The Masters 2016 Official Thread *READ OP BEFORE POSTING*

sligeach

Really disappointing Masters. Nobody played well except for Spieth who threw it away. Rory was all over the place. Says it all really that it's the second worst winning score in over a quarter of a century. Danny Willett, the new Mike Weir. Could be wrong but I doubt anybody will remember him in 10 years. Fair play to him though, he's got something most golfers will never win and a gravy train for the rest of his career.

josip

Catching up on the thread posts today was nearly as entertaining as watching last night. I think it's fair to say that NOBODY was expecting that.

D* wrote: »

Pity nobody challenged him

L* wrote: »

Pity nobody is even going to put any pressure on Speith. Not that it would faze him or anything anyway

M* wrote: »

Too good and most importantly consistent. Deserved winner, even if it does make it somewhat boring!

K* wrote: »

I'll be asleep early tonight! It's a procession at this stage

v* wrote: »

Very hard to keep the interest going. Pity. The last three nights have been great.

t* wrote: »

Well deserved winner. We can assume, of anyone, he ain't gonna fall apart.

Difference between him and McIlroy (and everyone else tbh).

Dirty Dingus McGee

sligeach wrote: »

Really disappointing Masters. Nobody played well except for Spieth who threw it away. Rory was all over the place. Says it all really that it's the second worst winning score in over a quarter of a century. Danny Willett, the new Mike Weir. Could be wrong but I doubt anybody will remember him in 10 years. Fair play to him though, he's got something most golfers will never win and a gravy train for the rest of his career.

I'm a casual golf fan but I thought it was a brilliant tournament.Loads of good play, unpredictability and excitement.

Maybe it's just me who sees it like this but isn't score to par isn't really relevant and just used as guide for players and viewers to know how well they are doing in comparison to the rest of the players.If conditions are difficult then sometimes a par is effectively like getting a birdie.

I've never understood why low scoring is supposedly what makes a good tournament. All the regular events of the year have really low scores surely the majors should be more difficult and not have such low scoring.

Also for me having sky plus this year for the first time really helped the experience as I could pause the action get a cup of tea and skip through the ad's or players standing over shots for ages.

CMOTDibbler

sligeach wrote: »

Really disappointing Masters. Nobody played well except for Spieth who threw it away. Rory was all over the place. Says it all really that it's the second worst winning score in over a quarter of a century. Danny Willett, the new Mike Weir. Could be wrong but I doubt anybody will remember him in 10 years. Fair play to him though, he's got something most golfers will never win and a gravy train for the rest of his career.

You're missing a couple of very salient points. The first is that the wind had a huge affect on the scores. Not only did it gust strongly but because of the layout of the course being so hilly, it swirled around a lot on many of the holes; bouncing off the trees and giving misleading readings to the players. It also caused the greens to dry out significantly, making putting extremely difficult. Often you could see players barely tapping the ball and it running for yards. This on greens that are already very difficult and where ball placement is paramount in order to have any kind of a birdie chance.

Danny Willett has been excellent over the last couple of years. I would be very surprised if he doesn't continue as he has and win a lot more tournaments. He was the number one ranked amateur in the world in 2008 before he turned pro. He has already had four wins on the European tour (three in the last two years) and was second to McIlroy in the race to Dubai last year. This was no flash in the pan.

Last night was the most gripping end to the Masters in a long while.

sligeach

Nah it was an average tournament. If you look at Spieth, bar his first bogey free round of 67 he had 10 bogeys, 4 double bogeys and a quadruple bogey. He shot over par for 3 rounds. You say it was difficult but Willett managed to mirror Spieth's first round score on the final day, bogey free just like Spieth. So it was possible to score low, just nobody strung it together for the 4 days.

spacecoyote

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

You're missing a couple of very salient points. The first is that the wind had a huge affect on the scores. Not only did it gust strongly but because of the layout of the course being so hilly, it swirled around a lot on many of the holes; bouncing off the trees and giving misleading readings to the players. It also caused the greens to dry out significantly, making putting extremely difficult. Often you could see players barely tapping the ball and it running for yards. This on greens that are already very difficult and where ball placement is paramount in order to have any kind of a birdie chance.

Very good point. Casey said it after his round on Friday I think? Something along the lines of...

The hardest part out there is knowing when to take your shot. Everyone knows the course & knows the distances, its the sudden change in wind direction & speed that caused the worst problems.

Seve OB

sligeach wrote: »

Really disappointing Masters. Nobody played well except for Spieth who threw it away. Rory was all over the place. Says it all really that it's the second worst winning score in over a quarter of a century. Danny Willett, the new Mike Weir. Could be wrong but I doubt anybody will remember him in 10 years. Fair play to him though, he's got something most golfers will never win and a gravy train for the rest of his career.

sligeach wrote: »

Nah it was an average tournament. If you look at Spieth, bar his first bogey free round of 67 he had 10 bogeys, 4 double bogeys and a quadruple bogey. He shot over par for 3 rounds. You say it was difficult but Willett managed to mirror Spieth's first round score on the final day, bogey free just like Spieth. So it was possible to score low, just nobody strung it together for the 4 days.

I would be firmly of the opinion that you either genuinely don't have a clue of what you are talking about or are simply a troll trying to stir some sh1t.

CMOTDibbler

sligeach wrote: »

Nah it was an average tournament. If you look at Spieth, bar his first bogey free round of 67 he had 10 bogeys, 4 double bogeys and a quadruple bogey. He shot over par for 3 rounds. You say it was difficult but Willett managed to mirror Spieth's first round score on the final day, bogey free just like Spieth. So it was possible to score low, just nobody strung it together for the 4 days.

It was possible to score low, but nobody really did once the wind got up. The first day wasn't too bad and the last day was OK as well. Willett was under par both days. Spieth wasn't, but I'm putting yesterday's score down to the pressure that Willett put on him. It was no coincidence (imo) that the scoreboard showed Willett getting to -4 just as Spieth got to the 12th tee.

There were 20 players under par yesterday of the 57 playing. Of that 57, 20 were under par on the first day too. Only 4 on the second day and 5 on the third when the wind was at its worst. That's why nobody strung it together for the four days; Willett included.

The Talking Bread

Dolph Starbeam wrote: »

Happy to see Willett win, yesterdays round was almost flawless, Spieth did well to even be in the position he was with 9 holes rmaining because he just never looked comfortable all week.




.

Seriously??!! He played some blinding golf! His driving was, as always, his only flaw, if you can even call it tahat as it suits his game anyway!

Baggy Trousers

I completely missed this hole-in-one from Louis Oosthuizen.

How much money do they get for those?

Mushy

sligeach wrote: »

Really disappointing Masters. Nobody played well except for Spieth who threw it away. Rory was all over the place. Says it all really that it's the second worst winning score in over a quarter of a century. Danny Willett, the new Mike Weir. Could be wrong but I doubt anybody will remember him in 10 years. Fair play to him though, he's got something most golfers will never win and a gravy train for the rest of his career.

Lower winning scores are a hell of a lot more entertaining than birdie fests like every normal competition. Very tough conditions, great play by players every day, Willett was the best at that over the weekend (only one round over par).

Oh and everyone will remember him in 10 years...Sky Sports will make sure of that!

josip wrote: »

Catching up on the thread posts today was nearly as entertaining as watching last night. I think it's fair to say that NOBODY was expecting that.

I certainly wasn't anyway. Maybe he was consistent though in that he collapsed towards the end like the previous three days.

sligeach

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Seriously??!! He played some blinding golf! His driving was, as always, his only flaw, if you can even call it tahat as it suits his game anyway!

Ya, if his back 9 had matched his front 9 he'd have finished on -11. But then if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle. Spieth done a Rory.

Dolph Starbeam

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Seriously??!! He played some blinding golf! His driving was, as always, his only flaw, if you can even call it tahat as it suits his game anyway!

Yes he did play some blinding golf. He also played some poor golf where his short game saved him big time.

Seve OB

Seve OB wrote: »

I would be firmly of the opinion that you either genuinely don't have a clue of what you are talking about or are simply a troll trying to stir some sh1t.

Or has an extremely short memory and doesn't remember the likes of Immelman's win when there was - literally - zero drama on the Sunday back 9.

sligeach

Mushy wrote: »

Lower winning scores are a hell of a lot more entertaining than birdie fests like every normal competition. Very tough conditions, great play by players every day, Willett was the best at that over the weekend (only one round over par).

Oh and everyone will remember him in 10 years...Sky Sports will make sure of that!



I certainly wasn't anyway. Maybe he was consistent though in that he collapsed towards the end like the previous three days.

I'm not saying it wasn't entertaining just that it wasn't a high standard. And ya being English we probably won't be allowed forget him by the English media.

applehunter

The_Kew_Tour

Golf never seems to disappoint.

Here we had Speith last year's winner cruising and then wham!

josip

sligeach wrote: »

I'm not saying it wasn't entertaining just that it wasn't a high standard. And ya being English we probably won't be allowed forget him by the English media.

Then perhaps you should refrain from English media for a while?

valoren

sligeach wrote: »

Really disappointing Masters. Nobody played well except for Spieth who threw it away. Rory was all over the place. Says it all really that it's the second worst winning score in over a quarter of a century. Danny Willett, the new Mike Weir. Could be wrong but I doubt anybody will remember him in 10 years. Fair play to him though, he's got something most golfers will never win and a gravy train for the rest of his career.

Willett? Forgettable?

He must have felt like he was out of it after missing his birdie putt on the 15th. He didn't know he was leading but he sure as hell knew on the 16th tee. Westwood miscues with his tee shot and 3 putts to take himself out of contention. Willett clings one to 8 feet and drains the birdie putt with a huge Augusta roar.

Nervous now, he pulls his tee shot slightly on the 17th and is left and long with his approach. His chip from there was the shot of the tournament for me. Simply brilliant in the circumstances. Saves his par.

Then after a bit of commotion on the tee, backs off the drive, regroups and blisters one up the fairway. His 8 iron finds the middle of the green and two putts are enough for a Green Jacket.

How was that forgettable? It was gripping stuff.

Seve OB

sligeach wrote: »

Ya, if his back 9 had matched his front 9 he'd have finished on -11.

stupid, stupid, stupid thing to say.


that is like saying about a football team 2-0 up at half time should win 4-0.

it is like saying, he birdied 3 out of the first 6, so he will finish -9 for his round.


every hole is different pal, and they all throw up their own surprises, and nobody, not even tiger at his hay day will hit every shot perfect every time! :rolleyes:

sligeach

Seve OB wrote: »

stupid, stupid, stupid thing to say.


that is like saying about a football team 2-0 up at half time should win 4-0.

it is like saying, he birdied 3 out of the first 6, so he will finish -9 for his round.


every hole is different pal, and they all throw up their own surprises, and nobody, not even tiger at his hay day will hit every shot perfect every time! :rolleyes:

Cop on. What did I say immediately after that? If anybody is acting the troll it's you.

sligeach

valoren wrote: »

Willett? Forgettable?

He must have felt like he was out of it after missing his birdie putt on the 15th. He didn't know he was leading but he sure as hell knew on the 16th tee. Westwood miscues with his tee shot and 3 putts to take himself out of contention. Willett clings one to 8 feet and drains the birdie putt with a huge Augusta roar.

Nervous now, he pulls his tee shot slightly on the 17th and is left and long with his approach. His chip from there was the shot of the tournament for me. Simply brilliant in the circumstances. Saves his par.

Then after a bit of commotion on the tee, backs off the drive, regroups and blisters one up the fairway. His 8 iron finds the middle of the green and two putts are enough for a Green Jacket.

How was that forgettable? It was gripping stuff.

I'm no fan of Spieth but if he'd managed just par on the back 9, even 1 over it would have been irrelevant what Willett did.

sligeach

sligeach wrote: »

I'm no fan of Spieth but if he'd managed just par on the back 9, even 1 over it would have been irrelevant what Willett did.

I don't understand these arguments. Each golfer plays 72 holes and adds up their score. The one with the lowest score wins the tournament.

Do you usually apply this logic to golf tournaments? It's like saying if Sergio had 'managed to just par in the last round' then Harrington wouldn't have won his first Open.

It's total nonsense. Spieth dunked it in the water twice on 12. Willett didn't.

valoren

sligeach wrote: »

I'm no fan of Spieth but if he'd managed just par on the back 9, even 1 over it would have been irrelevant what Willett did.

That's Golf. Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda.

Willett posted a bogey free 67. He posted the best score he possibly could on the day. It's all he could do from his starting position. Post as low as possible and hope for the best.

It was enough to win. He too had to play the 12th. He didn't score a quadruple bogey!

Spieth is not the first to be undone by Amen Corner.
He won't be the last. That's the magic of Augusta.

Spieth hadn't a stock shot from the tee all week. He was missing right a lot.
He posted his scores by virtue of a brilliant short game and putting, the best I've seen at the Masters.
He was hitting a baby draw with his eyes closed last year and blew the field away.
He was clearly struggling/uncomfortable off the tee and had no control of his ball flight for the 4 days.

Unfortunately for him, a weak slap right with a mid iron compounded with a mental lapse with his chip and it was goodnight vienna.

vienne86

d2ww wrote: »

Is there a fixed time that a player has, to take a shot in though?

Maybe there should be. This became an issue with guys kicking for goal in rugby. There is now a limit of one minute between putting the kicking tee on the ground and taking the kick.....and if it is windy and the ball is blown off he tee, they still only get one minute in total.

CMOTDibbler

vienne86 wrote: »

Maybe there should be. This became an issue with guys kicking for goal in rugby. There is now a limit of one minute between putting the kicking tee on the ground and taking the kick.....and if it is windy and the ball is blown off he tee, they still only get one minute in total.

I know with the new European tour rules that it's 50 seconds if you're first up and 40 seconds if not. That's only if you're on the clock. I imagine it's something similar with the USPGA, but I've not seen it mentioned specifically.

vienne86

sligeach wrote: »

I'm no fan of Spieth but if he'd managed just par on the back 9, even 1 over it would have been irrelevant what Willett did.

Eh......but he didn't.....so Willett won.

Keano

This thread has ran smoothly for days, trolls you will removed. Take this as your warning

CMOTDibbler

sligeach wrote: »

I'm no fan of Spieth but if he'd managed just par on the back 9, even 1 over it would have been irrelevant what Willett did.

What Willett did was relevant though. Whilst Spieth was leaking shots on the back nine; 1 on the 10th and one on the 11th, Willett was making birdies on the 13th and 14th. Each shot he dropped, Willett closed the gap by two and when he stood on the twelfth tee, he saw that he only had a one shot lead. That got in his head and he pushed his iron shot into the water and the rest is history.

dball

Just looking at the scores from yesterday and it seems that rory, Spieth and JB Holmes all had 7 birdies yesterday. I cant see anyone with any more but I haven't checked them all.

There was some great golf out there but as always bogeys and dbl's kill a card.

It was a great tournament - best in years - I was about to give up on it and then it ignited - thankfully

This thread was better than most of the TV coverage. >thumbs up<

CMOTDibbler

The good thing for Rory is that every year it won't all be "Remember what happened on the 10th?" but more "Remember what happened on the 12th?"

fryup

martyos121 wrote: »

Takes off the white jacket to reveal green at Augusta. That's pure cockiness and I love it.

why did he do that sponsorship??

kiers47

Read an article earlier and a quote reminded me of this thread.

"Ignore the bad stuff in sport and you're just a cheerleader. But ignore the good stuff and you're just a cynic. And a cynic is probably even worse than a cheerleader because all they're doing is making themselves and other people miserable. Sport, like life, is a thing of highs and lows. Forget one or the other and you're only seeing the half of it."

People really need to take a step back and just enjoy the spectacle for what it is. Thrilling, enthralling and full of surprises.

Loire

Conventional wisdom says that to win the Masters you need to score really well on the Par 5s....Danny Willet was LEVEL PAR for the par 5s over the whole tournament. Another myth debunked!

http://www.masters.com/en_US/players/player_32139.html?r=lb&promo=bio_lb

Loire.

CMOTDibbler

Loire wrote: »

Conventional wisdom says that to win the Masters you need to score really well on the Par 5s....Danny Willet was LEVEL PAR for the par 5s over the whole tournament. Another myth debunked!

http://www.masters.com/en_US/players/player_32139.html?r=lb&promo=bio_lb

Loire.

Yeah. Willett's strength was in limiting his bogeys and doubles, he led the field in those two stats as well as having the most pars. He had no doubles or above which is very unusual at Augusta.

So no real damage done with only 8 bogies in total.

Interesting to see that Rory was -10 for the par 5s :eek:. He was -7 on the first two days which supports the notion that he stopped playing aggressively in the last two days when conditions started to improve.

kiers47

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Yeah. Willett's strength was in limiting his bogeys and doubles, he led the field in those two stats as well as having the most pars. He had no doubles or above which is very unusual at Augusta.

So no real damage done with only 8 bogies in total.

Interesting to see that Rory was -10 for the par 5s :eek:. He was -7 on the first two days which supports the notion that he stopped playing aggressively in the last two days when conditions started to improve.

Willet also only played the par 5's in level par which further more highlights how much he was eliminating mistakes as a whole.

kiers47

kiers47 wrote: »

Willet also only played the par 5's in level par which further more highlights how much he was eliminating mistakes as a whole.

Didnt even read this was just posted :cool:

kiers47

kiers47 wrote: »

Willet also only played the par 5's in level par which further more highlights how much he was eliminating mistakes as a whole.

Some interesting context on this: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/13/danny-willett-golf-analytics-masters-champion-15th-club

mickmackey1

Deleted User wrote: »

Some interesting context on this: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/13/danny-willett-golf-analytics-masters-champion-15th-club

Just goes to show how stats don't tell the full story... JD may have most strokes gained but I'd take Spieth's putting any day.

Not saying it is or isnt the case but onr golfer winning going even on par 5s doesnt debunk anything, also Rory scoring worse on his par 5s in his final 2 means little...

Golf is a high variance sport where lots of stuff can go wrong or right on every shot. It is why it is one of the greatest sports to watch...

Stats are relevant massively but not over a hole, a round, not even over a tournament

k.p.h

Hi guys, been while since posted but this years Masters was great. Not sure why but I'm not surprised Willett popped up and won a major. Maybe wasn't expecting it to be this years Masters but the type of solid golf he plays means he's always lurking and on the right weekend you will have your chance.

Great Masters anyway, looking forward to seeing who bounces back throughout the season!

spacecoyote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AUdLFwntK8

diomed

I looked at the sand save stats. Willett had none.
Eleven players who missed the cut had no sand save stats (four were past winners).
Three who made the cut had no sand save stats.
Willett 1st; Holmes 4th; Grillo 17th.

OffalyMedic

Anyone get email this morning winning tickets for 2017? I was unsuccessful for third year running

mike12

shaunac93 wrote: »

Anyone get email this morning winning tickets for 2017? I was unsuccessful for third year running

Same here there is always next year.

Kace

No email for me - I guess that's a good thing then!