Rory

What an amazing weekend of golf. The Masters this week felt like the biggest event in the world. Rory’s pursuit of the Green Jacket has been a major storyline for 15 years in the sport. I’m a huge golf fan. I watch a portion of each tournament from Thursday-Friday and usually end up watching most of the action on the weekend, particularly now with the baby. I have vivid memories of watching Tiger win at Augusta in the 2000s and then of course his redemption win in 2019. It was incredible to see Rory win the Grand Slam as well because it never felt real, Tiger was always going to win all 4, he was that good, he did it in a row for god’s sake. Rory’s chase of that 4th major has been such a roller coaster, and his relief on 18 made even the coldest hearts beat a little faster on Sunday.

The Masters feels like it transcends golf. This Sunday felt like a Super Bowl, Bryson vs Rory, LIV vs PGA, focused vs fun. There was so much to it, and while Bryson sealed his fate early on the back nine, Justin Rose presented himself as the challenger ready to collect once Rory fell off the cliff.

Rory played the video game version of Augusta at Sunday, he had some bad pulls of the analog stick for sure, Tee shots on 1 and 2, approach on 13, approach on 18 the first time.

But along with that, and those two double bogeys, Rory hit maybe 4 of the defining shots of his golf career in the biggest moment of his Golfing Life.

I could not believe this shot. Under the first tree, over the second tree and maybe just clipping a leaf on the way by. When the camera was on the green I thought the videographer was lost. There was no way that ball was landing on the green, nonetheless landing almost in the hole.

This shot on 15 was insane. As a drawer of the Golf ball myself, this is the pressure shot you want. You know you can start it out right if you set yourself up right, if it doesn’t hook you’re in that bunker with a decent chance at an up and down. The only thing he had to do was make sure he pumped the shit out of that 7 iron. There is no better feeling than puring an iron, except puring an iron on a big hook like that. Great contact doesn’t always equal great results, but he knew this was money as soon as he clipped the ball. I always tell my friends, if I’m in a match or tournament and I need great contact or a great shot, just let me get a tree in front of me and let me hit a big ole hook. Almost an intentional miss, for some reason your brain lets go of the tension and lets you just rip one. At Andover I find myself on the tree line on the 18th hole more often than not, and this is one of my favorite shots to hit. Not saying I have or ever could hit the shot he hit, but I had a feeling he was going to stuff it because of how he was set up.

This was when I was convinced he was going to win. I said to my Dad, he’s gotta get to 12 so he can bogey 18 and not lose everything. It gave him the opportunity to not have a do or die 18th. Imagine the stress if he is tied with Rose on 18 tee. He is automatic with the Driver, but that second shot can be on any surface, as we saw during regulation, he got a tough stance and the ball just hung out. He can’t go left because it’s an impossible chip. This shot on 17 gave him the room to make a mistake, and he ended up making two by missing the green and the hole on his putt.

The Playoff is anyone’s game. Rose put a dart in there and had a really good look. Rory had a better stance and a better number than regulation, and like a great hitter in baseball, he’s not going to miss that pitch twice. An absolute dart. It gave him the walkup to the green he deserved, and gave him a putt that he was never going to miss, although it looked like he tried.

Rory said in the Press Conference, that his caddy Harry, who has taken a lot of flak for his involvement of the Major drought Rory has been on, took him aside on the walk to the 18th tee for the playoff and said “We would’ve killed for this on Monday.” That’s what’s amazing about golf. You can get so caught up in your last hole that you forget where your feet are. You can lose sight of what’s in front of you and you always have a chance to win your match or a tournament if things fall in the right direction. I have a lot of friends that are newer to the game, and the one thing that drives me nuts about playing with them is they always know their score to the number. “I’m at 43 through 8” or “86 through 17.” Golf is so much easier when you separate score from swings. The best rounds of my life were matches where I was sitting on the 18th green not knowing the putt I just made for birdie was for a 69 or 71. You can add so much pressure to yourself when you’re trying to make a number. Golf is as much a story as it as an activity, sometimes, like Sunday, the results are already there, you just have to go along with the pages, immerse yourself in the story of that round, and let the cards fall where they fall. For Rory to be able to recenter, hit that signature drive, and then stuff his wedge, a shot he has over the last year incorporated into his repertoire, it was always going to be like this for him, he was at the end of a long mythology of Golf, and the hero finally made his way back home.

I ended up playing a few holes when the leaders were on 8-13, I walked 9 during that span for pace of play comparison, and I listened to the Masters Radio on XM in my air pods while I played. Tirico is so good. He’s great on SNF, but I really enjoyed the picture he painted of the ups and downs during those holes. No surprise he crushed the call of the winner as well.

Some final thoughts on the Masters.

Brooks parachuting off the planet on 17 and 18 to miss the cut cost me a $10 to win $800 make the cut parlay. That hurt my soul.

Justin Rose is the man. I was at his win at Merion in 2013, he is so steady and has remade himself at 44 years old to compete. The Full Swing episode on him at the Open Championship was great, and you can tell he is just the best guy to be around. Really wish he beat Sergio in 2017, he’s had two great shots at a jacket, but that Saturday round killed him, had he just shot even he would’ve won going away, but maybe Rory would’ve played more aggressive and flipped a couple of the holes where his caution cost him like 13.

I just can’t shake Jordan Spieth. He’s my favorite player or maybe tied with Scottie for my favorite at this point, and he has so much talent when he is putting well. It is such a bummer when Jordan isn’t playing well, and you can see it wear on him.

Bryson is going to be in every major for the next couple of years. He is so good, such an underrated putter, and has a presence about him that makes him so fun to watch. It’s such a shame he is buried on LIV. He is made for big PGA Tour events and would’ve racked up several wins since he made the change, I get the money aspect of it but here we are two years later and LIV is still not a fly on the PGA’s windshield. I hope they reach a deal sooner than later and get these guys playing against each other more.

Scottie is the best player in golf still. He clearly didn’t have his best stuff and he was a better approach on 15 away from being in the Playoff. He is silly good, made some big mistakes and didn’t have one day that he would say he had his game during this tournament. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and there will be a Rory/Scottie showdown in a major this season, if not multiple.

I have to get to this tournament; I’m 0-8 in the lottery so far. I’m gonna deep dive on best strategies, it’s my mission to get down there with my Dad. We’ve had some really special trips, but I feel like a day at Augusta is one that you never forget, and I’d really like to have that day.

Ludvig Aberg cost himself half a house on the 18th green. That must be such a harrowing feeling. I got a slice of him at +3500 on Saturday night. Would’ve loved for him to get his hat in the ring for the playoff. He is so good and going to win a lot of tournaments, and probably a few green jackets based on his performances so far at Augusta. Quickly rising the ranks of my favorite players to watch.

This tweet should’ve done numbers. I thought after Boston Common Golf retweeted it was going to go nuclear, but then I saw they only had 8k followers. What’s up with that?

Finally, it has to be a drag as a former Champion when the playoff is between a guy from Northern Ireland and Great Britain. I’d be getting Chick Fil A on my way to the Clubhouse before the Champions Dinner next year.

Best Game I watched this week

Can I say Sunday at the Masters? If not I’ll cheat and say the game that was on TV 2 on Sunday. Garrett Crochet no-hitting his former team in his first start back in Chicago was pretty awesome. He is an absolute machine on the mound and I’m pumped he’ll be a Red Sox for the foreseeable future. The Red Sox have some talent but they just feel one guy short. Bregman can’t be your best bat, he is good but you need a righty who guys cannot pitch to like Judge or Mookie or Adolis Garcia. Devers will figure it out but there’s just not enough game shifting bats on the team right now.

Worst game? Last night’s sox game. Down 13-0 after 3? Sheesh. Thought the warm weather would help them.

Podcast Episode of the Week

This is not a show I listen to regularly, but I saw Zack was on and watched the whole thing on Sunday morning. Chris Long is a great interviewer, and I really like how he asks the questions fans want to know about life in the NFL. He was also really informed on the Cowboys which I appreciated, and it got some great answers out of Zack who doesn’t do a lot of media. He was such a good player and it’s such a buzzkill that his best chance at a ring was his first year. Thanks Gene Steratore. He spoke about not being that devastated after the loss because he was a rookie and now in hindsight realizes it was their best shot. I really liked his stuff on the veterans he came in with and how the locker room shifted when those guys like Romo, Witten, and Doug Free moved on from the team, you never think about those dynamics and how that effects a team, or an offensive line in particular. I met Zack’s parents at a trade show in Indianapolis for Football America and had a beer with his dad, really cool guy, can tell why Zack and Nick are such studs. Best of luck in the next stage after football 70.

Best Show I’ve Watched this Week

I started watching The Righteous Gemstones. I can’t believe it took me this long to get to it. So freaking funny. I love Danny McBride but had trouble binging Eastbound and Down. I loved Vice Principals with Walton Goggins, and when I saw they were both on this show I said I had to watch it. Never got around to it until now. Everything about the show is so ridiculous but the acting and delivery is so good. Would recommend. Crushed a season in like 3 days.

Nostalgic Song of the Week

This is top of mind because a contestant covered this song on American Idol last night and rocked it. This whole Avril album rocks, I don’t know why but we had it in my Dad’s Land Cruiser growing up and always used to jam out. Maybe my Dad knows ball.

I’m sure the American Idol<>Tully Tuesday’s Venn Diagram is thin, so here’s Drew Ryn’s performance last night that was the best of the round of 24 over the last two days.

Nostalgic Athlete of the Week

How bout a little love for Bill Mueller? The Red Sox could use a little bit of the Mule right now. One of the seriously underrated members of the 04 Red Sox, he was at the plate for the Dave Roberts steal and subsequently knocked him in. Also hit a Grand Slam (call back to top of article. Little hockey trick) from both sides of the plate.

Long one this week! Making up for some shorties the last month. Thanks for reading, please subscribe if you haven’t already, and take a look at News v2 for your daily info blast, ad free, paywall free.

Til Next Week

TT