How The Tables Can Turn

Imagine. After day one of the Master's tournament, you are tied for the lead. You make it through 14 holes of the 2nd round and you are two under par (that's pretty good). You head into the 15th, a 530 yard par 5, and hit one right down the gut. You decide to play it safe and lay up, giving you a nice sand wedge over the water and onto the green. Practice swing feels good, you have a decent lie, then the bad mojo starts to unravel. You catch one fat, and dunk it into the water. Two more feet and you were safe.

Well, shake it off. Take your drop and chip it close to get up and down for bogey. Or not. You hit it about 20 yards over the green, almost into the water that walks along 16. Now you're lying five, and you chip it up barely onto the green leaving you with a 30 foot down hill left to right putt that is so dangerous, that if you hit it just a touch harder than you need to, you could hit it right back into the water that you got into in the first place. Breathe easy and just 'tap it in'. The crowd gives the anxious sigh because you hit it a tad too hard and just barely stay on the green. Well to cap off the par 5 you hit your 7th shot to within 5 feet and make your putt for an 8. Folks in the business like to call it a snowman. You've just relinquished your under par round and you are now sitting at +1.

Heading into 16 you hope to get one back with a birdie. But the mojo has already set in and you walk away from the par 3 with a bogey four. You start the day two under, and finish the day two over. You've just dropped nearly 20 spots in a matter of 2 holes. Man, wouldn't that just be the worst? I mean how do you come out day 3 and make a move to put you in contention for Sunday?

Just ask Justin Rose.


This happened to him today in the second round of the Master's. I TiVo'd it, and watched it later in the day and I just felt sick watching this happen. This is a great argument how Golf is most assuredly a sport. This little thing people like to call 'momentum' shows up on the golf course, just as much as it does in a college basketball game, MLB game, or another professional sport for that matter. Justin Rose lost momentum today and instead the golf course took over. It's probably one of the weirdest funk's to be in. Nothing goes right, shots get worse and worse, and you can't put the ball in the hole. Ask any professional or amateur and they'll tell you this definitely happens.

Well we head into day 3 of the Master's tomorrow and Tiger is 7 strokes back. But I just gave an example of how one player lost 4 shots in 2 holes. It is very possible that Tiger can make up the shots. The leader, Trevor Immelman, fired two 68's back to back. Pretty good for a guy who came out 2 weeks prior to the tournament and played a few practice rounds. I mean, jeez, the guy should feel like a member playing the course that much in a span of 2 weeks.

Enjoy the weekend fellow golfers because it is a weekend that we all love. Can Tiger pull off a victory? We shall see. I'm just sad to see Fred Couples' streak of 23 cuts made at the Master's end. He's made the cut every single year he's played since 1983. Wow.