What a brutal day at Augusta! No red numbers going into Saturday.
Your final three pairing for tomorrow are Vaughn Taylor (+4) & Zach Johnson (+4), Padraig Harrington (+4) & Justin Rose (+3), and Stuart Appleby (+2) & Tiger Woods (+3).
After watching today I don't know how much worse these guys could play. How many 2-3 footers can these guys miss? I know the greens are difficult but still it is hard to watch. The man that putts the most consistent tomorrow should win this thing. Then you have Appleby on the 17th hitting a straight duck hook off the tee. He is so much better then that. He cleared his head after making triple though and made a nice par on 18.
On to my preview for tomorrow. I still believe Tiger will win this thing. In fact there is some crazy stat that the last person to win outside the final pairing was Nick Faldo in '93. Correct me if I am wrong on this. I think he'll go out there and there may be someone that birdies a couple early to get to +2 or +1 and get ahead of Tiger. They will soon falter along with everyone else as Tiger will probably coast to a two or three stroke victory shooting a 72 and finish +2. However I believe if he goes bogey, bogey on the final two holes again tomorrow he won't win. He has already done it twice and cannot do it again.
It will be a little warmer tomorrow with highs in the low 60's. These guys cannot complain about that. Winds are also suppose to calm down to 10-15 MPH which should make the course more playable, but the men at Augusta can make this course as hard as they want come Sunday with various pin placements and moving the tees far back.
My two sleepers tomorrow are Zach Johnson & Padraig Harrington. Both finished the last three holes at -1, so they have some confidence and momentum going into tomorrow which is most important. But still Tiger will come out on top and be crowned with his 5th, yes a five of those ugly jackets.
Talk to ya kids later and have fun watching that tournament that has some sort of tradition tomorrow.
After a difficult Thursday and Friday at Augusta three players are under par going into the weekend. Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark go into the weekend -2 and tied for the lead and right behind them is Vaughn Taylor at -1. After that four players are at even par including Vijay Singh.
Easily the most impressive golfer so far of the tourney is South African Tim Clark. He has shot two rounds of 71 with only two bogeys and one double bogey. He has had a modest 53 putts but has hit 85% of the fairways at Augusta. If he can continue that and lets say he shots 71 and 71 on the weekend he will win this major.
Some of the other major names around the leader board are as I mentioned before Vijay Singh. He has been all over the place in these first two rounds having eight bogeys and eight birdies. But he has kept damage to a minimum. If he can continue to grind out pars and throw some birdies in on the par 5's unfortunately he could win it. Geoff Ogilvy is at +1 and I think this man can make a major run come Sunday. He already has a major under his belt and is playing fantastic golf right now. If he can continue to strike his irons like he has the first two days and maybe a couple putts will fall I think he can easily take this.
Former Masters Champion Mike Weir is +3 and playing decent golf. I expect him to have a top ten finish this weekend. He is +3 along with Tiger, Paul Casey, and Luke Donald. I think obviously Tiger can but Casey and Donald could also make big runs tomorrow and maybe just win this damn thing. Casey shot a tourney best 68 today and is poised to be in the final group of a major on Sunday considering how consistent he is. Other notables are Philler Up and DL III are +5 and Adam Scott, Fred Couples, and Retief Goosen are all +8 and just made the cut.
Couple notables not to make the cut are Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, hometown kid Charles Howell III, Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn, and no amateurs made the cut.
This all sets up for a great weekend especially if both Phil and Tiger can put some sort of score in the 60's up on Saturday. If both are in the Top Ten come Sunday and within 3-4 strokes of the lead we can expect a typical Augusta Sunday.
Some of the guys I expect to perform well this weekend based on history and how they are playing at the moment in no specific order.
- Tim Clark for the reasons I mentioned above.
- Padraig Harrington because he is a grinder and usually performs well in majors. He also shot a 68 on Friday and is at +1 going to Saturday.
- Geoff Ogilvy for the reasons mentioned above.
- Luke Donald is at +3 but can manage Augusta with the best of them I believe. He is not a long hitter but can putt and has some good short irons in his bag. If his putter gets going this weekend watch out, so far he has 61 putts, which is a lot.
- Tiger Woods.
- Paul Casey. I don't know about another 68, but if he plays like he did Friday he will win this thing.
- Mike Weir. For some reason I like this lefty and I usually like former Master's Champs especially when they make it past the cut.
- Mr. Mickelson. He has got the length but right now he doesn't have the swing. He did putt much better on Friday though and if he can figure out his swing he will be right there with Tiger come Sunday.
- Last but certainly not least, Ian Poulter. He will come out with some great fashion statement this week that will make all the money men in Augusta cringe.
Who I think will win? Well obviously Tiger. But if not Tiger I am high on Casey and Donald both at +3 as well.
