3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 15

Adam Scott wins the Masters:



I thought this was one of the better Masters in history as it was filled with the top contenders playing very good golf. The golfer who was playing the worst down the stretch, Jason Day (who needed 3 remarkable sand shots to stay in contention on Sunday); didn’t win. Meanwhile Cabrera hit a bit of a lull midway thru his round and then came roaring back. Generally, I don’t think that highly of Cabrera’s game as his metrics have been awful for the most part since his ’09 victory at Augusta. But, when he’s on he’s as fun of a player to watch as anybody out there. And then there was Adam Scott who struck it brilliantly on Sunday. While the popular notion is that the long putter is the reason for his success, he’s been a mediocre putter with the long stick as evidenced on Sunday. It’s his change of instructors and the changing of his swing mechanics that have greatly improved his ballstriking as the real reason for his recent success.

Of course, this is the Masters known for rules violations. I watched the live coverage on the internet of the 14-year old Guan on Thursday and he was painfully slow out there. Before each shot was a lengthy conversation between him and his caddie. And if he hit a shot that was not up to his standards, he would carefully re-examine what happened. Part of me doesn’t care too much about slow play on Tour because I generally don’t think that is why there is slow play out on golf courses in general. But, all it takes is 1 slow player on any course and it can back up the entire course and then you have to worry about getting the rounds in before daylight.

As far as the Tiger situation goes, I have thought about this long and hard and have studied the photos. I believe he absolutely took an illegal drop. But, taking a drop is a unique rules situation because often times we are left with the option of dropping in a few different places and obviously the golfer takes the drop that will benefit them the most. But when a golfer like Tiger has the same intent, but does it illegally it’s now very harshly judged. That being said, I am puzzled how Tiger didn’t know that was an illegal drop. I’m far from a rules expert and I understand the rules are way too complicated. But, that’s not a complicated rule.

After thinking about this some more, I think the Masters rules committee HAD to make the ruling.

Why?

Because if they didn’t they would go from ‘protecting’ Tiger to ‘targeting’ Tiger. Neither is the right thing to do and they basically had to enforce the rule that was in place.

As far as Tiger withdrawing from the tournament goes; I think that is solely up to the person and their belief system. I do not believe anybody is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ as far as what they thought Tiger should do. Personally, I would have withdrawn from the tournament if I was Tiger. Basically it was such an egregious error on his part and the other big part of it is out of respect for Bobby Jones who once called a penalty on himself for a ball he thought *might* have moved. And when given praise for calling the penalty on himself, Jones replied ‘you might as well praise me for not robbing banks.’

In a sports world filled with other sports having issues with athletes illegally using performance enhancing drugs, teams illegally videotaping other teams communications signals, massive recruiting scandals and coverups…if there was one thing that I believe separates golf from the rest is the outstanding integrity of the game and I believe as a golfer, I’m supposed to uphold that integrity.

Again, that’s not to say that I’m right (or wrong). But I feel that there is an essence of the game that it is unfair sometimes, whether it’s hitting a shot that hits the flagstick and goes in the water or making an honest mistake with the rules and getting disqualified over it. That makes me a proud member of this game. I just wish Tiger would have respectfully declined to play on the weekend.

Anyway, here’s how my picks did at the Masters:

Phil Mickelson (10/1) t-54th
Justin Rose (20/1) – t-25th
Dustin Johnson (25/1) t-13th
Lee Westwood (25/1) t-8th
Louis Oosthuizen (25/1) MC
Keegan Bradley (28/1) t-54th
Rickie Fowler (45/1) t-38th
Henrik Stenson (50/1) t-18th
Nick Watney (50/1) t-13th

Value Pick: Bill Haas (75/1) t-20th


Here are my picks for Harbour Town:

Brandt Snedeker: 14/1
Jim Furyk: 16/1
Matt Kuchar: 16/1
Luke Donald: 16/1
Jason Dufner: 25/1
Boo Weekley: 33/1
Tim Clark: 50/1
Brian Davis: 50/1
Brian Stuard: 125/1

Value Pick: Colt Knost: 200/1


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Weekley, Boo
2. Spieth, Jordan
3. Mahan, Hunter
4. Stenson, Henrik
5. Bradley, Keegan
6. Rose, Justin
7. Streelman, Kevin
8. Potter, Jr., Ted
9. Palmer, Ryan
10. Maggert, Jeff


181. Wagner, Johnson
182. Marino, Steve
183. Wittenberg, Casey
184. Bradley, Michael
185. Curtis, Ben
186. Kelly, Troy
187. Herron, Tim
188. Baddeley, Aaron
189. Na, Kevin
190. Weir, Mike


BIRDIE ZONE



1. Chappell, Kevin
2. Wi, Charlie
3. Taylor, Vaughn
4. Noh, Seung-Yul
5. Molder, Bryce
6. Haley II, Paul
7. Clark, Tim
8. Choi, K.J.
9. Cink, Stewart
10. Bradley, Michael


181. Gomez, Fabian
182. Stanley, Kyle
183. Poulter, Ian
184. Romero, Andres
185. Gardiner, Scott
186. Marino, Steve
187. Potter, Jr., Ted
188. Thompson, Michael
189. Blixt, Jonas
190. Kaymer, Martin


SAFE ZONE



1. Sabbatini, Rory
2. Scott, Adam
3. Van Pelt, Bo
4. Reavie, Chez
5. Schwartzel, Charl
6. Mickelson, Phil
7. Curtis, Ben
8. Donald, Luke
9. Kirk, Chris
10. Fisher, Ross


181. Presnell, Alistair
182. Grace, Branden
183. Jobe, Brandt
184. Marino, Steve
185. Ridings, Tag
186. Senden, John
187. Coetzee, George
188. Gove, Jeff
189. Klauk, Jeff
190. Herman, Jim


DANGER ZONE



1. Garrigus, Robert
2. Palmer, Ryan
3. Maggert, Jeff
4. Kohles, Ben
5. McIlroy, Rory
6. Leishman, Marc
7. Watney, Nick
8. Simpson, Webb
9. Summerhays, Daniel
10. Harrington, Padraig


181. Marino, Steve
182. Klauk, Jeff
183. Kelly, Troy
184. Potter, Jr., Ted
185. Noh, Seung-Yul
186. Weir, Mike
187. Hanson, Peter
188. Na, Kevin
189. Meierdierks, Eric
190. Taylor, Vaughn


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Stenson, Henrik
2. Donald, Luke
3. Cauley, Bud
4. Leonard, Justin
5. McDowell, Graeme
6. Kelly, Jerry
7. Mickelson, Phil
8. Curtis, Ben
9. Els, Ernie
10. Furyk, Jim


181. Potter, Jr., Ted
182. Meierdierks, Eric
183. LaBelle II, Doug
184. Hoffman, Charley
185. Sabbatini, Rory
186. McNeill, George
187. Lee, Richard
188. Norlander, Henrik
189. Short, Jr., Wes
190. Garrigus, Robert


PUTTS GAINED

1. Woods, Tiger
2. Ames, Stephen
3. Chalmers, Greg
4. Baddeley, Aaron
5. Molder, Bryce
6. Kirk, Chris
7. Coetzee, George
8. Jacobson, Freddie
9. Na, Kevin
10. Stricker, Steve


181. Mathis, David
182. Fisher, Ross
183. Tomasulo, Peter
184. Meierdierks, Eric
185. Sabbatini, Rory
186. Claxton, Will
187. Colsaerts, Nicolas
188. Ishikawa, Ryo
189. Daly, John
190. Stanley, Kyle








3JACK