Official/Unofficial Masters Updates & Discussion Thread

[mcfc_nick]

Go AK!! that is why i back you every week!

[NorCalGolfer]

The hard thing for me is, Kenny Perry is 48 and likely, this will be his best chance at a major so I'm pulling for him. BUT! The thing about golf is you never know if you'll ever have the opportunity again. So I'm left in a quandary. I really want AK to win and I'd like to see Kenny win.

[mcfc_nick]

rory mcilroy likely to be dq'd for kicking the sand after his 1st bunker shot which could be deemed as testing the ground and being a shot penalty meaning he would have signed for the wrong score!

[Bristol]

This is turning into a great Masters already. Kenny trying to get a major, AK charging, Tiger, Lefty and Paddy in contention. I love it!

[NorCalGolfer]

I don't really know how to feel so far. It just seems like an odd field. Maybe it just doesn't feel right because Sergio is so high on the leaderboard.

[Big_M]

The hard thing for me is, Kenny Perry is 48 and likely, this will be his best chance at a major so I'm pulling for him. BUT! The thing about golf is you never know if you'll ever have the opportunity again. So I'm left in a quandary. I really want AK to win and I'd like to see Kenny win.

don't forget Chad Campbell... you know how much you want him to win.

I too like AK and would love to see Kenny win one... so I'll pull for both of them and Lefty. Mostly, I'm just pulling for good golf though. Looking at the top 20... I'm pulling for... Lefty, Perry, Campbell, AK, Sergio, and Furyk I'm pulling against... Cabrera, Hamilton, Clark, Sabbatini, and Stenson the rest I'm sort of indifferent to... at least this week.

[BASHERBAKER69]

don't forget Chad Campbell... you know how much you want him to win.

i would really like Todd Hamilton to put in a good showing because his form has been indifferent since his win at the British Open. I think it would be unfair if Rory McIlroy got disqualified..the sand kick was not in close enough proximity to warrant a penalty stroke and thus a DQ (incorrect score) and a missed cut.

I bet some old fart phoned in about the bunker incident because he doesnt want a young lad of 19 to make a cut (lmao).

[DBake]

Perry moving up the board...steady eddie!

AK shoots -7 on Friday to take him -4 in the tournament....can he keep it up?

Padraig Harrington penalize for wind moving his ball after being address..should this rule be revised?

What do you think?

[NorCalGolfer]

rory mcilroy likely to be dq'd for kicking the sand after his 1st bunker shot which could be deemed as testing the ground and being a shot penalty meaning he would have signed for the wrong score!

To the media...it would be like DQ'ing Tiger. The media is pushing this kid so hard, he could probably throw his shot out of the bunker and they'd look the other way.

[mcfc_nick]

To the media...it would be like DQ'ing Tiger. The media is pushing this kid so hard, he could probably throw his shot out of the bunker and they'd look the other way.

does anyone know whats happened yet?

[BASHERBAKER69]

...on BBC (UK) commentary Wayne Grady was complaining about the distance players were hitting the ball off the tee with Phil Ms second shot in to 13 with an 8 iron and McIlroy's second in to 15 in mind, which looked like no more than a 9 iron.

He said 'we should think about changing the ball now, not in ten years time'.

My view is that firstly a commentator should not make quasi golf-political statements during commentary because it is not appropriate- if he has a problem then he should write to the R&A.;

Secondly, surely if all players have access to the same type of equipment and technology then it is the same for everybody, as cliched as it sounds.

Thirdly, the scores are not low enough to suggest that the players are ripping apart the course. However, if the wind does not blow then the course is liable to being obliterated, as a narrow green is a lot easier to hit with a wedge than it is with a 6 iron. Since Trevor Immelman's victory last year at Augusta nothing much has changed technology wise and he won with a close to par victory, and there were complaints that the course was playing too hard, so really there will always be criticism regarding the scoring and how the course is playing.

[BASHERBAKER69]

does anyone know whats happened yet?

McIlroy has not been disqualified. He's listed on the official Masters website as playing with Trevor Immelman in round three at 10:55. Im pleased that common sense has prevailed although I'm not sure about the precedent this sets.

[mcfc_nick]

McIlroy has not been disqualified. He's listed on the official Masters website as playing with Trevor Immelman in round three at 10:55. Im pleased that common sense has prevailed although I'm not sure about the precedent this sets.

thanks god for that! finally common sense prevails! it should have done before with paddy aswell! i know its in the rules but it was obviously the wind that moved his ball and not anything which he did!

[Shindig]

McIlroy has not been disqualified. He's listed on the official Masters website as playing with Trevor Immelman in round three at 10:55. Im pleased that common sense has prevailed although I'm not sure about the precedent this sets.

There have been some issues with ball remains in the sand in the past. This is clearly not an instance of the Stewart Cink rule. However, a few years before Cink's run-in last year, Arnold Palmer kept a ball in the bunker and then took a practice swing (as he does after any bad shot) and hit the sand. It happened again to someone on the LPGA tour a few years ago, too. I'm sure it will occur to me later tonight what happened.

[RC]

Was it an illusion or did the greens play a slight bit quicker on Friday? I thought Thursday's greens seemed just a little slower than normal. Today (Friday,) with the wind, maybe they dried out a bit -- they seemed faster to me just watching on TV.

[NorCalGolfer]

does anyone know whats happened yet?

I heard on Live at the Masters, that after he hit his shot and it stayed in the bunker, he smoothed out the sand by his feet.

The officials came to Rory and asked him one simple question: "did you kick the sand or smooth it?" Rory said he threw it out of the bunker and he'll do whatever the **** he wants to do because everyone loves him!! They agreed and proceeded to pair him with Immelman. lol JK. He said he smoothed it like he does with every shot from the bunker. Apparently that's ok.

[Zeph]

It looked more like he kicked it in anger for not getting the ball out of the bunker.

Was there not a new decision this year about bunkers because of a situation last year? A player found a fairway bunker, hit his shot, then raked the bunker as anyone would do. He found his ball in the next bunker and someone wanted to penalize him for raking the first bunker and testing the sand before his next shot out of a bunker.

He wasn't penalized, and this I think became a new decision.

Anyways, great to have Rory with us still. He really blew up yesterday, being disqualified would've made a total disaster.

[BASHERBAKER69]

Im pleased that Rory McIlroy was not disqualified as he wasnt close enough to the area he was playing from to be penalised even if he was 'testing' the area. Most golfers know that there are better ways of indirectly testing an area, its when you waggle your feet in to the sand to get a good footing.... you can't help but notice the texture and consistency of the sand.

What about players who hit provisional balls/ tee shots for a bit of practice, when they know that their original shot is safely in play....that goes on, but not at the Masters of course.

I expect Rory to rip it p this weekend..any player who has made the cut is still in contention. At the Masters it is easier to win from behind than lead all the way at the weekend.

I expect to see John Daly walking the course at the weekend as he is in the vicinity selling his Lion merchandise.