The Masters 2022 thread

Russman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118909642#Comment_118909642

Superb player but I don't think its his level (at least consistently), I think he's riding a wave at the moment. A number of the top guys over the last 5/6 years have had spells when they looked unbeatable and picked up a lot of wins in 12/18 months, the likes of Day, Thomas, DJ, Cantlay etc. Personally I think his name was on the trophy since his back nine on Friday when he hit a few wayward shots but couldn't seem to get into trouble no matter what he did. Played lovely on Saturday and the half thinned chip that went in on the 3rd on Sunday killed Smith off IMHO.

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118909642#Comment_118909642

He's definitely in a hot streak right now. Even when he skanked one he came up thrumps and his short game was out of this world all weekend.

y0ssar1an22

i think he's riding a hot wave to be honest. he got lucky in a lot of instances and i dont think that luck will continue.

thats not to take away from him, every champion has slices of luck along the way.

that chip in on the 3rd i'd say knocked the stuffing out of smith. he probably had mentally accounted for scheffler to par at best. they were both in the exact same position, smith gets a 5 and scheffler gets a 3!

G1032

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118909669#Comment_118909669

100%

That ball on the 3rd was fairly traveling when it went in. Was almost definitely going to result in a bogey. But these are the breaks one needs I guess in order to win a major. Was discussing potential winners last week at work and I didn't give Scheffler a chance for precisely the reason outlined above. He's riding the crest of a wave at the minute because he's just holing everything around him. That's probably not going to last too much longer. He could just as easily have been 2 over after 3 yesterday as 1 under. Atrocious drive on 1. Atrocious 2nd shot on 2 (which was never really going to cost him) and atrocious 2nd on 3, followed by a poor chip that was hugely fortunate to hit the pin and drop. A start like what would have been very difficult to come back from. But he got it over the line and that's all that matters. Don't know what the 18th was all about? Very strange 4 putting like that when there was really no pressure on him with a 5 shot lead.

moycullen14

How many features does Rory get for the 18th? two bunkers, birdie, golden ferret..... Must be worth about 4 euro?. Then Morikawa does the same. I'd say it took them ages to work out :-)

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118909669#Comment_118909669

Well what sets him apart is attitude. He stays so calm all the time and never panics. His long game has been the same since he came on tour, he's improved massively at chipping and putting.

The first win took the pressure off and he's been smiling ever since until things went a bit awry on the back nine Saturday. He was more serious then but kept it together brilliantly.

That chip in was due because he was so great around the greens all week.

I think this is his level and there's been nobody at the level he's at right now since Tiger.

CONSI

for me it continues to show the limitations of Augusta as a modern venue, about the only hole they got right was 15 by making it longer, no eagles for the first time since the 60's, but it seemed like 7 and 9 you could just drive past all the trouble. If the 4 days were all like Sunday you would have been looking at -20 easy. The only thing they can do to protect the course is put the pins in stupid postitions on hills. 10 aswell which used to be hard they are now bombing drives 330/340 down there and 13 they were hitting into with 6 irons..11 they have opened up the fairway aswell...I know only 9 players finished under par but that was only weather related as most of them had shockers when the weather wasnt ideal and not the course asking the questions..just my personal opinion

IAmTitleist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910200#Comment_118910200

That last sentence is some kinda monumental nonsense.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910200#Comment_118910200

No denying he has had an incredible few months nor that he's an extremely talented golfer... But I'm not sure he should be compared to Tiger just yet. It's an incredibly small window to be making that comparison.

Tiger held all 4 majors at the same time by the time Scottie won on the PGA.

McIlroy, DJ, Spieth, Koepka and a few more have all had (probably more impressive) periods of Tiger like dominance than him. He would need to add another Major this year to be put in at their level, let alone Tigers imo.

eagle eye

Just to add, some people don't think caddies are important but the addition of Ted Scott as his caddie should not be underestimated.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910287#Comment_118910287

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910297#Comment_118910297

Just to clarify I'm not saying he's the new Tiger Woods by any stretch.

It's how he's got these wins of late that's like Tiger. The WGC in the quarters, semis and final he was three up at the finish. He just dominated. Same again this week. And it's been about less mistakes than anybody else.

The Big Easy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910200#Comment_118910200

Meant to add about his attitude and demeanour in my post, it really is a huge plus and something that can separate real champions.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910297#Comment_118910297

I'm not saying he's Tiger and it's a small sample, but he's won 4 out of his last 6 tournaments, a major, a wgc and one of the more prestigious PGA Tour events.

He could be underrated because of his demeanour and the lack of media hype prior to exploding onto the scene in the last few months. Take your point about others looking like they were about to similarly dominate, especially Spieth at one point, but couldn't keep it going for whatever reason. I think it's fascinating to see if Scottie can keep it going though.

One thing I don't particularly like is that he likes to take his time, but hey don't they all?!

slave1

Another great Masters, great to see the blue sky on Sunday, the whites of the bunkers and the pristine fairways. Just a shame the final round lead and lack of chasing pack, bit anti climatic.

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910454#Comment_118910454

In fairness to him, he's like grease lightning compared to Spieth.

Russman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910233#Comment_118910233

I both agree and disagree with that tbh. The powers that be in Augusta would probably never go for it, but if they ever grew the rough around that place and tightened in the fairways, it'd be almost impossible to get round. You give the modern player wide open fairways, almost no rough and they'll shoot the scores.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910354#Comment_118910354

Yeah but its easy to say that when its so fresh in the memory. I mean Rory won The Open, the WGC at Firestone and the USPGA in consecutive starts in 2014. Koepka won his 4 majors in short order. Most of the top, top guys now have a run for a few months where they're unreal, but it doesn't last. That's not to detract from Scheffler in any way, he's clearly a super player, but I wouldn't be going overboard just yet, purely IMO, let's judge him in 12 months time. Good (to great) player, on a hot run of form and got every bounce of the ball going (which every winner needs) - I think we're unlikely to see a dominant player for the foreseeable, its going to be a bunch of elite guys who can all win on their day and he's possibly going to join that group I think.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118909642#Comment_118909642

Same has been said about McIlroy, Day, Speith, Koepka, Rahm etc. Seemed like they would go on to be untouchable for a decade. We'll see but it's clearly not easy to stay at the top.

Dr. Bre

I don’t like the two closing holes at Augusta - no water in play at 17/18. Apart from that it is a great course tho

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910977#Comment_118910977

It's always been my favourite tournament and favourite course but for some reason this year I started looking at it differently.

That's because you can hit a great shot and get seriously unlucky but hit a bad shot and get lucky. On that course that could easily result in a two or three shot swing which is just wrong imo.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118911022#Comment_118911022

This is pretty much any golf course

It's exaggerated at Augusta sure but it's the same course for them all. You hit more good shots than everyone else over the course of 4 days and you'll likely be ahead of them in the pecking order.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910354#Comment_118910354

I think I see where you're coming from but Tiger was an awful lot more than just making less mistakes than anybody else.

Tiger at his peak made people make mistakes they were so intimidated by his presence.

I really don't think the majority of the Top 50 would be looking at Scottie and saying that's a guy who's going to dominate us for a prolonged period.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118911158#Comment_118911158

Well the amount if times I heard Tiger talking about shooting 70 where it probably should have been 74 is where I'm coming from. Those days won him many majors.

boardise

A comparison of some players' scoring

...............................eagles.......Birdies.......pars.....Bogeys....Dbl +......PAR 5s ( under par)

SCHEFFLER................0..............21............41.........9............1...........8

McILROY....................1..............15............47.........8.............1..........8

LOWRY......................1...............15...........47.........7.............2..........7

POWER.....................0................9............50.........13...........0...........2

SMITH......................0...............22...........37.........10...........3...........9

RAHM.......................0...............12...........45.........14...........1...........2

Mushy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910976#Comment_118910976

I do think the quantity of insanely good players coming out, primarily in America, is insane. Will be next to impossible for somebody to dominate the game for any extended period. Great to see really. Like, Rory is the old guy at the top end of the game, that's just insane.

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910977#Comment_118910977

I can’t understand why the rough was so short. They were missing fairways and ending up in pine needles or rough where the ball was easily hit. The only issue was if a tree was in their way.

Pdoghue

My observations on the Masters:

• Great performance by Scheffler. That shot on 18 from the pine straw on Saturday was phenomenal. He's been on an amazing run, but history tells us that these eras of dominance are temporal.
• Good decision to move the tee back on 15 with the result that fewer guys were willing or able to go for the green in 2, which makes it a proper par 5.
• I enjoyed watching Tiger again - just to see him playing in another major. He's still head and shoulders above most of his peers in battling on every shot and trying his best. We mightn't see him again until St. Andrews. Let's hope he can get fitter by then.
• The weather.. the pros just aren't used to playing in 13/14 degrees.. to see them complaining and all layered up with those neck thingies was hilarious, as if it was freezing. Instead of following the sun, there should be more PGA events in cool weather, maybe somewhere like Whistling Straits in May, or Boston/New York in April/May. One of my favourite events to watch is the Dunhill Links in October.
• Noticeable the reactions of Shane and Rory afterwards. Shane was disappointed with his 3rd place, Rory was upbeat. Rory needs to have more of a winner's mentality and realise the tournament is over 72 holes. When was the last time he actually contended in a major instead of coming with a late run?

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118915579#Comment_118915579

I’d agree with all of your post except the last point. I don’t think the reaction’s were down to the winners mentality of either men.

Rory was upbeat because he had just completed the lowest final day round ever in the masters. He knew at the start of the day he had no hope of winning it and I’d imagine never expected he’d come second either.

Shane was disappointed because he had a triple bogey and all that would have been going through his mind would be what might have been had that not happened.

cosatron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118915579#Comment_118915579

in all fairness, Shane had a poor last day when he had a realistic chance of winning, whereas McIllroy was 10 shots back and had the best round he ever produced in Augusta and in my opinion exercised some demons. So you can imagine there would be a contrast in emotions

OEP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118915579#Comment_118915579

Last year's US Open Rory was in contention (tied for the lead?) going into the back nine and then fell away

Pdoghue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118916502#Comment_118916502

Yes, I forgot about Torrey Pines last year.. fair enough.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118916499#Comment_118916499

A poor hole not a poor round. He did shoot 69 after all which was the lowest score of those in contention.