Golf’s Greatest Week?
Yes, it’s Master’s time again, and all eyes will be on
Augusta National for more golfing drama as another page is written in the rich
history of this event. Back at home we
have the Autex Muriwai Open playing out at the same time, but all other Tours
have their schedules blocked off for Master’s week.
Autex Muriwai Open
The Jennian Homes Charles Tour Series is getting down to the
business end of the 2016/17 season, with just this event and the Carrus Open at
Tauranga later in the month left before the winner of the trophy and its
accompanying $5,000 cheque is decided.
There’s also the additional carrot of an automatic start in the 2018 NZ
Open.
Leading the race at present is Brad Shilton, but other
contenders not far behind include Josh Geary, Mark Brown and Gareth Paddison,
all of whom are playing at Muriwai this week.
Defending champion Pieter Zwart is also in the field, along with some
top class amateurs including NZ Stroke Play Champion Mark Hutson, who should go
well again on his home course.
Follow the live action on www.golf.co.nz
from Thursday morning.
Liv Cheng wins on
Symetra Tour
Congratulations to Liv Cheng on her victory in the Gateway
Classic at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona last weekend. The win takes Liv to 4th place on
the Symetra Tour – the LPGA equivalent of the Web.Com and European Challenge
Tours. She won in a playoff from Mina
Harigae of the USA, with a par on the 2nd playoff hole, after both
had tied on -7 in regulation play.
Liv becomes the first New Zealander to win on this Tour
since Cathryn Bristow in 2011. The top
10 players on the Symetra Tour will get LPGA cards for the 2018 season – it
would certainly be great to see another Kiwi on this Tour alongside Lydia Ko
next year!
Can anyone beat
Dustin Johnson?
A case can be made for many of those in the 95 strong field
at Augusta National this week, but it’s very hard to look past Dustin Johnson,
who is in search of his first green jacket, and his 4th PGA Tour
victory on the trot.
There are many famous sayings about the Masters, possibly
the best known of which is that “the tournament doesn’t start until the back
nine on Sunday”. Tiger Woods didn’t pay
much attention to that in 1997 when he streeted the field by 12 shots to record
not only the biggest winning margin in the history of the event, and also became
the youngest winner at 21 years and 3 months.
The second saying is “a rookie never wins the Masters” –
meaning someone making their first trip to Augusta. Fuzzy Zoeller (1979) is the exception, but
many will fancy the chances of some of this year’s rookies, who include Jon
Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood (currently leading the European Tour), Tyrell Hatton and
Thomas Pieters, to name a few.
History says that it takes an average of six visits before
you win your first Masters. Dustin
Johnson is well in the target zone: this will be his 8th, and he has
only missed the cut once so far.
The TAB has him as a clear favourite at $6.50, but Rory
McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are both in single figure territory as well. Golf betting is a hazardous and unpredictable
pastime, but – like the Melbourne Cup – if you are going to bet only once a
year, then the Masters has got to be the tournament. Your overall odds are certainly better, with
fewer starters – 95 against the usual 156 – and a good number you can put the
pencil through quite safely. Once you
get past the top three above, there are tempting odds on the likes of Bubba
Watson ($41 – has won it twice in the last 5 years), Danny Willett ($101 – not
bad for the defending champion), and even Angel Cabrera ($151 – won it in 2009,
and was in a playoff against Adam Scott in 2013).
Unfortunately, New Zealand does not have anyone in the field
this year, with Danny Lee just missing out on getting into the top 12 last
year, which would have gained him entry again this year. A 3rd round 79 was the killer for
Danny. Our only connection is through
Steve Williams, who is on Adam Scott’s bag ($31).
Also of interest could be the performance of Hideto Tanihara
($201), who was runner up in the 2016 NZ Open, and who did so well in the
recent World Match Play, won by Johnson. And of course there are plenty of other
chances, so good luck if you do decide to have a bet!
In the meantime, sit back and watch the drama unfold –
especially on Monday morning our time.
As always, a pivotal hole – and certainly one Jordan Spieth
will be thinking about - is the 12th. Back in 1984, when it looked like a weather delay
was imminent Mark Lye was playing with Tom Kite and said afterwards “ I kept
telling Tom: let’s go ahead and hit before they suspend play – that’s one hole
we don’t want to wake up to!”
A few years earlier, Ben Hogan was asked by a reporter if he
thought the 12th hole was impossible. “Not necessarily,” replied Ben “it simply
seems to require more skill than I have at the moment.”
Postscript to the ANA
The argument over whether TV viewers should be allowed to
“call in” (or in this case email in) alleged misdemeanours they have seen, and
how long to allow for that process, will take some time to die down. The officials had no choice over applying the
relevant rules, which they did correctly.
However, most people would think that once a round is over, that
should be it, unless there is evidence of blatant cheating or a wrongly
recorded score which comes to light soon afterwards (soon meaning before they
tee off for a subsequent round).
What has not been asked so far is what caused Lexi Thompson
to do what she did, as it was clear she did not replace her ball
correctly. Most professionals are
meticulous about this, as the last thing they want is to be accused of is “inch
creeping”, which is the practice of moving your ball closer to the hole when
replacing it (incidentally some club players are quite good at doing
this). Lexi certainly didn’t do that,
and didn’t gain any advantage, so it is hard to see how she got it wrong unless
she just had a lapse of concentration.
Her answer would be interesting, once the dust has settled.