PIGDivot This is why you don't let ESPN anywhere near golf coverage. Els posted a 9 on #1 with 6 putts. Not a 10!!! Check the scorecard ESPN!
To be fair, the Masters website and the Augusta.com website all had his score as a 10 for the entire round.
My guess is Els recounted his score after the round and made an adjustment.
edit:
Masters officials made the correction.
Interesting first day. Not a lot of fireworks, but a handful of guys keeping Spieth honest after pretty good opening rounds.
What I found most interesting is how the back nine really slapped a few notable top-10 players around.
Jason Day played the last four holes @ +5.
Despite the 2-putt birdie on 15, Rory threw away two strokes over the last three holes.
Bubba had only one par over the last nine holes in what can only be described as a disastrous meltdown.
Fowler played the last nine holes @ +8, and a picture of his PGA Tour mugshot is being imprinted on milk cartons all over Georgia this evening.
Adam played the last 7 holes @ +3.
Dustin made double on 11, bogeyed the par5 15th and finished with bogey @ 18.
Just some really bad mental mistakes by the top players, out of position, in no position to really scramble, and the guys who fought their swings really didn't have much of a chance. And the bad news (or good news if you're one of the guys at +4, maybe +5 depending on what Jordan does Friday) for the guys hoping to sneak inside the 10-stroke cut line is that Friday isn't going to be any easier.
Jordan showed some of his usual major-type poise today, but he'll have to continue scrambling and putting, and as Spuzz accurately related - he'll have to tighten up his dispersion rate tomorrow. The wind will quickly dry the moisture out of the greens and any mistake made on the wrong side of the hole will be enormously exaggerated.
Side note: after chipping in for birdie in his opening hole his very first go-round at Augusta, last week's winner Jim Herman finished +3 for the day. Not great, but certainly respectable, especially considering the circumstances.
Post-round interview comment of the day, courtesy of Spieth:
"Getting put on the clock isn't that big of a deal."
WRONG, Jordan. It is a big deal. It takes you and several others entirely too long to hit your shots. Jason Day, hope you're listening.
That's just a stupid comment, and it wasn't taken out of context. It is a horrible comment, in fact, from a young player who has an opportunity to set a great example to young players everywhere.
But I forgive you. Just get about your business and stop dilly-dallying around. You're getting a reputation and comments like this only validates those criticisms.
PA-PLAYA
It's no big deal because it's never enforced.
Once they do start enforcing it, the tune will change.
IMO, the role model and set an example mantra is good PR for the pros, but they aren't serious about it.
They play a different game and live in a different world than the rest of us.
My Pops noticed the slow play ages ago.
He started picking out the "TV Golfers" on the course with relative ease and accuracy, more than 10 years ago.
So far Spieth has been playing fast enough to avoid getting penalized. and I expect it would become a big deal once that happens.
Supp So far Spieth has been playing fast enough to avoid getting penalized. and I expect it would become a big deal once that happens.
Well, it's been 20 years since the PGA actually enforced the rule as it's written (Glen Day) and the most recent one was picking on a poor 14 year old amateur 3 years ago at the Masters.
So in reality, it is not difficult to avoid being penalized and I would add, if you are a "name" player, you would have to be crawling around the course to lose any strokes on your card.
Slow play is obviously not enforced on the regular PGA tour, but there have been notable instances on the European Tour, as well as the example Spuzz mentioned a few years back in the Masters, where slow play is penalized.
And although (unfortunately) Spieth is ultimately correct that it's not a big deal (because of the non-enforcement mindset on the regular tour) it's still a very poor example to make such a claim openly, especially considering that it's a young player who will likely be in the spotlight for several more years acknowledging as much.
It's not so much an indictment of one player's indifference, but more so Finchem's indifference and unwillingness to change it, and how that has morphed beyond just what happens in the weekly non-major events.
Yeah, I thought that was one instance where the Masters really screwed things up. You've got Jim Furyk who takes an hour to size up a 3 footer, in the field that week, and they opted to make an example out of a young kid who quite frankly couldn't possibly have been as slow as the notorious violators.
They (Masters committee) generally don't goof like that, but that year they did. I think that same year they also gaffed with Tiger's improper drop, if memory serves.
Hard to believe how much Singh and Els have declined. Nobody may ever win the Masters beyond Jack's age back in '86.
Sucky baby Bubba showed up again today.
He's channelling his Tiger Woods into his play.
LOL
It appears everyone is playing for second place already.
oops, spoke too soon
Spieth on the clock again
LOL
So I was watching the Master's today and a freaking US Open was being televised instead!!! Don't know if I have seen Augusta play this tough. No record setting scores this year.
Gonna be interesting when bryson does well and nobody ( OEM) has a set available like his. I think speith is kinda acting silly about being put on the clock. Its his own fault. Phil is falling apart.
Bryson at -3!!!
