Intrepid and hirsute reporter Will Willfrum (err, Wolfrum) informs on Dwight Monreal’s attack by gator at Tampa Palms G&CC in a recent blog. Impressed and curious, I delved deeply into the CNN home page and came up with the following link to T-Shirt heaven. For a mere $15 US (or $1 Canadian), you can get a t-shirt of any CNN headline that bears the following image link (beware: it is a tiny little t-shirt…here it comes… I’m hoping that the good people of CNN will have a bit of restraint and will not T-up every headline that comes ... full post »

It had all the trappings of a coming-out party. Vicky Hurst forewent college golf to head straight to the professional golf world last Fall. She was medalist at the Duramed Futures Tour qualifying school and tossed a 64 on Saturday to take a 4-stroke lead into the final round. On Sunday, Hurst made 16 pars, 1 birdie and 1 bogey, playing the type of golf one would expect from a wily veteran. Only trouble was, M.J. Hur didn’t read the script. Hur played an unbelievable final nine holes, birdieing 11-13 to close within one. After a ... full post »

When Casey Wittenberg lost in the final of the USGA Amateur in 2003, it was by the slimmest of margins. Believing that he had accomplished all he might among the non-professionals, he turned pro after one college year, one college season, at Oklahoma State. Stupid move. Must have never heard the name “Ty Tryon.” Four or so years later, Wittenberg is back in form. He placed third today at the Nationwide Tour’s Athens Regional Foundation Classic, moving from 29th on the money list. He will most certainly move into the top fifteen on that ... full post »

Two of Japan’s finest golfing professionals placed outside the cut line this week at the Augusta National golf club. Toru Taniguchi and Shingo Katayama traveled to the USA with high hopes for glory at the Augusta National golf club. Taniguchi shook off a 7 at the 13th on Friday with two late birdies. His hopes were dashed when he could not muster the final birdie needed to make the cut on the line. His total of +4 over two rounds was one shot to high. Countryman Shingo Katayama, no stranger to fans from the USA, ... full post »

4 out of 5 competing South Africans struggled to find form at Augusta National this week. Ernie Els, Tim Clark, Retief Goosen and Gary Player could muster no lower than 74 in their 8 rounds. All four missed the cut, breaking the hearts of their homeland supporters. One ZA Tour graduate did make the cut, however. Trevor Immelman stormed to a three-shot victory over Tiger Woods to become the second ZA to win the US Masters green jacket. It is assumed that countryman and mentor Gary Player will assist Immelman in the preparations for next ... full post »

I’m sure that Mr. Liang is looking forward to a return trip to Augusta National in 2009. He is a fine player who placed 12th at the Zurich Classic last week, although he could not recapture that form in Georgia. Liang does most of his playing in Asia, where he represented well with a 7th place finish at the Astro Indonesian Open this Winter. His finest hour to date came at the 2007 Singapore Masters, where he emerged triumphant. Assuming he recaptures form, a return invitation to Augusta National is a certainty. full post »

Well, I’m off to our local ABC affiliate to do a spot on The Masters for airing on tonight’s late-night sports show. I let you know this to add a bit of legitimacy to my often-ethereal writing. Some of my biggest supporters, like Tom and BV and Judge Smails, have to do so much damage control on my behalf. Through it all, they never abandon me. We’ll discuss Trevor’s ability to hang tough through some difficult weather. We’ll chat about Tiger’s inability to putt the ball this week. Remember last August, when Woody Austin discussed outplaying ... full post »

Holes 9-13 are playing as five of the most difficult six holes on Sunday at Augusta National. They account for more than 1/3 of the bogeys and double bogeys on the day. The next trio, however, are three of the easiest five of the round. Holes 14-16 account for 20% of the birdies and eagles made on the day. To have such a stark contrast might make for an incredible back nine at Augusta National. With six strokes separating seven players, it will still take a massive collapse from Snedeker, Immelman and Flesch to allow ... full post »

It’s funny how, in the early stages of the final round, Tiger Woods is looking up at golfers we’d never have imagined in contention. With Ernie Els now working with Butch Harmon, the Big Easy might have made an inspired early run. Not to be. With Phil a good year into Mr. Las Vegas’ tutelage, he ought to be farther along than he is, making better decisions than he has. Neither is true. Instead, we have Stewart Cink -2 through four holes, Paul Casey and Brandt Snedeker -1 through a similar number, and Tiger stuck ... full post »

Seven golfers are currently tied for the lead at Augusta National…in TWB (total weekly birdies.) The guy in last place, the 1985 winner, the chap playing with the Augusta National member-as-marker, Sandy Lyle, has 14 birdies and is +14…28 over on the other holes. Wow. Justin Leonard and Henrik Stenson also have 14 birdies and are +4 (18 shots given away elsewhere.) Richard Sterne is +3, for a 17-shot giveaway. The two gents who lead in total birdies and are in serious contention are Brandt Snedeker and Paul Casey (currently two and four shots off the overall ... full post »

Seven golfers are currently tied for the lead at Augusta National…in TWB (total weekly birdies.) The guy in last place, the 1985 winner, the chap playing with the Augusta National member-as-marker, Sandy Lyle, has 14 birdies and is +14…28 over on the other holes. Wow. Justin Leonard and Henrik Stenson also have 14 birdies and are +4 (18 shots given away elsewhere.) Richard Sterne is +3, for a 17-shot giveaway. The two gents who lead in total birdies and are in serious contention are Brandt Snedeker and Paul Casey (currently two and four shots off the overall ... full post »

It’s interesting how many of Augusta National’s holes run north and south. Current conditions indicate 20-30 mph winds with 25-35 mph gusting. These should last until 6:30, long enough to wreak havoc on the field. Here are a few of the interesting wind situations that we’ll see today: From left to right across 5, 6 and 16. 13 and 15 will play into the wind. From right to left across 12 (as if Golden Bell needed any more wind.) 17 will play downwind full post »

It’s only 350 yards long, but it will ruin more early runs than any other hole. It’s so birdieable that you cannot fathom making par, so you bogey it. Bubba Watson started out birdie…birdie…you guessed it not long ago. Instead of going to -1 for the tournament after three holes, he’s back to +1. The hole is known as “Flowering Peach,” as in “That’s a flowering peach, hun!” I’m surmising that Bubba won’t be the only one to feel the sting of the 3rd hole today at Augusta. In other news, three of the first five ... full post »

One of our cronies around here hinted at the improvements made to the The Masters website for 2008. Old BT recognizes the importance of coverage of the event from practice through jacket ceremony. I’m here to concur and expand. As anticipated, you can access any score or statistic you set your heart on. From birdies and eagles to hole-by-hole averages to current stats of amateurs, former champions and one-eyed Martians, it’s all a mouse-click away. Finding the guys who missed the cut may be the most difficult task at hand, but I’ll keep trying. The section ... full post »

You might have noticed that I’ve taken up temporary residence at a new address: ASAP Sports. I blog here, so this is home (until Mark kicks me out!) That other place feeds full-text interviews of every major sports event in the country to your email box, so I kind of sort of have a use for it, y’know? Without a doubt, the two most impressive feeds from yesterday were those spoken by Brandt Snedeker and Steve Flesch. These two fellow, among the top four contenders at the tournament, are candid, thoughtful and cautious. They utilize the ... full post »

For those who wretch at the syrupy-ness of CBS’ presentation of The Masters, take heart: it might have been worse. In 2008, a host of foreign players from far-off places (as in, not Europe and South Africa) participated in the event for the first time. While not making the cut for a variety of reasons, they would have made for linguistic gymnastics and much tongue-tripping on the part of Clampett and Nance. To wit: Prayad Marksaeng, Thailand: Thailand’s pronunciation we know. The first name looks way too much like something religious people do in church ... full post »

One four-letter word dominated interviews as the 3rd day of The Masters reached its conclusion: wind. A meteorological factor recognized as important and unpredictable, but never dominant. Never, perhaps, until Sunday. Players in and out of contention all had more to say on the impact of the wind than ever before at Augusta. For example… Stuart Appleby: ” Q. It’s supposed to gust tomorrow pretty high, what’s the strategy on that? Can you hit knock down shots here and get them to the green? STUART APPLEBY: It’s just very, very difficult. At least the course won’t be dry. ... full post »

I hate when the USGA plays politics. This year they screwed Mike Thompson out of a spot on the Walker Cup team, just like they did to Brandt Snedeker a few years ago. Well, just goes to show what THEY know. Snedeker, just as he did in his amateur heyday, shook off a bad patch of three straight bogeys (11-13) with 3 closing birdies (14, 15 and 17) to remain within striking distance of Trev Immelman. No slouch he, the South African birdied four of his final 11 holes to finish -11, putting to rest suggestions ... full post »

While Lorena Ochoa dismantles yet another field on the LPGA Tour, a hopeful 27-year old hit the most important shot of the week for ladies everywhere. Jeana Finlinson dropped a seven iron four feet from the stick at Golden Bell on Wednesday at Augusta National. The young lady received the right to hit a shot with Fuzzy Zoeller after her sponsor outbid others during a charity auction. HELLO, RONMON SPONSORS…LOOSEN UP YOUR PURSE STRINGS!!!!! The usually-stoic Zoeller seemed to loosen up a bit (go figure) after his partner stiffed it. Just goes to show that, no matter ... full post »

Seven past champions made the cut at The Masters this Thursday and Friday. That seems pithy to me. Woods, Mickelson, Johnson, Singh, Weir, Woosnam and Lyle. Not a law firm, mind you, although I’ve seen many whose shingle contains more names. This new Masters eliminates the older players from the mix. By older, I mean over 44. You won’t get a 40-something champion at Augusta again, unless we discover a pheromone in azaleas that stimulates muscular growth in mid-life crisis crackers. That’s my first odd factoid for the day. Southpaws, zurdos, lefties, they’re on ... full post »

As of this writing, an even dozen eagles have been posted at Augusta. Go to your grocer, buy a dozen eagles in a carton. That’s all. One was made by an amateur, so it shouldn’t even count. I miss eagles at Augusta. I miss eagles on 15, especially. Make eagle on 15 and you’ve got a shot at birdie on 16 (the carry-over effect.) Tiger made 3 on fifteen on Thursday; none there since then. Allenby holed out for 2 on 10 today. That’s not a Masters’ eagle!! Poulter had an ace ... full post »

Four years have passed since current challenger Brendt Snedeker and current Nationwide-Tour Guy Casey Wittenberg made the cut at Augusta National. Their reason for recognition? They are the last amateurs to make the cut at Augusta National. Wittenberg returned in 2005, this time as a pro (by virtue of his miraculous T13 finish in 2004), made the cut but drifted to T33 on the last day. None of this would matter at the other three majors. The US and British Opens are eponymously-defined as open events while the PGA is closed to professionals. The Masters was ... full post »

Call him the Mechanic, label his do’ the Spafro, he’s immune. He’s unpredictable and he once tied for second at the US Open with Ernie Els. He’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and he bears not one but two accent marks on his three names. He’s walking the fairways of Augusta National solo today and he’s minus-two for the day. Did I mention he likes a good cigar? He’s no Cuban, but he celebrates with the best of them. When the Euros were chillaxing their way to Ryder Cup victories this millenium, MAJ led the way in celebrations ... full post »

When Trip Kuehne won the US Mid-Amateur last fall at Bandon Dunes, I presumed it would be the jumping-off point that the career amateur needed to contend with greater frequency in US Ams and pro majors, to become the type of player that Hal Sutton and Matt Kuchar tried to be. Alas, it was the beginning of the end. You see, Trip had a plan to be a better father, to keep his family stable and united, to walk away from the competitive amateur game at a pre-determined point. His brother was an alcohol addict by high school, his ... full post »

After we said iAdios! to Sergio, Ernie and Stricker, we were left with no “El Ninyo.” For those who wonder if I have forgotten my Spanish, since we cannot ~ an “n,” I’ve resorted to creative spelling to convey the “ny” sound. Back to the topic…read the following quotes from Elin’s husband on what the winds feel like inside the rough lines Q. Do you think the weather might be an advantage to you since you have a pretty good record over the years with weather? TIGER WOODS: You have to play well. I don’t care if, who you ... full post »

‘’Yeah, well they don’t understand the last O, I guess.'’ My favorite quote from the first of official days at the Masters comes courtesy of the south’s greatest wordsmith since Faulkner, Mr. Boo Weekley. Reminds me of the time the fans called Ian Baker-Finch ‘’Ian-Baker,'’ giving him a hyphenated first name, as many good southern boys have. I guess that makes me … Ronny-Monny or something. I think we all understand that last ‘’O,'’ though. We know that ‘’O'’ isn’t going to win it, but get it in the hole as ‘’O'’ as possible, make as ‘’O'’ ... full post »