Off-Season Series – Putting

Who says a putting practice mat has to be flat and boring?

The Off-Season Series is practically over as the temperatures have reached the 70s in my home state (it feels great to hit a bucket outside!). That doesn’t mean I can’t tempt you with some great indoor options to practice your putting on those rainy spring days.

One facet of my game that I have spent more time over this past winter than in years past is on my putting. I spent most of 2006 looking for a new putter and after testing many different models, I finally decided upon a Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 (although I am now tempted by the new Circa 62s with the charcoal mist that Jack described in a Bag Drop column).

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Zach Johnson

From out of nowhere comes Zach Johnson. The unexpected, yet deserving winner of this year’s Masters.

ProFilesA lot of ink has been spilled over Zach Johnson this week and I’m going to add to the mess by way of Internet clutter and this ProFile.

From his runner-up finish to former Masters champ Mark O’Meara in the par-3 tournament to winning the entire enchilada, Johnson has had an amazing week. Plus I’ll bet that’s the first time someone’s called the Masters an enchilada. I’m a trend setter, plain and simple. Classy too.

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2007 Masters Aftermath

Was the 2007 Masters as unbearable as some people are saying? Not at all.

Thrash TalkIt’s been a great golf season for me so far. Charles Howell III has a win and is right in the middle of The FedEx Cup race and Zach Johnson outlasted the world’s best to win a green jacket. Johnson has been one of my favorites since I realized how similar our respective golf swings are, even if his has paid off a little more. It was truly great to see the Iowa native hold on in such a huge tournament. You could tell he was blown away by everything, and that was refreshing.

Overall, I’ve heard a lot of negatives about the 2007 Masters. The course was a lot tougher than usual, and there weren’t as many birdies or eagles throughout the four days of competition. Also, some fans get a little bent out of shape when Tiger or Phil don’t win every major championship. All this aside, this year’s Masters was still pretty damn good!

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Golf Talk [Episode 053]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh, sorry, I dozed off during the back nine on Sunday.

PodcastThis week it’s Masters, Masters, Masters. Zach Johnson wins, Tiger Woods puts a ball in the water (and a bunker) and fails to win, and everyone else falls by the wayside in what was perhaps the most boring Masters of all time. We’re sure Zach will take it, though! All this and more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 053 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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2007 Masters in Numbers

Zach Johnson wins this year’s Masters. How did he do it? Was this the most boring Masters ever? And how’d the staff do in predicting the outcome? Find out.

The Numbers GameThe Masters is over. Zach Johnson is the winner, Tiger Woods failed to mount a Sunday charge (as did most of the rest of the field), and Augusta put up more than a fair fight. So be it.

While we’re between Numbers Game columnist, I thought I’d fill in with some quickie stats from this year’s playing of the U.S. Open, errr, Masters Invitational.

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What Price Golf Technology?

The last 20 years have witnessed a sea change in golf equipment performance. Today we have more and better choices than ever. But is all that a good thing?

Bag DropFred Ridley, the former USGA president who now heads Augusta National’s Competition Committee, must be pleased with himself and his club for turning the Masters into a U.S. Open venue.

But after watching the train wreck that was this year’s event, it occurred to me that we were seeing more than the result of poor choices by the green jackets. We were seeing a consequence of poor choices by the blue jackets at the USGA who have allowed technological advances to change the game.

Would the hallowed grounds of Augusta been so bastardized had not club and ball technology forced it? I don’t think so. And that’s why I believe that while technology on some levels has helped the average golfer enjoy the game a bit more, on the whole I think we’ve lost more than we’ve gained.

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Volume Ninety-Three

Zach Johnson, Masters Champion. Has a nice ring to it.

Hittin' the LinksThe kid from Cedar Rapids, Iowa showed some big heart and deft putting down the stretch as he carded a final-round 69 to win the coveted green jacket at the 2007 Masters Tournament.

This week we have recaps of the Masters, the Masters, and the Masters.

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2007 Masters Live Blog

Join us in a running commentary on the 2007 Masters. Who will win? Reload frequently.

18:40 – Tiger fails to hole out for eagle to tie Zach Johnson. The final leaderboard looks like this:

Pos Player         R4  Tot   R1   R2   R3   R3   Total
--- ------         --  ---   --   --   --   --   -----
1   Z. Johnson     -3   +1   71   73   76   69    289
T2  R. Sabbatini   -3   +3   73   76   73   69    291
T2  R. Goosen      -3   +3   76   76   70   69    291
T2  T. Woods        E   +3   73   74   72   72    291
T5  J. Kelly       -2   +4   75   69   78   70    292
T5  J. Rose        +1   +4   69   75   75   73    292
T7  P. Harrington  +1   +5   77   68   75   73    293
T7  S. Appleby     +3   +5   75   70   73   75    293
9   D. Toms         E   +6   70   78   74   72    294

Phil Puts the Green Jacket on Zach

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The Cheers Have Left Augusta

I hope that Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts are superglued in their coffins. If not, they’re probably spinning so fast they’re likely to pop out in China before the final round concludes on Sunday.

Masters LogoThrough most of two rounds of the 71st Masters, one thing is clear: the music has died. The cheers have died. The excitement has died.

With a first-round lead of -3 (which required a 20-putt performance by one of the two leaders) and a stroke average of 76.147, Augusta National is playing more like a U.S. Open venue than the host course of The Masters. You can not only count on one hand – no, make that half of one hand – the number of eagles we saw in the first round.

Have you ever heard less cheers at any golf tournament than you heard yesterday during the first round of The Masters?

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