What a weekend. Between the weather, the anticipation, and the coverage, golf has actually made me exhausted. It was like watching four different tournaments.
The Par 3 event was fantastic. I really like how the kids are becoming more prevalent. Maybe it’s because I’m a dad, but when I finally get the invite to play, I’m bringing the whole crew out there. Including my two golden retrievers. Seeing Spieth and his son sitting together without a care in the world was really neat. Thursday and early Friday provided some outstanding golf on what we’ve come to expect from The Masters. The weather was fine, the course was pretty fast, and the players were executing on their game plans.
Then Saturday came…TONS of moisture and rain, which lengthened the course by about 1000 yards. Long hitters moved up the leaderboard. Except for JT. He was NOT having any fun on Saturday morning. He missed the cut, but it allowed Tiger to continue his streak of made cuts at The Masters. Very cool.
Sunday, April 9th, 2023 could be called the greatest day in the history of professional golf. Not only was it Easter Sunday, but tournament play started at 8:30 in the morning, and lasted ALL DAY – until about 7:00PM. And what a day it was. Amazing golf. ANGC showed its teeth, but in true Sunday fashion, ALL the players had to be aggressive. The old adage of ‘The Masters starts on the back side on Sunday’ rang true. Brooks needed a few things to go his way, and they didn’t. Rahm was a bull. And it paid off. What a great Masters champion, with homage to his Spanish heritage, on Seve’s birthday. It’s funny how romantic stories unexpectedly fall right into place.
Some post-Masters thoughts:
- John Rahm. What a great Champion. He earned it. I can’t wait to see his Champions Dinner menu.
- PGA vs. LIV. It’s clear that some of the best golfers in the world are playing in LIV, and that should be a consideration for all the Majors. I am most impressed with Phil. He got some sh!t for ‘not saying a word’ at the Champions dinner, and let his clubs do the talking. Additionally, he was extremely gracious in his post-round press conference, focusing on The Masters hosting the best players in the world, regardless of tour affiliation. Pretty smooth from the lefty.
- Koepka. What a shame. His Sunday will probably rank as one of the worst days of his life. Considering how badly he came off on First Swing, it’ll be critical for him to bounce back from this in a positive way, or he’ll be the next Patrick Reed.
- The Tree on 17. Lucky that no one was hurt or killed. The video was very disturbing. And props to the grounds crew at ANGC. No one even noticed the tree was gone the next morning…
- TV Coverage. The ESPN/CBS coverage was good. My only complaint was that they didn’t show any other players on Sunday outside of Rahm and Brooks. I don’t remember seeing a shot from Sam Bennett all day.
- Masters Merchandise. I kept up with @bucketlistproshopper and some other accounts, and it was good to see what people were bringing home. I have a much larger post on Pro Shops and Tournament souvenirs coming…
What did you think?
I’d add the second tree that came down on 15! Scary stuff and so thankful no one was hurt. While not a win, I think this weekend was a huge win for Brooks and despite the Full Swing comments, has to be a big boost for his confidence given his return to full health. Sam Bennett, Lefty, Tiger, and of course Rahm made for the best Sunday golf of my lifetime. 2023 at ANGC was historical without a doubt. Great posts here on RCS throughout the weekend which I also enjoyed! Cheers!
Nice write-up.
Turned out to be a great Masters, impressed they were able to finish on Sunday. And how about Freddy Couples playing through Sunday, love to see it.
My hat’s off to the LIV squad. I think having competitive players in LIV and PGA is great for golf. It’s like WCW vs WWF circa 1998.
Good comments as always. One thought on Phil and the LIV guys that made some noise. Phil and Reed (particularly) Phil, know Augusta National like the back of their hand. While what both did was no doubt impressive, I think it will be overblown given this fact. I doubt they can duplicate the results at the other majors, maybe Reed, but not Phil. Brooks was in his old form, at least through 54 holes .. I don’t find him to have any real redeeming qualities as a person, but golf is better when he is contending at Majors, and I will give credit where it is due – he was a much more gracious person this week than I can ever recall him being; Augusta really seems to bring out the best in people. Rahm is a great champion and I am always struck at how eloquent he is, especially given that English is he second language.
I thought the TV coverage of Bennett was gratuitous, especially once he was clearly out of contention. Glad to see an amateur make it to Sunday.
I streamed the Masters via Paramount + app so maybe I was seeing expanded coverage? Idk how the TV coverage/rights work.
I was disappointed in lack of coverage for many of the senior players/ past Masters champions.
I have to say, I thought ESPN’s coverage was atrocious. Anyone who is watching at 1:00 during the first two rounds is watching to see golf, not Marty Smith talk about his favorite tree or beer, or professional athletes from other sports tell SVP/us how we have to find a way to get to Augusta, as though we have the same access to tickets as Dwyane Wade or Josh Allen. Rather than showing guys play the course, we got a half-assed version of the Manningcast. And thank GOD for the app, as always the life saver with early tee times, particularly with CBS being rigid about its broadcast schedule despite the weather being a round-wrecker on Saturday.
All credit to Rahm, once he took the lead, he knew he could lock in and play par golf and win and cruised.
Almost everything, as always, was amazing. Rahm has suxh panache and class.
Coverage at points sucked. Barely saw rahm and koepka in third round on saturday on tv or even in Featured groups. Instead, lots of Tiger. Love tiger but rather see the karders contend than Tiger struggle.
I do notice a dangerous trend of more dipshits yelling stuff. This is the Masters, fellows, not the GGO. They need to stop that immediately. Anyone yelling “you da
Man,” “bababoower” or the like needs a
Lifetime ban not only from
the Masters but from golf and the state of Georgia.
It ended up being a great Masters and Rahm is a deserving champion who also seems like an all-around good dude.
I’m glad Sunday’s brilliance cut through Saturday’s saturated malaise. The weather stunk and it certainly dampened my enjoyment of the event. Living in the Northeast, the warmth and sunshine of Augusta is a window into the promise of what is to come. If I want crummy, cold early April weather I just need to look outside. I feel like Saturday afternoon was a low point in my Masters viewing career.
But, by Sunday afternoon the sun was shining across the Georgia pines and it was even warm enough to open a window or two in the living and welcome a spring breeze as my Sunday viewing companion. Just like that, all was well in the world again.
Cheers
I was at the Tuesday practice round and got a full 12 hours in. It was awesome. All of it. I went last year but got 2 hours In before they kicked us off due to weather. So my first full experience lived up to the hype. I had about 5 egg salad sandwiches and they were probably my favorite. LIV vs. PGA didn’t seem to have any noise which I appreciated. Spent a hefty amount on merch. Shots skipped on 16. Practice range. Picture taken on Magnolia. I have a serious serotonin deficiency today but can’t wait for next year already.
Also, I followed Couples and Tiger for a bit and that was so so cool.