The Masters 2021 ***All Content Subject to Moderation***

[Duct Tape]

Well, it looks like I missed it a little with prediction of 42 pages for this thread. 
 

Was a different Masters. Some high and low lights. 

Greens mottled, purple, and firm. (And perfect). 
Overhead drone shots, showing that contrast. 
Rose with a brilliant start, when most felt (correctly) he wouldn’t hold the lead. 
De Shampoo back again to assault an unassaultable par “67”. 

The winner bogeying 3 of the last 4.

Spieth teasing us for step two of his comeback. 
Sense of impending doom on final round, a la 1996. 
Total absence of a Sunday charge from the field. 
Almost no Sunday roars, even given smaller crowd. 
First Japan winner.  Congrats Hideki. 
 

Just 364 days until the next one.....

[Tom Kelly]

12 hours ago, Golf10 said:

 

About 70% of this board who say the competition was no good in the Nicklaus era.

Looking at the MC's, the competition chose to work a five day week this year.

[the bishop]

Just curious, but since DJ was only reigning champion for 5-6 months I wonder if ANGC will let him keep the green jacket at home the rest of this year and return it at next year's Masters?  Kinda silly to be wondering about that but if I was DJ and had to return it this year I'd be like "rip off!".

[toddnt]

12 hours ago, tannyhoban said:

On head to head Masters finishes, yes I did.

 

I loved watching Trevino play, but Xander's already got better finishes at Augusta than Lee ever did.

And Trevino is in Hall of Fame and considered of of the greatest faders of the ball.. No comparison! 

[braincramp52]

God I love watching the Masters! 

 

No lead is safe when it comes to Sundays at Augusta.

[Imp]

9 hours ago, bscinstnct said:

 

Buddy lived in Japan for a while. Said they love the most insanely intense sour salt pickled plums you can’t even eat them.

 

I hope Hideki have them and everyone takes a bite of one at the same time and they take a pic!

Similar to the "how hot can we make a buffalo wing sauce" challenge, and eating them. There's a pride in it. 🙂

[iBanesto]

 

[rgk5]

4 hours ago, jmvargas said:

Xander is in denial mode and I don't blame him one bit but if he was trully being honest ....he choked!

Plenty of them looked like B Flight in the Club Championship.

[Imp]

9 hours ago, Golfrnut said:

That’s a good point if that’s the case, I forgot about him. 
 

Think they both speak a little English, and I believe Hideki understands it somewhat so it’ll probably work out fine. 
 

Dude has a lifetime invite so congrats to him.  

Hideki does understand it, but the culture is as such, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you don't even attempt speak another language unless you have a concrete GRASP of speaking it. One word here or there, while many cultures accept that "hey, you're trying" (other than the French - they hate the butchering), they don't. You either do, or do not. I think he may start working on verbalizing now for next years interviews.  Case in point, in Butler cabin.... he was responding before the translator even had much of a chance to say a word or two. Translator did Japanese -> English, with hardly any English -> Japanese (other than maybe some words that have different meaning/translations from E->J.)

[iBanesto]

10 minutes ago, Imp said:

Hideki does understand it, but the culture is as such, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you don't even attempt speak another language unless you have a concrete GRASP of speaking it. One word here or there, while many cultures accept that "hey, you're trying" (other than the French - they hate the butchering), they don't. You either do, or do not. I think he may start working on verbalizing now for next years interviews.  Case in point, in Butler cabin.... he was responding before the translator even had much of a chance to say a word or two. Translator did Japanese -> English, with hardly any English -> Japanese (other than maybe some words that have different meaning/translations from E->J.)

 

Pronunciation is difficult for many Japanese learners of English especially for late learners.

 

Matsuyama is smart enough to know he does not want to have a viral video or meme to go around.

[Superbrit]

20 minutes ago, iBanesto said:

 

One of the best bits of the final round

[tbowles411]

Congrats to such a talented and humble golfer in Hideki.  This is going to go a long way in making a insanely popular sport even more popular.  If that's even possible!

Edited April 12, 2021 by tbowles411

[chillybilly]

Quite the week, as always.  I'm trying to catch up from page 36 (!?) of this thread after playing a round myself before Sunday's Final Round at a course that was so firm I thought I was hitting off green-painted cart paths all day.  Worn-down mats at a cheap range had more give.  For better or worse, it's difficult to sort actual golf content from CBS broadcast content so they're intermingled here.

 

-It didn't take a psychic to predict that Matsuyama would probably hold on.  My cousin texted me and asked me before the round.  I said:  his iron play is unassailable, he doesn't get his ego involved in trying to hit it off the planet with the driver.  His putting isn't spectacular but doesn't need to be and he's consistent with it.

 

-As someone way upthread noted, CBS seems to be slipping in more and more of its cheesy bog-standard PGA Tour bumper music instead of the Masters theme (aka 'Augusta' by Dave Loggins and yes he is Kenny's brother  cousin - my error).

 

-Verne Lundquist is getting an increasing amount of flak for reasons mostly unknown.  His voice is one of those familiar Masters sounds we shouldn't be so quick to dispose of.  But it must be said that his diction was rather unclear at times which is unusual for him.  With the gain cranked up so high on these headset mics it was also quite noticeable.  Age?  Infirmity?  Undisclosed condition?

 

-There were a dizzying number of new camera angles it seemed and not just the drone shots.  One example:  the view from behind the pond on #11 (ie facing back toward the fairway).

 

-Despite cameras everywhere, I don't think we got a clear shot of Xander's ball missing short and rolling back into the water unless they brought one up well after the fact.

 

-Dare I say it?  Limited on-site patrons is the way to go.  Enough for some atmosphere and reaction, few enough not to be obnoxious.  This year's attendance was still too sparse but cutting attendance to 50% of 'normal' wouldn't bother me a bit.  They won't do it, of course, which is fine also but it was nice not having crushes of people around every tee and green.

 

-It may defy the rules of golf but I would like to see a local rule requiring anyone who hits into #16 pond past #15 green to take penalty and hit again from #15 fairway or drop area just for the nerves factor.

 

-Having Dottie Pepper on-course is fantastic.  She usually avoids the horrible Judy Rankinisms like 'This will be fantastic if it's the right club' or 'He's got this one right on line.'  She must be exhausted trooping around the hilly ANGC for days.  Dottie could thrash you from the white tees, beat you at cards in the grill room, top your amateur attempts at profanity and drink you under the table (probably).

 

-CBS tower announcers are quickly venturing into NBC Johnny Territory in which they get carried away with the chattiness and prefacing every comment with the primary analyst's name.   'Johnny, he's got a decent lie here...' (example).  In CBS's case it's 'Nick this' and 'Nick that.'  I enjoy Faldo very much including his sense of humor and his gently-mocking comments that many seem to miss but every comment about every player and every shot need not be directed at Nick.  We're listening too.

 

-Am I dreaming or did covid mean that Faldo was alone in #18 tower with Nantz stuck in a cabin?  Nantz always says his focus is on setting up his analysts but at The Masters, especially, he does a fair bit of commentary himself.  This year he often seemed limited to 'Let's go to #14' or mere traffic control.

 

-Given the forecast and the radar they got some huge breaks with the weather.  A relatively brief delay on Saturday didn't ruin the schedule or force players to finish the third round the next day (Justin Rose implied he was very glad of it) and obviously it was glorious weather on Sunday.

 

-Tigerproofing in concept and practice has backfired spectacularly, as 371 yd drives will attest.

 

-November's Half-Masters was nice to have, I suppose but a year's wait for the next real one will now seem like two years or more.

 

-Downtown Augusta is very cool.  Much of it seems frozen in time like a movie set and no that's not a sociological comment.  It's just neat to see old facades, signs, streetscapes etc.  We played a music gig there and there were various pubs with cool vibes nearby.  You would never know a golf tournament, especially The Masters, was played nearby.

 

-Geoff Shackleford says 'Live From....' ratings on Golf Channel are tanking.  Is this the Tiger halo effect dissipating?  I still enjoy it no matter how repetitive it may be and hope they keep it going.  Sunday's post-round Live From was strangely abbreviated it seemed.

 

-As others have no doubt noted (including Shackleford on Twitter), Fred Ridley's antics in Butler Cabin were nothing short of bizarre.  Looking past Nantz to read cue cards for a few simple and easily-remembered sentences was strange.  His eyes were scanning back and forth like mad.  Is he that poor an extemperaneous speaker?  Paranoid about saying the wrong thing?  I thought he was chosen to succeed Billy Payne because he was somewhat young and relatable.  In his time as chairman he has become a robot - no warmth at all in the honorary starter ceremony compared to Payne or even Hootie Johnson.  

 

-Nothing could be done about the language barrier but Nantz might have asked a simple question about the tournament or the round.  Instead, he predictably attempted to get Hideki to declare himself the avatar of Japanese golf.  In terms of culture and personality Hideki was never going to take the bait nor should he.  I'm pig-sick of broadcasters hyping and covering an event then demanding that participants give some sort of Big Picture King Of The World speech.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by chillybilly

[Superbrit]

2 hours ago, imakaveli said:

Congrats Hideki, he was the one playing "less bad" from the pack. Sometimes you have to be the right person at the right moment. Unexpected choke from Xander, reminds me of Westy in 2016, same hole. Overall, meh Sunday, interesting winner. Congrats Hideki and congrats Japan, this will be huge!

 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Superbrit

[mogc60]

Hideki played nearly perfect for 22 holes between Saturday and Sunday and a couple loose shots made it close. His pitch on 15 will be way underrated and the drives on 17 and 18 were clutch. Great to see him win. I can’t imagine the pressure he felt knowing his entire country was counting on him to pull through. He just became royalty in Japan. Well deserved. 

[naval2006]

Matsuyama won the Masters like a real champion.  He held on to the top in spite of the pressure and although his chasers didn't live up to the fans' expectations the guy showed the grit to close perhaps in the middle of the highest pressurized situation of his life.  It was a no show in the end but Matsuyama built his win in four days.  Genuine champ.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

38 minutes ago, Imp said:

Hideki does understand it, but the culture is as such, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you don't even attempt speak another language unless you have a concrete GRASP of speaking it. One word here or there, while many cultures accept that "hey, you're trying" (other than the French - they hate the butchering), they don't. You either do, or do not. I think he may start working on verbalizing now for next years interviews.  Case in point, in Butler cabin.... he was responding before the translator even had much of a chance to say a word or two. Translator did Japanese -> English, with hardly any English -> Japanese (other than maybe some words that have different meaning/translations from E->J.)

 

I noticed that. Matsuyama seems to have a good understanding of English. 

He may lack the confidence to speak it on TV, or, more likely, he feels he can best express himself in his native language. Using an interpreter lets him say exactly what he wants to say--and also avoids any embarrassing mistakes as @iBanestopointed out. 

Even in his Japanese interviews, he seems to be very careful in picking out the right words. Mind you, he's positively loquacious compared to Sumo wrestlers.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by No_Catchy_Nickname

[Dave230]

4 hours ago, elwhippy said:

I fear Rose is a bit too mechanical. 

 

Happy for Hideki. He will now be next in line to the Japanese throne and his bank manager has ordered a new Pagani. 

The mechanical approach has led him to majors, Olympics, big tournaments, great Ryder Cup performances etc. Just pipped by Garcia for this tournament in 2017. His scrambling when he had to improvise was excellent all week.

 

Problem was he is just not playing anywhere near well enough to win a major. The first day was just an 11-hole hot streak out of nowhere and gave him a lead, but not representative of his game in recent times. It was for that reason I never believed he would win, never mind run away with it.

 

The rest of the tournament he was constantly battling his swing. It was only really his battling that got him a top 10 finish, he was way off on the last two days in particular.

[MattyO1984]

28 minutes ago, Dave230 said:

The mechanical approach has led him to majors, Olympics, big tournaments, great Ryder Cup performances etc. Just pipped by Garcia for this tournament in 2017. His scrambling when he had to improvise was excellent all week.

 

Problem was he is just not playing anywhere near well enough to win a major. The first day was just an 11-hole hot streak out of nowhere and gave him a lead, but not representative of his game in recent times. It was for that reason I never believed he would win, never mind run away with it.

 

The rest of the tournament he was constantly battling his swing. It was only really his battling that got him a top 10 finish, he was way off on the last two days in particular.

 

Honestly, cannot believe how little acknowledgement was made of his hot streak on Thursday. His play Friday and Saturday was impressive in that he was able to patch it around and get it round in level par but the possibility of him falling away never seemed far away even if, in the end, he finished pretty reasonably. All in, I think that it was a positive week for him to be able to get a decent finish after not much golf at all.

[LeoLeo99]

32 minutes ago, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

 

I noticed that. Matsuyama seems to have a good understanding of English. 

He may lack the confidence to speak it on TV, or, more likely, he feels he can best express himself in his native language. Using an interpreter lets him say exactly what he wants to say--and also avoids any embarrassing mistakes as @iBanestopointed out. 

Even in his Japanese interviews, he seems to be very careful in picking out the right words. Mind you, he's positively loquacious compared to Sumo wrestlers.

 

 

 

 

I found it hilarious how is simple answers showed the worthlessness of the questions.  You played great after the rain delay, what did you do for the hour?  I sat in my car and played on my phone.  What did Nantz expect him to say, some great epiphany on how to play better golf?  How do you feel having won the Masters?  I feel happy.  How else would he feel?  

[Straitshooter]

" Dave Loggins and yes he is Kenny's brother)." No he isn't...second cousin.

[MattyO1984]

7 minutes ago, LeoLeo99 said:

I found it hilarious how is simple answers showed the worthlessness of the questions.  You played great after the rain delay, what did you do for the hour?  I sat in my car and played on my phone.  What did Nantz expect him to say, some great epiphany on how to play better golf?  How do you feel having won the Masters?  I feel happy.  How else would he feel?  

 

You are forgetting that Nantz is not asking the questions for the answers, he is asking them in their longest possible so that he can lyrically stimulate himself.

[Hawkeye77]

6 minutes ago, MattyO1984 said:

 

You are forgetting that Nantz is not asking the questions for the answers, he is asking them in their longest possible so that he can lyrically stimulate himself.

Yep, he’s going to tell you a bunch of stuff and you figure out the question. 

[chillybilly]

I'm now watching the post-round press conference with the stilted ANGC introduction, Hideki and Bob his sideman.

 

The media are an easy target but they make themselves an easy target.  These are ostensibly people chosen for their writing/journalistic abilities, contacts, knowledge of the game, knowledge of history, etc but these questions are still appallingly lame and obvious.

 

Even worse, they're lazy.  Every question can be translated (no pun intended) to:  'Will you give me a hook for my phone-it-in story so I can file and get to the bar?'

 

Example:  Rex Hoggard:  'What do you think this means for golf back home in Japan?' 

 

Oh brother.

 

I would have paid a large sum to see Hideki break character, nationality, culture and decorum to say:  'Golf is already wildly popular there and I have a media crush following me everywhere.  What the hell do you think it means?'

 

 

[MattyO1984]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Yep, he’s going to tell you a bunch of stuff and you figure out the question. 

 

He won’t be listening to the answer so it’s actually OK 😂

[Greg_B]

59 minutes ago, chillybilly said:

-As someone way upthread noted, CBS seems to be slipping in more and more of its cheesy bog-standard PGA Tour bumper music instead of the Masters theme (aka 'Augusta' by Dave Loggins and yes he is Kenny's brother).

 

-Verne Lundquist is getting an increasing amount of flak for reasons mostly unknown.  His voice is one of those familiar Masters sounds we shouldn't be so quick to dispose of.  But it must be said that his diction was rather unclear at times which is unusual for him.  With the gain cranked up so high on these headset mics it was also quite noticeable.  Age?  Infirmity?  Undisclosed condition?

 

-There were a dizzying number of new camera angles it seemed and not just the drone shots.  One example:  the view from behind the pond on #11 (ie facing back toward the fairway).

 

-CBS tower announcers are quickly venturing into NBC Johnny Territory in which they get carried away with the chattiness and prefacing every comment with the primary analyst's name.   'Johnny, he's got a decent lie here...' (example).  In CBS's case it's 'Nick this' and 'Nick that.'  I enjoy Faldo very much including his sense of humor and his gently-mocking comments that many seem to miss but every comment about every player and every shot need not be directed at Nick.  We're listening too.

 

-Am I dreaming or did covid mean that Faldo was alone in #18 tower with Nantz stuck in a cabin?  Nantz always says his focus is on setting up his analysts but at The Masters, especially, he does a fair bit of commentary himself.  This year he often seemed limited to 'Let's go to #14' or mere traffic control.

 

-Geoff Shackleford says 'Live From....' ratings on Golf Channel are tanking.  Is this the Tiger halo effect dissipating?  I still enjoy it no matter how repetitive it may be and hope they keep it going.  Sunday's post-round Live From was strangely abbreviated it seemed.

 

-As others have no doubt noted (including Shackleford on Twitter), Fred Ridley's antics in Butler Cabin were nothing short of bizarre.  Looking past Nantz to read cue cards for a few simple and easily-remembered sentences was strange.  His eyes were scanning back and forth like mad.  Is he that poor an extemperaneous speaker?  Paranoid about saying the wrong thing?  I thought he was chosen to succeed Billy Payne because he was somewhat young and relatable.  In his time as chairman he has become a robot - no warmth at all in the honorary starter ceremony compared to Payne or even Hootie Johnson.  

 

-Nothing could be done about the language barrier but Nantz might have asked a simple question about the tournament or the round.  Instead, he predictably attempted to get Hideki to declare himself the avatar of Japanese golf.  In terms of culture and personality Hideki was never going to take the bait nor should he.  I'm pig-sick of broadcasters hyping and covering an event then demanding that participants give some sort of Big Picture King Of The World speech.

 

 

 

Interesting observations. Short takes:

 

- CBS used its "major" music as bumpers, that almost military-march thing they seem to love, which I despise. I wish they would find something else.

- I love Verne, but the enunciation was noticeably impaired. Maybe they let him do a few short essays a la Jack Whitaker in the old days on ABC and put someone else in the tower. I could do without Immelman as well.

- I thought the CBS camera work was Emmy-worthy. Just outstanding.

- There was an awkward part of the broadcast where Lundquist tossed it to Faldo and Dottie, who then tried to toss it elsewhere, etc etc. I imagined Chirkinian back in the old days yelling at all of them through the IFB, "you do the announcing and leave the production to me!!"

- I think they did have Nantz elsewhere this year. There was a remarkably quick transition from his wrap-up to getting to the jacket ceremony whereas usually there is a bit of transit time required. They also had Nantz acting as hole announcer for 13 this year which suggests he wasn't sitting with Nick on 18.

- Live From lost its appeal for me at least because they kept Duval on the day shift, and having Leonard with Chamblee just did not appeal to me. Having said all that, there was a real lack of star power among the top finishers which didn't provide much interest for a recap show. I switched on the early show one day and saw they had Steve Sands trying to host, and I switched off. Hack and Bacon do not do it for me either. Maybe the cuts to GC off-camera staff to produce interesting pieces had an effect too.

- Ridley was strangely wooden at the ceremony, and I think Nantz knew the whole thing was a lost cause given the winner and having to use a translator. It would have been a miracle if he had gotten anything worthwhile so maybe he just took a shot and decided to cut his losses.

[Frankensteins Monster]

9 hours ago, ALIF said:

HD is a ball striking machine. What impressed me was his touch on and around the greens this week.

Who is HD?

[Greg_B]

I don't think the Masters prize money was posted. The whole list is here at the link, and here are the top 10:

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Greg_B

[Frankensteins Monster]

Justin Leonard needs to get his canines shaved. He looks like he's in the first stage of transforming into American Werewolf in... America.

[tgoodspe1991]

I thought this was a fantastic Masters and an awesome winner.

 

It cannot be stressed enough how much pressure Hideki must have had on him as he quite literally carried his world on his shoulders. There are over 126 million people who live in Japan alone, and I can guarantee almost every single one of them was glued to their television sets watching Hideki win. 

 

The pressure to become the first ever Japanese male Major champion, and at AGNC to boot, must have been absolutely enormous. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by tgoodspe1991