THE Golf Thread

[TDub]

Masters guesses?

[NewtonHawk11]

I think Rory has the best shot. Playing as well as anybody lately. He's been so close in major tournaments lately. Top 5 last year. Top 10 in the last 5 years. Masters is the chance to complete the career grand slam.

I think the Masters is the only major Tiger has a shot of winning from here on out. Smaller field and a course he knows so well.

[Deleted User 75]

Masters guesses?

Ranked in order of likelihood of victory imo:

1. Rory: he's striking the ball so well. He's mentally in the best spot he's been in years. He truly believes he can win. I think any demons from his collapse many years ago are gone. He's played well at Augusta the last handful of years. He's a magician around the greens. All he needs is a decent week putting and he will have a good chance to win. He's my top pick to win it, although it's golf so that means I give him about a 20% chance or so.

2. Rickie Fowler: I don't think he is better than guys like DJ/Rose/Koepka/JT, but he has the tools to do it at Augusta. Seems to believe it's his time, and not just saying it to the media like athletes do. Runner up last year, although that's not why I'm picking him. His biggest issue is he tends to make a big number somewhere during majors. If he can avoid a double bogey or worse all week I think he will be right there. Has the length to reach the par 5s and he's good putting and around the greens. He's not a great front runner, so if he's going to win I think it's best for him to be coming from behind on Sunday in the 2nd to last group.

3. Jordan Speith: he's driving the ball terribly. Something like 200ish is driving accuracy. He hasn't played well in over a year. Hasn't really contended in majors since Augusta last year....wait am I supposed to be saying why I am picking him?....oh ya....well, mainly because it's Augusta, and he's a handful of shots away from winning 4 of the last 5 of these. He's magical around the greens. He seems to putt better on fast greens with lots of slope for whatever reason...my personal belief is that for "feel putters" (occasionally he will look at the hole and not the ball to really "feel it") these types of greens are easier for them to putt on. On flat greens there are only a few combos of speed and line to make a given putt. On these greens there's a million ways to make each putt as long as you can match speed and line which is all imagination. He loves Augusta. And frankly he's too talented to keep sucking. Showed some life last week before a bad 3rd round. He's not a Vegas favorite to win, but I'd be shocked if he's not top 10 at the end of the week.

4. Jon Rahm: he's a fierce competitor. Seems to finally be learning to control emotions. He's got the distance, the guts, and the short game. This guy can go low. I actually think he's better than Rickie talent wise as the best young guy to never win a major, but rickie has a few more years experience under his belt. Rahm winning would shock nobody, especially not me.

5. Tiger Woods: hasn't been putting well, but that won't last forever. He has been driving the ball well, and he's probably the best iron player the game has ever seen. His biggest challenge will be to avoid "trying too hard" or getting frustrated if he gets off to a slow start on Thursday (which he's done a lot)....he knows this course as well as anyone. The crowds will be behind him 100%. I don't think he's got a lot more of these chances left, and if he can avoid thinking about that himself, and just stay patient and let the game come to him, then I think he'll be right there come Sunday. He needs to take advantage of par 5s and stay out of the trees. Going to need to make some putts, but similar to Speith I think the difficult greens will be a net positive for him compared to the field.

6. Paul Casey: almost missed the cut last year but rallied to a top 20 finish. Hits it straight. Can putt. Good around greens. And before last year had a run of top 5-10 finishes at Augusta for several years in a row. He's not a great "winner", so he'd probably be best suited to be coming from behind on Sunday and posting a score, but as we've seen anything can happen on the back 9 Sunday at the masters. He's got a chance.


Others I expect to be in the top 10-15ish range:

Kuchar: he's a douche but has a great track record at Augusta.

Charlie Hoffman: hasn't played well this year, but looked nice last week...and similar to Kuchar plays Augusta very well.

Hideki: has a decent track record at Augusta. Can take advantage of par 5s. Is a really good putter on fast greens and solid around the greens.

Kisner: just won the match play. Great ball striker. Went to college in Georgia. Decent track record at Augusta. And he's gritty as fuck. If he can get in contention he will believe he can win.



Guys I'm not high on (which means winner is guaranteed to come from this group so that I have to eat my words)....

DJ: I don't expect him to suck, but he's not had a great history with the course. Not as good around the greens as some of the other top players. There's no doubt if he gets hot he can win any week, but I don't think this is the week.

Koepka: he's a beast in majors but hasn't been in this major. He's one of those rare breeds though. If he can get close to the lead it'll help him play better, but if he doesn't feel like he can win I don't think he will grind quite as hard.

JT: just a bit too wild off the tee for my tastes at Augusta. Better suited for the other majors. Not a great history at Augusta.

Bryson: has some new clubs in the bag they're working on dialing in. He's got a shit load of talent, but the sloped fairways and tricky green side areas make his weird angle of attack tricky to dial in. He had a top 20ish finish as an amateur a few years ago, but I think he needs a few more trips to Augusta before he will be ready to contend for a green jacket.

[NewtonHawk11]

In my Fan Duel contest that I have submitted for the most amount of money I have:

Rory - He's due to get the Green Jacket. And he's playing so well lately.

Kuchar - For what you said above. He plays well at Augusta.

Kisner - Probably a top 5 favorite for me. Like his attitude and how he grinds things out. Took out Molinari in Match Play which is hard to do because that is where Molinari thrives. Doesn't do anything great, but does multiple things very well.

Fowler - Finished 1 back last year. My favorite golfer on tour. The best golfer without a major, I think..

Poulter - Been there 5 times I think. Missed cut once, but has been top 30 every time he did make cut.

Charles Howell - 4 top 10's and 9 top 25 in 13 starts this year. Playing the best he has in his career. This is my stretch pick, but could be a nice player this weekend.

[TDub]

What about molinari?

[TDub]

I think tiger wins one more masters before hes done. I think he gets 2 more majors. Maybe a British or a PGA. His iron game is too good to not win one of these tournaments. His putting is killing him.

[Deleted User 75]

What about molinari?

He's been hot the last 12 months, but doesn't have a great track record at Augusta...I don't think him winning multiple times has been a fluke, but this course isn't a great set up for him imo. Of course he could win, but he'd not be in my top 10 guys I expect to win.

[Deleted User 75]

In my Fan Duel contest that I have submitted for the most amount of money I have:

Rory - He's due to get the Green Jacket. And he's playing so well lately.

Kuchar - For what you said above. He plays well at Augusta.

Kisner - Probably a top 5 favorite for me. Like his attitude and how he grinds things out. Took out Molinari in Match Play which is hard to do because that is where Molinari thrives. Doesn't do anything great, but does multiple things very well.

Fowler - Finished 1 back last year. My favorite golfer on tour. The best golfer without a major, I think..

Poulter - Been there 5 times I think. Missed cut once, but has been top 30 every time he did make cut.

Charles Howell - 4 top 10's and 9 top 25 in 13 starts this year. Playing the best he has in his career. This is my stretch pick, but could be a nice player this weekend.

Howell has been sneaky good. Not great at "winning", but a top 15 wouldn't surprise anyone. He hasn't been to Augusta for 6 years iirc, but had a good track record back when he was playing the masters regularly.

I'm with you from a fantasy perspective..I've got 20 lineups so far.

Main focuses are rory, rickie, tiger, casey, Poulter, speith, kuchar, kisner, hoffman, howell....I've got sprinkled in appearances from rahm, hideki, Jimmy walker (also decent track record at Augusta).

[Deleted User 75]

Another partial rain out today....feel bad for the Monday Tuesday practice round patrons who only got a few hours of time before they closed the place down.

[NewtonHawk11]

https://www.masters.com/en_US/players/p ... index.html

Some good groups.

But the last 3 groups will be great to watch.

DJ, DeChambeau, Day
Lefty, Rose, JT
Spieth, Casey, Koepka

[Deleted User 75]

DJ is going to lose his mind playing alongside Bryson and Day. Bryson is sooooooooo slow. DJ even made a comment today that was hilarious...when asked what he thinks of all the calculations Bryson goes thru he responds "I don't really understand them, but it takes a long time"....DJ is 1 of the faster players on tour....Augusta already plays slow, but being with Bryson might really hurt DJ if he can't settle into a comfortable pace. Day is far from fast, but faster than bryson.

[noosh]

Big Dick Rick

[Shirley]

ABPR:

The Most Unwelcome Fan in Patrick Reed’s Gallery: His Father

[Deleted User 75]

Koepka and Bryson. Just like we all predicted.

Fun Thursday!

[NewtonHawk11]

About 4 holes into their rounds, I put down some money on Koepka and Bryson to win it. Both had pretty large odds at that point. Shrunk significantly after their first 9.

[TDub]

Tiger left 2 or 3 strokes out there. See how it goes today

[Cascadia]

Beat leaderboard I’ve seen in a long time. Moving Day could be amazing.

Who can post a 65 today?

[Shirley]

Beat leaderboard I’ve seen in a long time. Moving Day could be amazing.

Who can post a 65 today?

^^^

Was hoping for a little more out of Woodland yesterday, but still got to see him a few times, and hear his name mentioned, which was cool.

It's (even) good to see Tiger in contention.

[Cascadia]

Beat leaderboard I’ve seen in a long time. Moving Day could be amazing.

Who can post a 65 today?

^^^

Was hoping for a little more out of Woodland yesterday, but still got to see him a few times, and hear his name mentioned, which was cool.

It's (even) good to see Tiger in contention.

Would love to see Woodland post a 65 today!

[Geezer]

2 64's so far