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Post by SUVFan on Nov 14, 2020 17:44:40 GMT -5
2020 Masters
Round 3
Dustin Johnson managed to shoot a first round 65 -- he finished his round Friday morning -- and joined Paul Casey at -7. DJ kept the gas on in round 2, sharing the lead at -9, and then doubled down with another 65 today, equaling Jordan Speith's 3 round scoring record of 200.
Heading into Sunday at -16, DJ is 4 strokes ahead of a group at -12. None are exactly household names -- Ancer, Im, Frittelli and Smith. Sounds like a professional firm than a golfing group!
DJ has held the overnight lead going into the final day of a major a number of times, including at the 2000 US Open when upstart Colin Morikowa overtook him to take the hardware home. DJ just keeps bouncing back (I remember well his loss to Jason Day a few years back at the PGA). I think he's pretty comfortable this year and look for him to take care of business on the par 5s and possibly get to 20 under and an easy win.
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Post by SUVFan on Nov 15, 2020 11:37:56 GMT -5
2020 Masters
Round 4
DJ's off to a shaky start, missing fairways and greens. He did get to -17 before getting on the bogey train for 2 straight holes, getting off on the 6th with a birdie. So he's had an adventure to remain level par for the day, and will make a par on 7 to keep a 2 shot lead over Smith. Im is back another stroke at -13.
We'll see if DJ can at least birdie the gettable 8th. An eagle would really boost him.
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Post by SUVFan on Nov 15, 2020 15:33:44 GMT -5
2020 Masters
Round 4 Update
DJ put the shaky start behind him.
He made his birdie on 8 to get to -17, but Cam Smith matched him with a birdie on the 9th to stay within 2 strokes at the turn.
As Bobby Jones said, "The Masters begins on the back nine on Sunday." Cam Smith bogeyed the 11th to fall behind by 3 strokes, then DJ birdied 13 to extend it to a commanding 4 shot lead. They he hit the gas on 14 leaving himself a sand wedge to the green, which he left about 8 feet from the hole and the drained it to go up by 5 at -19, now 4 under for the day.
Note -- I'm about an hour behind. I had to run a couple of errands and am watching on a delay.
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Post by SUVFan on Nov 15, 2020 17:08:30 GMT -5
2020 Masters
Round 4 Update
Dustin Johnson ran away with the 2020 Masters Championship, firing a final round 68. His -20 overall score shattered the tournament's previous -18 record for low score, set by Tiger and equaled by Jordan Speith 5 years ago. DJ's last birdie of the round came at the 15th. He also broke a record last set by Jack in '64 -- fewest bogeys in a round by a winner -- DJ had only four (including two in the final round), one fewer than anyone before him.
Smith and Im shared second place, 5 strokes back at -15. Justin Thomas came in 4th at -12, one shot ahead of Rory, who once again failed in his quest to complete golf's grand slam. Other notable finisher included Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, tied for 7th at -10 and Patrick Reed and Web Simpson in a 3 way tie for 10th at -9.
The 2nd place finishers managed to get within one stroke of DJ early today. The birdie on 6 really settled him down and from there he started driving the ball the way he had in the previous rounds. The could't match the 3 birdies DJ added on each of the remaining par 5s. That adds up to a 5 stroke margin!
Congrats to DJ!
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Post by SUVFan on Nov 15, 2020 17:11:41 GMT -5
Unlike past winners, and depending on how COVID-19 develops or, hopefully, fades, DJ has only 5 months to savor this win. Meanwhile, the rest of the field can try again in 5 months!
Round 1 starts in 144 days on April 8th, 2021!
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Post by jimco22 on Nov 16, 2020 16:19:02 GMT -5
Congrats to DJ on his awesome win. Feels like he should have more major wins but never the less, he did not disappoint.
This will certainly give him momentum in the future. The Open and PGA is the next chapter to complete the grand slam.
At age 36 he has plenty of time for more success if he stays healthy.
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Post by SUVFan on Nov 27, 2020 8:16:41 GMT -5
I think we'll see a lot more from DJ, Jimco. Listening to him address the media after his big W, he explained how he's got 9 years left before he plans to retire, that he wants to win a lot more majors and he pledged to work his butt off until he rides off into the sunset. I think he's a late bloomer and he's going to be a strong contender in every major for at least the next 5 to 7 of those years. Not unlike Phil after he finally broke through, I can see DJ winning a half dozen more. |
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Post by SUVFan on Nov 27, 2020 8:18:36 GMT -5
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Post by stlhawk on Nov 27, 2020 10:08:41 GMT -5
Just what I need.  |
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 9, 2021 9:18:43 GMT -5
It's like the meme makera have seen me play:  |
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 6, 2021 17:41:36 GMT -5
Bay Hill, 3rd Round
I've watched some of each of the first 3 rounds of Arnie's Tournament.
Bryson DeChambeau has been putting on a driving clinic -- a massive 370 yarder on the 6th -- but isn't scoring great. So he's near the top of the leaderboard at -10 but easily could be 5 strokes in the lead.
Jordan Spieth struggled all day off the tee but a birdie on the first followed by an ace on the par 3 2nd jumpstarted his day and he managed to go one more stroke lower on the day to sit at -9, just 2 strokes off the lead. Rory is hanging in there, too at -7. The surprise is Lee Westwood who leads at -11! Also surprising is Canadian Corey Conners, who is also in the mix at -9 after struggling a bit down the stretch.
Tomorrow promises to be exciting an exciting day in Orlando!
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Post by SUVFan on May 23, 2021 7:32:32 GMT -5
I'm enjoying the PGA tournament. A 50 year old fossil is leading through 3 rounds! Yes, Phil starts today's final round one shot ahead of Brooks Koepka, whose bum knee might put him at a relative physical disadvantage relative to Phil. It's going to be interesting.
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Post by SUVFan on May 24, 2021 14:23:24 GMT -5
Phil was inspirational yesterday in victory! Less than a month shy of 51, he showed little sign of his age, driving the ball as straight and long as his youthful competitors and displaying nerves of steel on the greens, especially on the short putts that he has often lost focus on and missed. The course was brutal for everyone with Phil's -6 overall (+1 on Sunday) being the winning score by two strokes over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthaizen, with very few others under par. Phil did admit in a post round interview that the course on Kiawa Island set up better for a lefty, especially yesterday with the wind helping him where it would have hurt a righty. The win gives him a 5 year exemption from qualifying for the US Open -- he'd already be granted an exemption for this year but won't need it now, having earned his spot.
Phil has a chronic arthritic condition that was diagnosed about 10 years back but he says it's in remission. He credits his success to his lifestyle choices, which include getting to the gym, fasting 36 hours each week to "reset" his body, and generally, just working really hard. He's won the Masters 3 times, the PGA twice and The Open once. Next month he'll try again to win a US Open and complete his quest for a career grand salami. He's had heartbreaking 2nd place finishes there. Based on what I saw from him this weekend, there's no reason he can't win -- it's not like a 51 year old has never won a major!
It was really interesting to see the large galleries, who quickly forgot how to socially distance themselves from each other. The scene on the last was unreal with the marshals losing control of the crowd and the final pairing having to ford their way through the throng to reach the green. 2 time PGA champ Brooks Koepka, who was in the final pairing with Phil, was very outspoken in his post round interview, explaining how his knee that's recovering from surgery had been bumped several times as he tried to get through the crowd. He wondered if it might have been intentional. He wasn't blaming the knee pain for his finish -- he was already on the green and two-putted for par from maybe 25-30 feet. I think it's more of a call to action for event organizers to protect the players.
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Post by SUVFan on May 25, 2021 8:18:19 GMT -5
The mob scene I described in the last post happened after Phil hit his approach shot on the last. Up by two strokes, when his ball landed on the front of the green and rolled to about 20 feet of the hole, for all intents and purposes, the competition was over as Phil was going to get down in two from there and the best Koepka could have done was hole a longer birdie putt to draw within one stroke of the lead.
Some who jumped the ropes did so in excitement for Phil. I thought most of those rushing into the fairway were jockeying for a spot to watch Phil put the finishing touches on his historic win. This short video captures the scene well, though I could do without Jim Nance's commentary:
Phil described it as "unnerving" in the post match presser.
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Post by SUVFan on Jun 5, 2021 20:52:25 GMT -5
COVID-19 reared it's ugly head again, making some news across town late this afternoon. This is Memorial Tournament week over in Dublin, Ohio. Normally that would mean everyone in the area is practically drowning by the middle of the weekend but, except for Thursday when it rained mostly all day here, it's been fairly dry this year.
At the end of today's 3rd round, I was watching CBS coverage live when defending champ Jon Rahm (with a commanding 6 stroke lead) was approached by a tournament official and, after a short conversation, fell to the ground apparently in tears. Turns out he'd just been informed that his 2nd COVID test came back positive and he was DQ'd from further play even though he was completely asymptomatic. He'd even made a hole in one on the 16th hole earlier in the day in what was the end of his second round, still catching up from Thursday's washout. As a result, Tiger Woods will remain the only golfer to successfully defend his title in its 46 year history -- Woods actually 3peated.
He'd been tested because of contact tracing. The financial cost to Rahm? Assuming he'd have gone on to win tomorrow: $1,674,000.
Colin Morikowa and Patrick Cantley will square off tomorrow in the last group, starting out tied at -12 with a 3 stroke cushion over Scottie Scheffler and Brandon Grace.
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