{"id":1272,"date":"2013-04-17T18:00:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T18:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teemoore.com\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2013-04-17T18:00:57","modified_gmt":"2013-04-17T18:00:57","slug":"masters-notebook-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/1272\/masters-notebook-part-ii","title":{"rendered":"Masters Notebook, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Kudos to the Masters and Augusta National for the initiative, along with partners PGA of America and USGA, for the exciting news about the 2014 Drive, Chip and Putt Championship. Taking place the Sunday before the start of Masters week, boys and girls ages 7-15 will compete in the finals at Augusta National in separate divisions and ages. The drive and chip finals will take place on the club\u2019s superb and expansive practice facility while the putting finals will occur on the 18th green of Augusta National. Bravo! The deadline to register is April 30, 2013 at www.drivechipandputt.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>At his Chairman\u2019s Press conference on Wednesday, Billy Payne gushed about having Condi Rice and Darla Moore (darn, no relation) as the club\u2019s first female members. \u201cIt\u2019s just awesome,\u201d said Payne. After last year\u2019s contentious Press Conference which included several pointed questions about the lack of a female member at Augusta National, no way was the progressive-minded Payne going to allow this gender and member issue continue to fester and be a distraction to the Masters. Although constitutionally protected as a private club, Augusta National deferred too long on the gender issue\u2014unlike the club\u2019s prompt response to admitting African-Americans following the highly volatile \u2018Shoal Creek\u2019 furor in 1990. At the Press conference, Payne didn\u2019t get entangled with other hot button questions like the proposed ban on anchored putting, or whether or not Vijay Singh should be playing in the Masters due to his admitted use of a banned substance, and whether or not other clubs should follow suit on admitting female members. Asked ESPN\u2019s Rick Reilly: \u201cYou can see that we are struggling for controversy. Do you miss the controversy (laughter).\u201d Retorted a smiling Payne: \u201cDo you have a question, Rick?\u201d (more laughter.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Prior to the start of the tournament, the spot at which Bubba Watson last year hit his amazing hooked wedge shot out of the trees on the 10th hole during the playoff became a \u201cmust visit\u201d area for patrons. When visiting there on Thursday, I heard a patron say to his friend: \u201cI was right here last year when Bubba hit his shot. I thought for sure he was going to just chip out to the fairway.\u201d Seeing the spot in person, makes Bubba\u2019s feat even more incredible to me. And what makes it extra special, it\u2019s an area at which patrons can actually place themselves inside the player\u2019s shoes\u2014unlike the inside-the-ropes locales at which Sarazen, Devlin, Maggert and Oosthuizen had their historic double eagles and where a number of players had their aces. When asked on Wednesday if the club would consider putting a plaque at the spot, Payne said: \u201cYou know, we haven\u2019t talked about it&#8230;I think we\u2019d have to get a little more time to how history remembers that before we make a decision.\u201d Mr. Payne, history will always remember it fondly. (Note: There\u2019s a plaque in the rough at Royal Birkdale\u2019s 16th hole (then the 15th) commemorating Arnold Palmer\u2019s explosive 6-iron shot out of a wet, gnarly thicket in the 1961 British Open, an approach shot finding the green that helped Palmer win the claret jug.) So order the plaque now for Bubba\u2019s iconic shot and keep laying down the pine straw there\u2014it will be a \u201cmust visit\u201d place for years to come.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>My favorite tidbit about the Par-3 event was Rickie Fowler having his grandma on the bag, following previous years with his grandpa (\u201che\u2019s the one that got me into golf\u201d) and his dad. About his grandma as caddie, Fowler said: \u201cShe did great. I think she\u2019s actually supposed to have knee surgery at some point coming up but all of sudden her knee felt pretty good today.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Of all the stats compiled for the week, most impressive was low amateur Guan not having a single three putt during the tournament. Using a belly putter, Guan tied Fowler for the lowest accumulative putting average per hole at 1.50. Fowler had two three-putts so I give the putting crown to Guan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Masters\u2019 credos, first voiced by founders Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, of the \u201cendless pursuit of perfection\u201d and \u201ccontinuous improvement\u201d were seen in a new seating innovation in the \u201cObservation Stands\u201d (Masterspeak for grandstands). To avoid distracting noise for nearby players, the new chair back seating features a spring that quietly lifts the seat bottom whenever a patron stands up. Speaking of Observation Stands, member Condi Rice joined by four other friends sat in one at the 5th green on Thursday for several hours in the back reserved seating row.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Though Phil Mickelson had a disappointing Masters, he remains one of the most popular players and media interviews in the game. A few examples sharpened the point. In his press conference on Tuesday, Mickelson exhibited an easy, engaging manner with an impish and self-effacing sense of humor. When one reporter asked him the loaded question if he\u2019d like to see the R &amp; A Golf Club of St. Andrews admit a female member, Mickelson deftly dodged it by saying: \u201cI really love the game of golf and I love playing professional golf&#8230;What I don\u2019t love is getting involved in the politics of it. I tried that earlier in the year&#8230;it didn\u2019t go so well.\u201d (laughter.) His words were in reference to controversial (to some) comments made earlier in the year about high taxes and the possibility he might have to move out of his native California because of them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>After the interview, I strolled over to the practice putting green and there\u2019s Mickelson with his caddie, Jim \u201cBones\u201d Mackay. Mickelson was about to start a putting drill when a fan along the rope yelled out to him, \u201cHey, Phil, sweet shoes!\u201d The nattily attired Phil was dressed in white cap, navy shirt, navy pants, silver\/white belt and navy alligator (or faux alligator) shoes. Phil smiled, looked at the young man and at his shoes, and then quipped. \u201cI wish I could reciprocate.\u201d The gallery broke up in laughter. Then he added, \u201cI\u2019m just kidding.\u201d Moments later, Bones went over and handed the beaming fan a new golf ball.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>On Tuesday afternoon, I attended the sparsely attended press conference for Steven Fox, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. After receiving the official invite, Fox said he played Augusta &#8220;12-13 times&#8221; with two Augusta National members from Nashville (TN). He cited the huge difference playing in front of the huge galleries on Monday. &#8220;I must have yelled &#8216;Fore&#8217; 15 times yesterday,\u201d said Fox with a smile. He stayed in the Crow&#8217;s Nest inside the clubhouse on Wednesday and Thursday nights. With his dad on the bag, Fox missed the cut (76-81).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Best quote of the week is from Bubba Watson when talking about callers who contact Masters officials about possible rules infractions seen on television: \u201cThey must have a lot of time on their hands,\u201d Watson said. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t know the phone number to call, and I\u2019m playing in the golf tournament.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Best sportsmanship award goes to runner-up Angel Cabrera for his \u201cthumb up\u201d signal to Adam Scott, applauding Scott\u2019s approach iron to the 10th hole in the playoff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>This was my 30th year covering the Masters, a privileged assignment. As Woody Allen once said, \u201c80% of success is just showing up.\u201d Thanks, Augusta National, for letting me in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kudos to the Masters and Augusta National for the initiative, along with partners PGA of America and USGA, for the&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/1272\/masters-notebook-part-ii\" title=\"ReadMasters Notebook, Part II\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6731,27552,4907,152652,5048,251739,5975,277563,6120,485358,6127,6133,9,1695,6569],"tags":[1138,6477,813713,815442,83,589092,1154,813716,813717,813718,4503,3038,813248,159,613943],"class_list":["post-1272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-indiana-golf-assoc","category-wvga","category-oregon-golf-assoc","category-callaway-golf","category-alternative-golf-assoc","category-pga-tour","category-long-island-golf-assoc","category-wisconsin-golfer","category-the-masters","category-okga","category-so-cal-golf-assoc","category-british-open","category-golf","category-travel-oregon","category-azga","tag-masters-tournament","tag-par-3-contest","tag-drivechipandputtcom","tag-condi-rice","tag-usga","tag-darla-moore","tag-phil-mickelson","tag-steven-fox","tag-us-amateur-champion","tag-angel-cabreras-sportsmanship","tag-ricky-fowler","tag-bubba-watson","tag-tianlang-guan","tag-augusta-national","tag-ryder-cup-pga-of-america"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1272"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1275,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272\/revisions\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}