sunday in tournament history.

     While only seven players ended the third round within five strokes of the lead, twenty-three players finished the day at three under or better, within five strokes of the group at -8.  That group includes six major champions and seven of the top ten players in the Official World Golf Ranking.  Tiger Woods and Fred Couples are lurking at five under, Matt Kuchar and Y.E. Yang are hanging around at -4 and Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Steve Stricker and the lone amateur to make the cut, Hideki Matsuyama would be hoping for a miracle at -3.  Eleven different nationalities are represented among those top 23 places.

     McIlroy's inspirational play for the first three rounds puts him squarely in the driver's seat but a steady and patient hand will be obligatory.  Augusta National has proven to be the most volatile golf course in the major championship rotation.  If McIlroy can keep his head through the inevitable final round physical and mental challenges, keep calm and execute through the Sunday roars and shut out malign influences that prey upon the psyche with every bad break then he will have earned his first major title.  History tells us that the most likely outcome will see Rory or one of his closest pursuers wearing the green jacket Sunday evening, with two time major champion and playing partner Angel Cabrera being the most likely contender.  Just be ready to throw the history book out the window if one of the greats further back in the pack starts hot and gets the Master's patrons out of their seats, sending roars echoing through the lob-lollies. Whatever happens it should be, as always, great theater.  Fore please!

Fantastic, freaky Friday

     Masters Friday had more story lines than azalea blooms and more red numbers than a Bernie Madoff balance sheet.  Young guns without fear, crafty old pros at their flinty best, top-ten ranked players returning to relevance, or shockingly missing the cut, and some guy named Eldrick going low and ending the day in a tie for third.

     Tiger Woods actually flirted with the cut line (+1, tied for the lowest in Masters history) for most of the front nine, walking to the eighth tee at even par for the tournament and one over for the day after bogeying the seventh.  He then reeled off birdies at eight, nine and ten.  After pushing his drive 20 yards to the right of the fairway and playing his approach 30 feet past the hole, a poor first putt left a 10 foot downhill knee knocker for par on the eleventh.  You could almost sense that Tiger was going to follow his normal modus operandi of late and make a mess of the hole, killing his momentum.  Instead, he coolly poured it in like the big cat of old, fist pumped and walked to the next tee.  A par at twelve was followed by birdies at thirteen, fourteen and fifteen.  He stiffed his tee shot on the par three sixteenth and missed a make-able birdie putt, played a nifty chip from over the seventeenth green to save par and pushed his drive on the eighteenth into the first cut.  From a fluffy lie, obstructed by the trees, he hit a 30 yard slice to eight feet and canned the birdie putt to hang a smooth six-under 66 on the board, good for a tie for third at seven under, just three back of the lead.

     That lead spot is still occupied by first round leader Rory McIlroy after the curly coiffed son of Eire toured the course in a demon exorcising three under 69 to go with his opening day 65.  When last seen leading a major championship after the first day, McIlroy played the second round of the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews like he had the ghost of Old Tom Morris standing on his neck, turning in a wind blown 80.  His only hiccup on Friday was a bogey at the difficult twelfth, offset by birdies at the second, fifth, ninth and thirteenth.

    Australian Jason Day,  McIlroy's playing partner and the old man of the group at 23 years of age, turned in the low score of the day, an eight under 64 that vaulted him in to solo second place and a spot with McIlroy in Saturday's final group.  The youth movement at the 75th Masters was also well served by the third member of that group, Ricky Fowler, who matched McIlroy's 69 with a six-birdie, three bogey performance.

     Then we have one Frederick Steven Couples.  Freddie, who has back braces as old as McIlroy, fired an ageless 68 to get into the heard of players at five under and claim the spot for low Champions Tour member.  Couples qualifies for the biggest high-wire act in this year's tournament, gutting his rounds out on savvy and pain killers.  The way he moves when he's not making that familiar, graceful swing makes you wonder if he might not bend over to pick a ball out of the cup and fail to straighten back up.  His performance on Saturday and Sunday will be perhaps the most compelling story line in a championship with more possibilities than the mind can comfortably encompass.

     Take Lee Westwood who, in related news, fired a five under 67 to regain relevance after a so-so opening day even par 72.  Such was the surfeit of story lines that the world number two played himself back into the tournament and almost no one noticed, judging by the amount of play his round received in the media.  Westwood carded four birdies and an eagle to offset one bogey and never seemed to make a putt of longer than eight feet, excepting the gorgeous 30 foot breaker he rolled in to the heart of the cup on fifteen for eagle.  In fact, that putt was one of the two or three times Westwood appeared on the television coverage all day, tape delayed, of course.

     Other lurkers include Geoff Ogilvy, who has very quietly fired back to back scores of 69 and stands tied for fifth with K.J. Choi at six under.  Choi will be paired with Woods in the penultimate group on Saturday.  Woods and Choi, incidentally, were grouped together for all four days in last year's Masters.

     Surprises and story lines were abundant on the opposite end of the scoring spectrum as well.  World number one Martin Kaymer, fifth ranked Graeme McDowell and Retief Goosen, who was the on-course tournament leader for much of his Friday round after a first hole eagle, all missed the cut along with Anthony Kim, Zach Johnson, Padraig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen, Stuart Cink and Lucas Glover, to name a few.  One amateur made the weekend, with 2010 Asian Amateur champion Hideki Matsuyama making the cut on the number.

     Prognostications abound as to what the weekend will bring and the possibilities are many and varied.  As for me, I'm just going to turn on the tube and soak in the Saturday round.  Come what may, it's going to be fun to watch and even more fun to write about afterwards.

Masterful starts and fits

     It's just not supposed to happen this way.  Young men in their early twenties are supposed to be preoccupied with things like spring break, frat parties and, maybe, starting to consider what they'll do with their lives once college is over.  They are not, conventional wisdom tells us, supposed to be dismantling a storied major championship venue like Augusta National.  I suppose we shouldn't mention that to Rory McIlroy.  The Twenty-one year old from Northern Ireland fired an opening round seven under par 65 that can best be described as, well, businesslike.  Seven birdies, no bogeys and none of the normal fireworks one expects  from a player who has it going on the premier risk/reward course in the world.  No spectacular escapes from trouble, no eagles, no recoveries from the bogeys that are the penalties for the slightest lack of precision on Augusta's difficult greens.  Rory's day was spent, by and large, driving the ball where is should be driven, striking approach shots to the proper places and leaving himself with great looks at birdie all day.  As hard as it is to believe, 65 was just about as high a score as he was going to shoot yesterday, given that he failed to convert at least three make-able birdie putts.  There are three rounds left to play in a tournament that is notoriously unkind to both youth and first round leads, and McIlroy has some dark history to overcome where first round leads in major championships are concerned (he led the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews with a first round 63 only to shoot 80 the next day), but this is one young golfer who will certainly bear watching over the next three days.

     McIlroy sits atop one of the most internationally flavored major championship leader boards in recent memory.  You have to scroll down to a tie for fifth place to find the first American names and six of the top ten first round scores belong to foreign born players.  Spaniard Alvaro Quiros is tied with McIlroy at seven under and former PGA Champion Y.E. Yang tied for third with K.J. Choi   at five under.  Two former U.S. Amateur champions, Ricky Barnes and Matt Kuchar are tied for fifth at -4.

     The biggest surprise of the day may have been the performance of reigning PGA Champion and current world number one Martin Kaymer.  Kaymer posted a shocking 78, putting him in real danger of missing his fourth masters cut in four tries.  Other first day fizzles included current U.S. Open champion and fifth ranked Graeme McDowell's 74, matched by Ian Poulter and Dustin Johnson, all of whom were included in the pre-tournament discussion of Masters favorites.

     Perennial Masters favorites and buzz-meter needle movers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were decidedly average on day one, with Woods carding a one under 71 and Mickelson a two under 70.  Mickelson only managed to find three fairways and was saved by his short-game prowess while Woods recovered nicely from consecutive birdies at 10 and 11 with a 20-foot par save from the back of the green on the dangerous twelfth.  When asked how he felt about his chances going forward, Woods responded that he felt good about his round and his prospects by pointing our he was "only" six strokes back.  The early tee times are already on the course for round two, stay tuned for more.