The Rogers News

Author: Chris

  • My Masters Picks

    MY PICKS: I’m making my picks early. This is my order of likely winners.

    (1) Tiger Woods – The loss to Oglivy at Doral a few weeks ago will have Tiger fired up. Augusta is perfect for his game. The only thing that might hurt is chances is if the course it too soft. That will balance out the field and allow some of the less skilled players to play target golf on the tricky greens.

    (2) Phil Mickelson – He’s been playing well for the most part with one win, one second, and seven of eight cuts made. He’s got the length and is gaining more discipline. Despite Phil being a former champion, this is the riskiest top-six pick for me. He’ll definitely make the cut, but will he be in contention come Sunday?

    (3) Geoff Oglivy – This guy is playing great. Last time I saw him he was staking everything from everywhere at Doral. His funny looking swing holds up under pressure against even the most formidable of opponents. He’s won a U.S. Open, so we know he can close.

    (4) KJ Choi – He won early in 2008 and has played consistently well since then. I keep pulling for this guy to win a major, and I think Augusta is a great chance for him. K.J.’s putting is a little suspect, but he has a great greens-in-regulation percentage. He should probably be higher than 4 on this list.

    (5) Vijay Singh – I don’t know what to make of Vijay lately. He’s got this funky new swing where he drags the club inside and tries to draw the ball more. That’s a good shot for Augusta, which is known as a right-to-left course, if he’s got it under control. Singh has won before, can hit the long ball, and has been practicing and resting at home in preparation. He should be close come Sunday.

    (6) J.B. Holmes OR Steve Stricker

    Kentucky native J.B. Holmes hits the ball a long long way, which is great for Augusta. He’s won once already this year and has been playing well. However, this is his first Masters.

    Steve Stricker has never won a major, but he’s got a lot of experience and has been playing very consistently for the past year. I definitely think he’ll make the cut and be near the top come Sunday, though I’m not sure he’ll threaten the leaders.

    I got rid of Padraig Harrington from my top six because he’s not playing well, and has let me down when I’ve picked him before.

    WINNING SCORE: -9

    It’s been raining and the course is very soft, which eliminates Augusta’s main defense of hard and fast greens. Zach Johnson’s winning score of +1 last year was an anomaly. The weather was cold and tricky. Since 2002, excluding last year, the highest winning score has been -7 and the lowest winning score -12. Look for it to fall within that range this year.

  • Masters’ Week Coverage

    I’ll be covering the Masters from my living room. My inside sources will be the ESPN / CBS television broadcast and anything I can read online. I figure if I keep my clubs nearby it’ll be better than being there. Now if I could just get my hands on a pimento cheese sandwich.

    Here are some good places aside from The Yugflog Blog that you can keep up on the latest Masters news:

    Masters.org – They have a great customizable live leaderboard I use every year. Also, they stream Amen Corner live as well as holes 15 and 16. If you can’t watch on TV, or if you want to supplement your TV, this is the place to go.

    GolfDigest.com – They have some good “now and then” and “coming of age” stories.

    Geoff Shackelford will be writing in to locations – the usual blog posts which pick apart the interview transcripts beautifully and also on a GolfDigest special called Dateline Augusta.

    ESPN, of course, has some coverage, but they shuffle most of the work off to Masters.org.

    If you’re visiting Augusta or, like me, trying to channel the Augusta experience to your living room, you should check out Augusta.com. They have tips on getting around Augusta, how to rent a house, and golf coverage, too.

    Finally, the PGA of America has some cryptic coverage. Best thing about their site is the countdown clock.

    Do you know of any other great sites to watch?

  • Tiger’s Threat

    Tiger Woods made the following comment during the final round of the CA Championship last weekend when a photographer took a shot in his backswing:

    The next time a photographer shoots a f****** picture on my backswing I’m going to break his f****** neck.

    He apologized for the threat, but not the language. That sounds about right. I don’t have an issue with cussing, especially when playing a competitive sport. It’s just not a big deal. I’ve never sat courtside at a professional basketball game or stood on the sideline of a football game, but I would imagine language can get a little uncouth.

    Golf being tagged as a “Gentleman’s Game” is a blessing and a curse. On one hand the visual is anything but that of what you would imagine fierce competition to look like. There’s a bunch of men in khaki pants and tucked-in shirts that can’t even carry their own bags a few miles. On the other hand, there is no other sport that demands so much of a player and, more importantly, fans and media.

    There is a huge burden to shoulder as a golf fan. You have to be conscious of when and where you move at all times. Especially, if you are a photographer inside the ropes late on Sunday.

    The photographer failed last Sunday and Tiger didn’t handle it well.

  • Why be an Entrepreneur?

    If you don’t take advantage of yourself, someone else will.

    ~ Jakob Lodwick

  • Awareness

    I walked to the grocery store to buy root-beer and an onion, I realized that while owning an iPhone allows me to better record my observations, it also significantly decreases my observations. I spent the whole walk to the store checking Facebook and Tumblr.

  • Progress and Life

    “To progress in life you must give up the things you do not like. Give up doing the things that you do not like to do. You must find the things that you do like. The things that are acceptable to your mind.”

    ~ Agnes Martin

  • Leap Year Day

    “Happy leap year day!”

    ~ Me.