It's currently 10:35am on Wednesday morning and I just watched an interview with the 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman prior to the infamous Par 3 Contest which was unfortunately washed out last year. Now if you're a golf fan you need to think about that statement for a second. "2008 Masters Champion Trevor Immelman?" Last time I checked 2008 was only ten years ago, although it baffles me that time has gone that fast, but where has Immelman been lately? Exactly, no where.
I figured over the last three days I've listened to about 12 hours of golf podcasting and roughly the same of pre-tournament coverage whether it be on SportsCenter, Golf Channel, CBS Sports HQ, etc. I listened to the Sports Illustrated guys record a podcast where they road tripped from NYC to Augusta and stopped to play Pinehurst along the way, followed by a $9 round at Bethune "Country Club" in South Carolina. I've heard all the takes, all the predictions and all the sleepers humanly possible, plus you throw in the golf heroes on Twitter and you're damn near booked for the rest of the day. However, I decided to lock down five scenarios which if any of these occur this weekend, I will consider this year's Masters a win for me personally as a golf fan. I hope they make sense to the everyday golf fan, but then again who cares if they don't. Welcome to Masters Week.
1. Ted Potter Jr. Wins the Par 3
So those of you who aren't aware, there is a par 3 contest held each Wednesday before the Masters and the fact is no one who's ever won this contest has gone on to win the actual Masters. I hate to break it to you, but this will still be the case in 2018, kind of reminds you of the Madden curse or the Sports Illustrated cover curse. It's also been known that the winner of the contest isn't usually even in contention on Sunday at Augusta National, but it's still a thrill to be part of IE Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas on back to back aces last year. That being said, I'm picking none other than the man who took down Dustin freakin Johnson at Pebble Beach this year to win the contest, the dude Ted Potter Jr. I mean look at this guy...When you think gifted athlete you should be thinking Brady, you should be thinking Hulk Hogan, and you should be thinking Ted Potter Jr. Book it, big man.
2. Rory's Grand Slam
The grand slam. That's all every is saying and it's a real possibility this week. I assume he's still fuming off the win he pulled off and rightfully so at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Besides Bay Hill, the only other fitting arena I can see fitting for Rors is Augusta National. Forget all the other rounds, especially 2011 and concentrate on 2018. You're smoking the ball, you've putted lights out the past month, now's the time to join Tiger, Jack, Gary (Player), Ben (Hogan) and Gene (Sarazen) among the only one's to ever do it.
3. Tiger-Phil Sunday Pairing
A lot can be said for these two over the past 20 years. Each has their own fan base, each has their own personality and each made a living of wanting to beat the crap out of each other. However, this is a new day and in their latter years as golf professionals, things have changed. Some say it started at the President's Cup which wouldn't be far off to think they've rekindled or even developed a whole new friendship, and nothing was more evident of this than witnessing the practice session heard round the world yesterday. In terms of television ratings in which the final round of the VALSPAR FREAKIN CHAMPIONSHIP had more viewers than the final round of the U.S Open and British Open last year, could you possibly imagine what those numbers would read if we got a Tiger-Phil pairing on Sunday at the Masters? Although it'd be a stretch to assume it would be the final pairing of the weekend, seeing them play together in some capacity would be remarkable and a coming of age moment.
4. My financial pick to win... Bubba Watson
I'm riding high on Bubba and I don't feel good about it. Actually, that's not true. He's definitely had a year for the ages with his win at the Genesis (more notably his role in the celebrity all-star game during NBA all-star weekend in LA) as well as his recent win at the Dell Match Play in Austin but golf 'experts' are saying don't read too much into a match play event prior to the most notorious tournament of the year. The good news is Bubba has two jackets, which gives me hope that I'd be able to cash in once the weekend is over.
5. Tiger, End Scene.
Imagine?
Bonus:
A. Matt Parziale Makes the Weekend
I first heard about Parziale's story on the Fore Play podcast and the fact he's a New England guy and a firefighter no less, you can't help but pull for the guy. He's actually supposed to be playing a practice round with Eldrick Woods today ahead of the par 3 but I'm hearing that may not happen. A winner of the U.S Mid-Amateur, Parziale booked his spot months ago back in October and has been preparing ever since. What a thrill it would be to make the cut at Augusta, especially for the stories he can tell to his soon to be wife, kids and everyone back in Brockton.
B. Sergio Defends
Tiger, Jack and Faldo are the only one's to ever add back to back green jackets to their wardrobe, and with the year Sergio Garcia has had already, I can't think of anything that would top the birth of his daughter "Azalea" than if he could bring another jacket home. Watching the clips of his win last year with the emotion he displayed and putting all doubters to pasture this would be a sick story if he could repeat.
Buckle up, folks. It's Masters Week.
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