The CSGA Links Volume 3 Issue 2 May, 2015 | Page 22

in The Masters.

Disaster struck in the form of the innocuous
looking #17 and he makes one of those doubles that
lurk around every turn on this golf course during this
tournament. Then he hits just a terrible approach into
18…that is just dead over there, and even after watching
him hit the bunker shot on 10 and knowing how talented
he is and how good his hands are I still thought that if
he got that within 10 feet it would have been a miracle.

Under no circumstances did I think he would try
to go up with it using loft, and that shot he pulled off
was just insane. He landed it in the only spot he could
have and the ball ended up 6 feet away and the next putt
would have gone in a thimble it was that good.

We watched a bunch of guys come through #10
and everyone who hit it in that bunker struggled. Dufner
and Vijay made double and Brooks Koepka had a great
round going as he was -4 on his round coming in, found
that bunker and did not get it up and down. This seemed
to take the wind out of his sails as he went on to double
the 11th and go from -4 to -1 in the blink of an eye.

This is what makes Jordan Speith’s up and down
from that same bunker even more remarkable. I did not
see one other guy get that shot within 10 feet, and he
plopped it out to a foot and made it look easy. I was
talking to my dad about this and he said the reason that
bunker is so tough to that pin is that there is no green
to work with, it is running away from you, and the face
of the bunker is so steep that the ball rolls down into
it and ends up a little on the down slope which makes
the shot that much harder. Anyway the hands on Spieth
were remarkable and just another attribute to a player
that is already just teeming with talent…

SUNDAY

My prediction is that Jordan is going to win a
handful of these. He reminds me of both Rory and
Tiger at this stage in their respective careers. Insanely
talented, huge work ethic, and maturity beyond his
years. He is a class act and really there is no better guy
to put on the green jacket for the first time than Jordan.
Finishing at 18 under he tied Tiger’s record in 1997 and
at one point got to -19 - I actually started thinking if the
scoreboard operators, on the big white manual boards
that have been a constant at The Masters for as long as I
can remember, had the #20 if he were to go to -20. It is
a question that did not get answered today and probably
never will…
22 | CSGA Links // May, 2015

…Some observations - I was fascinated with the
4-shot lead 3-shot lead ping pong battle on the front
side. It seemed that every time you think Spieth would
falter he would pop back with a birdie, or anytime you
thought Rose would make a charge he would stumble.
As different as Jordan looks out there compared to
the first 3 rounds his lead actually was 5 at the turn. I
thought the tone was set on #1 after Justin made birdie
that Jordan put it in right on top of him. I think that was
a microcosm of other things that we saw all day…

…Dustin Johnson is an absolute freak show how
far he hits it. If this guy could just learn some consistency
with his putter he would be a world-beater. Remember
this course was pretty wet and there was not a lot of
roll off the tee and he hit a drive 349 on #11 and then
360 on #13 - but then he hit a 9 iron in the pond on 16
which is so hard to do when you have that slope to the
right of the pin there to use. He must have missed his
target there by at least 20 yards and that is with a 9 iron
- that sort of thing cannot happen if he wants to win a
major…

…The Rory and Tiger pairing - maybe one of the
quietest low rounds of the day in a major we will ever
see out of Rory. He is so close and I would be shocked
if he does not win another major this year. Tiger did not
hit a fairway until the 13th where he promptly converted
his new found view from the short grass into an eagle.
This was a huge pairing and I thought these 2 guys were
too far back to mount a charge and obviously it did not
take a genius to figure that out. It is good to see Tiger
back and although he has some work to do he is headed
in the right direction…

…Well everyone, this day started off awesome
with the CBS Special on my dad and family and it
finished off awesome with Jordan Spieth slipping on the
Green Jacket. The Masters never disappoints.
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