Results
Summary
Jordan Spieth charged out of the gates with a birdie on 2, a holed bunker shot for birdie on 4, and birdies on 6 and 7, but he went cold after that. From there on out, to our horror, it was the Gerry Show. Not sure I’ve ever seen anyone hit driver better than Bubba hit his this weekend. It was an unmatched display of physical prowess, even Tiger hasn’t matched something like this off the tee. The drive on #13 was the best drive I’ve ever seen in my life, and it gave me flashbacks to ’97. But for all the great drives, Bubba won the tournament with his putter. He buried EVERYTHING down the stretch, including the souls of those that were ready for Spieth to take over the American golf world. It’s a shame that we can’t celebrate this guy more because his game embodies the No Laying Up mentality, but such is life. His shot making could not suit this course much better (and it’s scary to think what he could have done around this course before the planting of all the trees). Also have to praise progress and give Bubba credit, I didn’t see him bitch at a single patron all day today- he was relatively cool and calm and collected all week. However, any and every source we have even somewhat close to the tour tells us with great enthusiasm that Bubba is not nearly as popular in the locker room as he is amongst the casual fans (and we know that’s not exactly a secret).
#PipingHotTakeaways
1.) In Alan Shipnuck’s semi-seminal Spieth profile back in December, young Spieth personally cites wedge work from 10-20 yards as the primary weakness in his game through 2013. I wouldn’t be stepping out on a limb to say it put him out in front early on Sunday and kept him within striking distance on the back nine. With the exception of #8, Spieth’s wedge play was Mickelsonesque (“FIGJAM” Lefty, even) from both the sand and the grass. He holes it on #4, stuffs it on #10, and give himself make-able putts on #’s 9, 12, 15, and obviously 17. This is another example of how quick the youngster is to get in the lab and work on his flaws.
2.) More on Spieth–he essentially hung in there on Sunday with his ‘B’ or ‘C’ game, in all honesty. After holing a nervy 12 footer for birdie on 7, he didn’t make another birdie the rest of the day. The shot into #6 was solid, the chip on #10 was excellent, and the putt on #12 flashed some serious cojones. I crave to see what he does when he has all aspects of his game clicking.
3.) Like both members of today’s final pairing, we at NLU are transparent about how we feel. And well, I’m still sick to my stomach Bubba didn’t pay the price for that 208-yard hooded punch shot from the pinestraw to the green at #15 (the green many pro’s have trouble holding with a wedge). It was a horrible decision from a risk/reward standpoint, but even after a mediocre chip, Gerry’s white-hot putter saved his par. The sequence of events for the final pairing on #15 could have yielded a two shot swing Spieth’s way more times than not. Yet Bubba got away with it, and ran off with another green jacket while we hid our eyes. As the name of this site is obviously No Laying Up, we’re contractually obligated to salute (begrudgingly) the fact he pulled it off.
4.) Jonas Blixt impressed all weekend. He missed fairway after fairway, yet continued to stay in the mix. I dig the green glove, and I dig his greenside verve.
5.) Another major, another top-10 for Lee Westwood. But at no point did he actually make noise (we joked on twitter today this result is known as the (Luke) ‘Donald’). If he doesn’t win one by the end of 2015 the window is closed.
6.) Really impressed by the Mechanic hanging in Sunday with a 71. Had him pegged for a 75+ coming off the tourney-best 66 on Saturday. The ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ stuff is obviously super-saturated at this point, which is a bit unfortunate as it takes away from the bossiness of his play this weekend. His two-day total of 137 was three shots clear of the next best score (Fowler and McIlroy at 140 each). Not too shabby for a guy due to make his Champions debut next week.
7.) Couple of heavily covert solid performances this week: Chris Kirk probably had the sneakiest top-20 in Masters history. Can’t remember seeing a single shot of his on the main coverage. Real solid result for his first trip to Augusta. Also, Henrik Stenson shot a 2-under 70 today and ended up T-14. Hopefully this can jump start his season and he regains his end-of-’13 form soon.
8.) Bernhard Langer’s week summed in two words: cold efficiency.
9.) One big winner this week was the Masters phone/tablet app. Clean, crisp, fast, functional, and often ahead of the CBS broadcast. I kinda wanted to consume it at times through a straight, narrow glass tube. It’s a shame the app is only relevant one week each year. In contrast, the week-in, week-out PGA Tour App is clunky, glitchy, and slow. The concept and info is there (except the ability to access a player’s profile), but the execution is subpar. Finchy needs to call in the cavalry. Figure out what the recipe is, incorporate ShotLink, replicate.
10.) Speaking of big winners, we all won for having had the pleasure to hear Feherty and Verne once again do their job. These guys are absolute gems on the broadcast, bringing knowledge, wit, and excitement year after year. Feherty is probably talented enough (and entertaining enough) to handle the whole telecast by himself. Verne on #16 is an institution. What else is there to say? The magical little cherub is full of glee and one of the highlights of every Masters week. Kudos to those two.
11.) On the negative side, we didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about CBS’ performance this weekend. To their credit, I’m pretty sure they showed every single one of Spieth and Gerry’s shots, but couldn’t believe that some of their most marketable stars were getting the “drop from coverage” treatment despite still being in contention. He may not have been a real threat to win it after his 3 putt for bogey on the 2nd, but Rickie Fowler competing down the stretch of a major is a big story any way you slice it. On Saturday, CBS ran a (obvious ratings grab) solid half hour segment touching on Fowler’s life, swing changes, successes and struggles. On Sunday, they proceeded as if he was playing in an invisibility cloak. For as much flak as Rickie gets on being overrated (which is unjustified), Sunday was his chance to show that he’s not just a bro in bright clothes, and CBS let him down. The same can be said for Freddie for the better part of Saturday, and for Westwood (One) on Sunday. I don’t remember seeing a single shot of his, and he finished 7th!?
12.) This may shock some of you, but it was great to see Mike Weir in form! Guy’s still got it a little bit! He was a nice consolation prize for Canada after the Delaet MC.
13.) It was an absolute pleasure to see Augusta in all it’s resplendent firm and fast splendor. It’s been a few years since it played like that and I hope we’ll see Mother Nature cooperate more in the future. Perhaps this means other changes are afoot…
Betting you will start to see the dismantling of the Hootie Johnson/Tom Fazio changes this summer…starting with the trees right of 11.
— Joe Ogilvie (@ogilviej) April 13, 2014
How Our Picks Fared
Yes, we know, we went all in on Sergio (from Rio). He let us down, but we still ride with him. The missed cut was brutal, but he rewarded himself with Ice Cream on Friday night. If he’s happy, we’re happy for him. And for those that may be new to the ‘betting-Sergio-at-majors’ thing, this is all totally normal. If you’re degenerates, the best thing to do is get down your US Open play on him as soon as possible.
All that aside, we were able to land 4 guys in the top 10, but never really threatened to come away with the money once Kuchar doubled 4.
- Matt Kuchar – T-5
- Rickie Fowler – T-5
- Lee Westwood – 7
- Rory McIlroy – T-8
- Adam Scott – T-14
- Bill Haas – T-21
- Billy Horschel – T-37
- Graeme McDowell – MC
- Ernie Els – MC
- Harris English – MC
- Sergio Garcia – MC
Oil Spill of the Week (Brought to you by BP)
No shot tracker this week, which affects my life more than I’d care to admit. But we were all over Gerry on his Saturday back nine, as he was spewing unrefined crude like the Deepwater Horizon.
BP thinks Gerry Watson is leaking oil.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) April 12, 2014
There are gonna be Congressional hearings on the amount of oil Gerry is leaking.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) April 12, 2014
I could not stop picturing Bubba getting called to the stand in front of Congress, sitting there with his fully buttoned up golf shirt and his green jacket over it, and making Ted Scott go up there and testify on his behalf. This would have been a lot funnier if he didn’t end up winning. Damnit.
NLU Tweet of the Week
Kyle Porter shut it down on Friday. Nothing else was going to top this:
What do Craig Stadler and Derek Ernst have in common? Both playing their last Masters.
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) April 11, 2014
#TourSauce of the Week
Spieth is our boy, but he sprayed some major sauce through Amen Corner Saturday. I’m not sure what you call the first one, but you can categorize that as the “Act Way More Upset About a Decent Shot Than You Should,” followed up with “The Club Drop” and the “Wayward Drive Point.” Saucy!
This one was probably my favorite for the week. Bubba goes for the post-poor-shot wind blame, which I can’t say I’ve really seen before:
(GIF’s obviously courtesy of Adam Sarson, aka the GIF Factory).
Looking Ahead
Buckle up! For the first time since the advent of this site, the four founders of No Laying Up will be on-site for The RBC Heritage down in Hilton Head. We’ll be holding our Board of Directors meeting at the Kurama Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse and everything will proceed accordingly from there. Expect some on-site interviews, first person reportage, and hopefully the advent of our podcast game. If anyone else is going to be on site, please let us know, and look out for four bros in NLU gear.
As for the tournament, Horschel is primed, GMac will be fresh, and the course will be the main attraction.