The Masters

I must admit, I've not been following the world of professional golf as much as usual so far this season.  I've had a lot of other stuff going on, and truthfully, I'm just lazy like that.  At any rate, with the Masters coming up next week, and with it being my most favoritest major championship, I can't let it slide by without throwing up a few observations.

Unfortunately this will be the first major tournament in a long time without Davis Love III in attendance.  I must admit, earlier in his career (and earlier in my maturity level) I didn't like Davis a lot.  I think it was because he was just one of those guys who unfortunately don't exhibit a lot of personality out there.  In my earlier days of growing up with folks like Greg Norman to admire, Davis rubbed me the wrong way.  I have since learned to like and admire Davis and wish that he would be in the field this week.

I don't know what's going on with Phil Mickelson this season.  Sure, he's playing well, but not well enough.  He's not playing like the superstar that he is, but just as a Regular Joe tour player who has a very good chance of winning in any given week.  This is one major difference between Tiger and players like Phil, Vijay and Ernie.  Everyone but Tiger seems to go through lulls in their season.  Tiger is a superstar 100% of the time.

I predict Tiger to win, but I also predict good weeks from Steve Stricker and Fred Couples.  Both have been playing well, and Freddie loves Augusta.  And with Stricker's good tee-to-green game and excellent putting, I don't see any way he can have a bad week.  He might not win, but I don't think he will shoot himself out of it either.

That's all I've got for now.  Hopefully more updates to come...