Sunday, April 14, 2024

The Masters, Day Four

After two days of challenging winds, the weather looks perfect for Sunday.  Scheffler and Morikawa have just teed off.  I'm going with the Master Radio broadcast, so I'm going to be delayed by about a minute or two.

1.  S. Scheffler:  -7 (54 holes)

2.  C. Morikawa:  -6 (54)

3.  M. Homa:  -5 (55)

4.  L. Aberg (SWE):  -4 (55)

T5.  C. Smith (AUS):  -3 (57)
T5.  X. Schauffle:  -3 (56)

The Masters is the last really big sporting event on the Southern calendar until football season, as it's about time for everyone to start working in the yard and going down to the lake.  Meanwhile, UK will be introducing its new men's basketball coach at Rupp Arena this afternoon, and some folks will be very excited about that.

Now of course, we will keep an eye on college baseball, the NBA, the other golf majors, and the Olympics.  But honestly, this is the last really big sports Sunday for almost five months, and I hope everyone enjoys it.

102 comments:

  1. Ludvig Aberg and Max Homa both birdie the second hole:

    1. S. Scheffler: -7 (55 holes)

    T2. M. Homa: -6 (56)
    T2. C. Morikawa: -6 (55)

    4. L. Aberg (SWE): -5 (56)

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  2. Just a reminder that next season, there will be five basketball coaches in the SEC who have taken a team to the Final Four and none of them will be at Kentucky. But at least Rick Pitino is happy.

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    Replies
    1. And Matt Jones. He's also happy.

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    2. And Tennessee fans. Well, they aren't happy -- they're ecstatic.

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  3. Brooks Koepka finishes the tournament at 9 over par. He was never in this tournament.

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  4. With six games left in the season, the top of the English Premier League looks like this:

    1. Man City: 22-3-7 (73 points)
    2. Arsenal: 22-5-5 (71 points) (goal differential of 49)
    3. Liverpool: 21-3-8 (71 points) (goal differential of 41)

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  5. Scheffler birdies the 3d hole:

    1. S. Scheffler: -8 (57 holes)

    T2. M. Homa: -6 (58)
    T2. C. Morikawa: -6 (57)

    4. L. Aberg (SWE): -5 (58)

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  6. Scheffler drives over the green at the par-3 fourth.

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  7. Scheffler is 27 years old. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour. His only major title is the 2022 Masters.

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  8. Morikawa is also 27 years old. He has won six times on the PGA Tour. His major titles are the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 British Open Championship.

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  9. Scheffler cannot get up and down, and he bogeys the fourth.

    1. S. Scheffler: -7 (58 holes)

    T2. M. Homa: -6 (59)
    T2. C. Morikawa: -6 (58)

    4. L. Aberg (SWE): -5 (58)

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  10. Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas all played poorly this weekend, so if Scheffler or Morikawa can win this tournament, they will be seed as the best in the world -- at least until we get to the PGA Tournament next month.

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  11. I really believe sports is becoming more popular. The NCAA Women's Tournament had record ratings, and Caitlin Clark was on Saturday Night Live last night. The Men's Tournament drew over 74,000 people to the semi-finals. The crowds in Augusta are enormous. And thousands of people are turning out in Lexington to see Mark Pope. I'm starting to believe that there are kids out there will who remember the 20's the way I remember the 70's.

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  12. 1. S. Scheffler: -7 (59 holes)

    T2. M. Homa: -6 (60)
    T2. C. Morikawa: -6 (59)

    4. L. Aberg (SWE): -5 (60)

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  13. Scheffler and Morikawa just miss birdie putts on six, and both settle for pars.

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  14. Scheffler bogeys the 7th, and falls into a three-way tie for the lead with Homa and Morikawa.

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  15. T1. M. Homa: -6 (62 holes)
    T1. L. Aberg (SWE): -6 (62)
    T1. S. Scheffler: -6 (61)
    T1. C. Morikawa: -6 (61)

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  16. There are at least 15,000 people at Rupp to see Mark Pope, with more coming in.

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  17. Scheffler has a 12-footer for birdie on 8. He nails it!

    Now Morikawa has a 4-footer for birdie, after a great pitch. He also makes it.

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    Replies
    1. That was a great and interesting hole for the lead group. I am watching with my father-in-law, which is fantastic.

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  18. T1. S. Scheffler: -7 (62 holes)
    T1. C. Morikawa: - 7 (62)

    T3. M. Homa: -6 (62)
    T3. L. Aberg (SWE): -6 (62)

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  19. Scheffler played for the University of Texas.
    Morikawa played for the University of California (Berkeley)
    Homa played for the University of California (Berkeley)
    Aberg played for Texas Tech University

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  20. Aberg makes a huge putt (36 feet!) to birdie the 9th hole. He goes out in 33, and he is tied for the lead at 7 under.

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  21. Adam Scott's career has never recovered from our merciless derision of his putter several years ago.

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  22. Homa makes par at 9. He does out in 35, and trails the leaders by one shot.

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  23. My mother-in-law is making popcorn!

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  24. T1. L. Aberg (SWE): -7 (63 holes)
    T1. S. Scheffler: -7 (62)
    T1. C. Morikawa: -7 (62)

    T4. M. Homa: -6 (63)

    One of the guys on Masters Radio picked Aberg to win the Masters, and he is pretty excited right now.

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  25. Mike Tirico is now doing play-by-play of how Aberg lost his snack will slapping hands with the patrons. Mike Tirico is the best.

    Meanwhile, Morikawa is in the greenside bunker on 9.

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    Replies
    1. What was the snack? Was a candy bar or a hot dog or what? We couldn't tell. If it was a candy bar, he should've picked that thing up and eaten it. I also would've picked up an eaten the hot dog, but I think I would've been in the minority on that one.

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    2. Looked like one of those healthy snack bars.

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    3. Oh, of course--that's a good guess.

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  26. Rupp Arena is completely full for the press conference.

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    1. So, literally everyone--literally everyone of about a half dozen people--that I've talked to in Madisonville about the hire in the last 48 hours has made the turn from whatever they felt about the hiring process, John Calipari's leaving, Scott Drew, Billy Donovan, Mitch Barnhart, everything to moving on to being excited and hopeful about Mark Pope and the program. That's where I am, too: Go, Big Blue.

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  27. Scheffler hits a perfect pitch to the 9th green, and it almost ROLLS IN! He will have a tap-in birdie.

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  28. Scheffler makes the tap-in. He goes out in 35, and he leads by one shot.

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  29. Morikawa may have just lost the tournament. His bunker shot does not leave the bunker, and then his second bunker shot rolls about 20 feet past the hole.

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    Replies
    1. I am so glad to learn today that Morikawa married the girlfriend who played so prominently in the aftermath of his coming-out party at the 2020 PGA. I hope they are very happy together, but, yes, it will be remarkable if he didn't just lose the tournament.

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  30. Morikawa misses the bogey putt and takes a double bogey. He is out in 37.

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  31. 1. S. Scheffler: -8 (63 holes)

    2. L. Aberg (SWE): -7 (63)

    3. M. Homa: -6 (63)

    4. C. Morikawa: -5 (63)

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  32. I haven't changed my mind about Mark Pope. But I'm glad that folks in Madisonville get seven more months of happiness before we play Duke.

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  33. Home birdies the 10th hole. Aberg pars it.

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  34. 1. S. Scheffler: -8 (63 holes)

    T2. M. Homa: -7 (64)
    T2. L. Aberg: -7 (64)

    4. C. Morikawa: -5 (63)

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  35. Scheffler birdies the 10th hole with a 9 foot putt. He now has a two-shot lead.

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  36. I feel like a fool for getting excited about the A's for a few moments this season.

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  37. OK, until GoHeath is back into commission, ...

    1. S. Scheffler: -9 (64 holes)

    T2. M. Homa: -7 (64)
    T2. L. Aberg: -7 (64)

    4. C. Morikawa: -5 (64)

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  38. One of the CBS commentators just said that one of the Masters golfers--probably Max Homa, given that he was putting--said this week, "When I catch myself worrying about what could go wrong, I let myself dream about what could go right." That's not a bad strategy.

    Åberg doubles No. 11; Homa pars.

    Morikawa's in the water on 11; Schefffler--after birdies on 8, 9 and 10--lands his approach just off the green but way clear of the water. He's going into the four corners.

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  39. The worst part of watching golf for me is the superself-assured tone of all the automobile and technology commercials. They make me want to puke.

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  40. We come back from commercial to find Max Homa looking for his ball in some kind of ivy or vine ground covering on a slope above a trap, and he and his helpers better look out for snakes and, when they get back to their hotels tonight, check for ticks.

    Scottie Scheffler's afternoon has gotten a lot less stressful over the last 30 minutes.

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  41. Three holes ago, Morikawa zoomed in one of the best approach shots you're ever going to see and then put in a four-foot putt to break a four-way tie for first place and take aim on the third major victory of his young career. Now he just had his second double bogey since then, and he's almost fallen off the little top-five leaderboard that CBS superimposes on the screen.

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  42. 1. S. Scheffler: -8 (65 holes)


    T2. M. Homa: -5 (66)
    T2. L. Åberg: -5 (66)
    4. M. Fleetwood: -4 (68)
    5. C. Morikawa: -3 (65)

    So Scheffler bogies No. 11 and increases his lead to three strokes.

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  43. Scheffler hits his tee shot on 12 to the middle of the green, which is exactly what you should do.

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  44. My posting will still be limited, and you should still take the lead.

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  45. Given Cal's passion for revenge, I'm really surprised everyone at UK decided to take shots at him.

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    Replies
    1. Given that it's just the wrong way to act, I'm surprised, too.

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  46. In baseball, A & M crushes Vandy in College Station: 15-0, 9-0, and 12-6. This will not be the Dores' year.

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  47. On No. 13, Åberg has a 10- or 12-foot putt for eagle that would pull him back within one of the lead but misses just left. He gets the birdie, though, and thankfully the Masters is getting interesting enough again to get me to quit checking the situation with the A's so often.

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  48. It has turned into a good walk spoiled for Morikawa.

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  49. Oh, good, Morikawa gets a birdie at No. 13.

    Åberg throws a lengthy pitch into No. 14 that goes past the hole and then roles with a big right arc back to within about six feet of the cup. Then he eats a sandwich, having lost his granola bar or whatever a few holes ago.

    Scheffler calmly rolls in a short birdie to keep things under control.

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  50. 1. S. Scheffler: -9 (67 holes)

    2. L. Aberg (SWE): -7 (68)

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  51. 1. S. Scheffler: -9 (67 holes)

    2. L. Åberg: -7 (68)

    3. M. Homa: -5 (68)
    T5. C. Morikawa: -4 (67)
    T5. M. Fleetwood: -4 (71)

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    Replies
    1. Sorry ... Fleetwood and Morikawa were T4 here, not T5, of course.

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  52. Ben Stiller, whom I like a good bit, has a commercial, but it's for AT&T, and ... puke.

    Jon Hamm, whom I like a good bit, has a commercial, but it's for Mercedes, and ... puke.

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  53. On No. 14, Morikawa's pitch comes up short and rolls miles and miles down back the green and away from the hole. Then Scheffler plays basically the same beautiful shot that Åberg did on this same hole 15 minutes ago or so, except his ball rolls a lot closer to the hole than Åberg's did.

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  54. When I'm home, I pretty much always watch sports on mute. At my father-in-law's house, it's turned up pretty much as high as the TV will go. I'm going to be exhausted by the time this thing is over. But I do love watching sports with my father-in-law. He watches most all of them, almost never with a particular rooting interest (unless UK"s on).

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  55. It's almost certainly not going to be enough, but Morikawa has hit a couple of really nice putts in the last couple holes to stabilize his round.

    Scheffler ... another birdie.

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  56. 1. S. Scheffler: -10 (68 holes)


    2. L. Åberg: -7 (68)

    3. M. Homa: -5 (68)
    T4. C. Morikawa: -4 (68)
    T4. M. Fleetwood: -4 (71)

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  57. Four holes to go, three stroke lead for Scheffler ...

    WAIT! A'S!!!!!

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  58. Hmmm ... Scheffler's in sand on No. 15 ...

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  59. IBM ... puke.

    AT&T ... puke.

    We come back from the quit-making-me-think-about-Monday-morning commercials to see Morikawa again digging out of a hole on 15 and now Scheffler dealing with the sand. He's fine.

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  60. 1. S. Scheffler: -10 (69 holes)


    2. L. Åberg: -7 (70)

    T3. C. Morikawa: -5 (69)
    T3. M. Homa: -5 (70)
    T4. M. Fleetwood: -4 (72)

    It's always so sad in a major when the bottom of the superimposed scoreboard starts to include golfers whose tournaments are finished.

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  61. Nantz points out that all five of these guys at the top of the leaderboard play on the PGA Tour. That was probably for the Bushes and to stick it to Trump and the Saudis.

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  62. Everything has been hard for Morikawa for the last little while, and he has scrambled and scambled to get himself on the fringe of position to be able to take advantage of a total Scheffler collapse, of which there are no signs. On the par-3 No. 16, Morikawa sends his ball to a ridge high of the hole, and it never comes off and toward the hole. He''ll have 30 or 40 feet for birdie. Scheffler, meanwhile, is safely in the middle of the green, about 10 feet from the hole.

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  63. You know, it was easy to forget how intense that 1995-96 season was, and how we waited for five months for the chance to play UMass again in the Final Four after they had beaten UK back in November. For five months, Calipari had the edge on Kentucky, and the pressure on that team to beat UMass in the Final Four is the most pressure that any UK team has faced since 1978. And they did it. Of course, most of us forgot about that rivalry with Cal when he took over at UK. But I have a feeling that those folks who played on the 1996 team never forgot it.

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    Replies
    1. It's cool how they all rode in on the bus into Rupp today.

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  64. No. But young guys like the beards these days.

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  65. No, that's what I thought. When he won the 2022 Masters, Scheffler had a shadow but not the beard he now has.

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  66. My gosh, Scheffler is just absolutely cruising ... three birdies in the last four holes.

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  67. 1. S. Scheffler: -11 (70 holes)



    2. L. Åberg: -7 (70)

    T3. C. Morikawa: -5 (70)
    T3. M. Homa: -5 (70)
    T4. M. Fleetwood: -4 (72)

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  68. The Verne Lundquist love is thick and sweet, and that makes me happy.

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  69. "Thank you for the wonderful soundtrack for all of our lives," Nantz tells Verne. And I think Verne said something back, but CBS drowned it out with golf music, and now ... puke ... technology and cars.

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  70. I like my beard. I think it looks great!

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  71. Somebody just said that Scheffler says he likes major tournaments because he likes being challenged. You know, I totally believe that's true about Scottie Scheffler and a lot of people, but I can honestly say that I wouldn't mind never being challenged again in my life.

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  72. 1. S. Scheffler: -11 (71 holes)



    2. L. Åberg: -7 (71)

    T3. C. Morikawa: -5 (70)
    T4. M. Homa: -4 (71)
    T4. M. Fleetwood: -4 (72)

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  73. Sorry. Masters is still going on, too. Scheffler's going to win.

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  74. Morikawa breathes an obvious sigh of relief as his eight-footer for bogey piddles in on No. 18. That'll leave him in a tie for third after a ponderous back nine.

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  75. Scheffler then walks up, taps in his three-footer for par and finally erupts after running away from the field on Sunday's back nine.

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