Written on 4-14-19-Palm Sunday and Sunday at the Masters.
They have an earlier start time at The Masters this year due to a batch of poor weather that is predicted to come through at around 3:00, and they are playing in groups of three instead of pairs to keep things moving along, also. In the final group today, it’s Frances, Tiger, and Tony.
They are at Amen Corner now, and Frances and Tony have just put it in the water on #12. I wish I was there again, but I am also quite happy in our computer room, watching the tournament on the large monitor while typing away on my laptop. Molinari just double-bogeyed #12, so now three players are tied at 11 under, including Shauffele who is on #13.
I chose to go to church yesterday evening when I heard that The Masters would be starting earlier. God comes first, and this time He came first by a day. I didn’t want to be watching the silly tournament and getting totally hooked on the action, and then have to leave. If I hadn’t gone last night, I would be leaving now (it’s 10:52 AM) instead of continuing to watch the action. I’m glad I get to stay, because Koepka just eagled #13 and Cantlay just eagled #15 to take the lead by himself at 12 under. This tournament means more to me than all of the other pro tourneys, because Guy and I got to go on that Saturday in 2012, the year Bubba won.
Bruce and I played alone at Pinon Hills on Friday afternoon. He had reserved a tee time at 1:10, but he cancelled it on Thursday because we were supposed to get some poor weather here ourselves. After my morning meetings, though, the weather looked great for golf, so I headed...
home thinking I would grab my clubs and go back to play by myself. I got a hold of Bruce on my way to the course, and he did say he wanted to join me, so I waited until he arrived. I’m glad I did.
He chose the Reverse Handicap Game, and I asked if he would allow strokes this time. He shot an 80 last time, and I shot a 92, so I asked for eight strokes, four on the front and four on the back. He agreed that that would be fair.
I won the first hole with a par, and then we pushed with pars on #2. On #3, I earned my first birdie of this season.
Pinon Hills-Hole #3-Birdie #1 of 2019
We talked about how it’s better to be right with our tee shots instead of left, and then we both proceeded to hit our tee shots to the left. We both ended up behind the final large hill on the left side over there, and we had blind approaches to the green. Bruce either missed his shot, or he didn’t have enough loft, so his golf ball hit the hill and lost its momentum. He was left with around 117 yards for his third shot.
I chose my 6-iron, and I was around 160 yards away. The flag was on the front right side. When we were on the green, and when I was ready to putt, Bruce told me my approach had bounced off the hills to the right of the green and rolled onto the surface. It ended up 12 feet or more left of the hole, and I rolled it in for the birdie and the points for this hole and the last one. He made his putt for par, but despite his great save there I was now leading 32 to 0.
We both earned pars on #4, but Bruce made a long putt to get his. My pop on #5 pushed the points to the next hole, so the points were gathering. He won hole #7 with a par, and I got my first lousy score of the day, but my tee shot settled into a divot and that didn’t help. He gained 24 points after winning that hole and that included the points for the three holes before it, too.
Tiger just birdied #16 after an approach to less than three feet. He nearly got an ace! He leads the tournament at 14 under now, and three players are behind him at 12 under. Wow! I feel like I am watching history. If he wins this, he’ll be back on track to win more majors than Jack Nicklaus.
Back to my match with Bruce. With my pop on #8, we tied and pushed the points to #9. Then I won #9 with my final pop from the front nine, so I leaped ahead with 34 more points. After the front nine, I was ahead 66 to 24.
I won #10 with a par, and that was with a nifty two-putt from well above the hole. He got me on #11, though, after we both hit our tee shots into the trees and the rocks. I should not have rushed my third shot; I did not take the time to see where the flag was because the group behind us was pushing us, so I just guessed. That really did not help my score, because I was way left of the hole and on top of hill. I got an ugly triple, but then things got better.
We tied with bogeys on #12, and that was after we both hit our tee shots into the front left bunker. On #13, I earned another birdie and won another batch of points from two holes.
Pinon Hills-Hole #13-Birdie #2 of 2019
My tee shot was one of the best I’ve ever had on this hole. After teeing off, I rode in Ashleigh Olguin’s cart to go back to the bench on #12 to recover our scorecard. It was Ashleigh and her daughter Brooklyn’s group who were following us and pushing us. Ash and her daughter weren’t playing, but the men in their group were. It was good to catch up with her. She is pregnant again and is due on October 1st.
After retrieving the scorecard, I ran up the hill to see where my tee shot had ended up, and it was even better than I thought it would be. It had rolled out to a spot where I only needed my 5-iron for an approach. That shot came out lower than I wanted it, but the line was such that it missed the bunkers on the right and rolled out onto the green. My first putt was long, and it rolled onto the fringe a bit. I made that next putt, though, for two birdies in one round at Pinon Hills.
I won the next hole, too, when Bruce got ripped off after missing the green on the left side. I thought there was no way his ball would have rolled all the way down into the water, but after looking and looking, we never found it, so it must have gotten wet. We couldn’t even see it in the water, though. Weird. He got a double, and I nearly got another birdie after a smooth 100-yard approach with my um…er… approach wedge.
Tiger just putted in for a bogey on the 18th hole, and he has now won his 5th Masters and his 15th major. He is now three behind Jack. Amazing! What a comeback.
Back to our match again. Then I won the next hole with a final and unexpected third birdie of the round.
Pinon Hills-Hole #15-Birdie #3 of 2019
I chose my 9-iron, but the pitching wedge would have probably gotten my ball closer to the hole. I just wanted to be certain to cover the distance. My ball landed on the green, but it was near the middle of it, and the hole was on the front third this time. My putt looked like it would break to the left a couple of feet, so I played it out to the right. It just kept rolling and rolling, and then it gently tapped the flagstick and fell in, which is no longer a penalty with the new rules. I earned 12 points with this birdie.
I won’t recount in detail the last three holes, because it’s better to forget the bad shots and the lousy holes. I will say that I should have shot an 81, but I ended up shooting an 88. I was happy to beat my previous score, but disappointed that I did not finish stronger. Bruce’s steady play earned him an 82. What I want to check now is would I have still beaten Bruce without those strokes?
I would not. Those pops helped. Without them, especially with that lousy finish, I would have, if my math is correct, lost 87 to 88. So close!
I didn’t think I would have won without their help, but I didn’t realize it would have been that close. A small part of me believes (and I know it’s an excuse) that I relaxed and stopped playing well after I knew I had beaten Bruce with those strokes. Beating Bruce, even with strokes, is not like winning the Masters the 5th time, but it feels pretty good.
That’s enough for now. I need to take the dog for a walk. Then we’ll head to Farmington to have dinner with Rocky and Kelly.
Until next time…
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