Guest post, Masters preview

Tiger Woods Update & A Preview to the 2012 Masters

Craig Kibler

The PGA season is now officially under way after Tiger competed in his first tournament of 2012.  Sure the golf season actually started 3 weeks prior, but until Tiger proves he can’t win again the spotlight will continuously be on Woods.   Regardless of performance he is still one of the most popular athletes in the world.  But let’s take a moment to examine Tiger’s only performance of 2012 thus far. 

In his first competitive round of the year Tiger shot a 70 in Dubai.  Two under par is certainly nothing spectacular but still a great starting point for Tiger as he tries to return to dominance.  He then followed the 70 up with a 69 and 66 in the second and third rounds before faltering in the final round.  His final round 72 featured some ball striking issues but his putting was looking great.  I think this weekend showed us two things when it comes to Tiger Woods.  First of all he is making strides and his swing looks much better.  We can confirm that he still has all the tools to be the best in the game.  We also know that he needs to learn how to win again.  After all he has been through its easy to understand why his mental toughness might not be what it once was.  It is clear that the killer instinct we saw for all those years is a little bit timid these days.  The massive humbling that Tiger has faced the last 2 or 3 years has put him in an uphill battle, but look for a great year from Woods in 2012.

Now that the PGA season is in full swing the golf community can’t help but to start looking at the 2012 Masters.  This year the Masters will be held from April 5^th- 8th, which is only a 65 days away.  So in a just 2 short months the players will be lining up to tee off in the 76^th annual Masters Golf tournament at the famously beautiful Augusta National.

According to pgatour.com, there are currently 93 players that have qualified for this year’s Masters.  It is important to note that 4 of those players will have to remain at amateur status in order to compete.  There is still opportunity for other golfers to qualify before the Masters but at the moment we are just under last year’s total of 99 competitors.  For those of you who don’t know, here are the ways you can qualify for the Masters:

·         Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)

·         U.S. Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)

·         The Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)

·         PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)

·         Winners of the Players Championship (Three years)

·         Current U.S. Amateur Champion (6-A) (Honorary, non-competing after one year); Runner-up (6-B) to the current U.S. Amateur Champion

·         Current British Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year)

·         Current Asian Amateur Champion

·         Current U.S. Amateur Public Links Champion

·         Current U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion

·         The first 16 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters Tournament

·         The first 8 players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open

·         The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Open Championship

·         The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship

·         The 30 leaders on the Final Official PGA Tour Money List for the previous calendar year

·         Winners of PGA Tour Regular Season and Playoff events that award at least a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from previous Masters to current Masters

·         Those qualifying for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship

·         The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year

·         The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament

Master’s Notes:

Coming into the 2012 Masters it would be hard to pick a favorite but at this point it looks like it will probably be Rory McIlroy.  He looks good early and his monumental collapse at the 2011 Masters should have him motivated and focused for the 2012 Masters.  If Rory can get his first green jacket this year it will be the first time a European has won the Masters since Jose Maria Olazbal in 1999.  Besides Rory I would say “Lefty” has the next best chance to win this year.  Phil already has 3 green jackets and is the most recent golfer to reach that milestone (2004, 2006, & 2010). 

*Tiger was the last to win back-to-back Masters (2001-02).

Tiger will return to the Master’s not as the reigning champ for the sixth consecutive year.  Seems hard to believe but it also indicates just how high our expectations are for this generations best golfer.  Tiger is a 4 time winner at the Masters and needs only two more victories to tie the “Golden Bear” Jack Nicklaus.  There was a moment when it seemed inevitable that he would easily get to 6 and most likely surpass Nicklaus as the most accomplished Masters performer. 

*Tiger’s last win was in 2009 and his last major championship was in 2007.

Now there is a major challenge in front of Tiger to make it 6.  Who knows how important that milestone is to Tiger but I do know that Tigers wants to win and he needs to win.  The golf universe is ready for Tiger to take hold of the sport he dominated for so long.  I think the only question now is can he do it?  The first true test for any golfer is the Masters, but this will truly be the first true test in Tiger’s quest to regain dominance and fulfill his destiny to become the greatest golfer ever.

About the Author:

Craig Kibler is the lead blogger for Sportstraveler.net, a leading provider of Masters tickets and trip packages.

The Art of Golf

An upcoming event in Atlanta that I'm looking forward to seeing is The Art of Golf a collection of unique masterpieces depicting golf though artists eyes and brushstrokes.

From The High: "the program is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland.

The exhibition is made possible by Lead Sponsor Sotheby’s. Additional support is provided by the Friends of Scotland, The Imlay Foundation, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund and The Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund.
The managing curator of the exhibition is Julia Forbes, the High’s Shannon Landing Amos Head of Museum Interpretation, and the consulting curator is Dr. Catherine Lewis, professor, golf historian and author of nine books including “Don’t Ask What I Shot: How Eisenhower’s Love of Golf Helped Shape 1950s America.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalogue featuring essays by Dr. Tico Seifert, Senior Curator of Dutch Art, National Galleries of Scotland; Jordan Mearns, National Galleries of Scotland; Dr. Catherine Lewis; and Rand Jerris, Senior Managing Director of Public Services, United States Golf Association.

The Art of Golf will be on view at the High from February 5 through June 3, 2012. It will tour to additional U.S. venues, yet to be announced, through the fall of 2013."

Planking and Tebowing on the golf course

Played St Marlo today in Norcross GA. Beautiful layout...bring you A game...and your poses!

Lights at Life University

Oh come all yee faithful...to the annual Christmas lights at Life University in Atlanta GA. Make sure to check out the lighted golfer...unlike me, he always holes-out on a chip-in, must be the golf clubs!

Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays, and keep it in the short-grass.

JFB

Legacy on Lanier Golf Club

This course we just played today. It is a feature of the Lake Lanier Islands Resort in Georgia. Great course, and would highly recommend it. You can golf in the mornings, then see the Festival of Lights at night during the Christmas season!

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short grass,

JFB

Why Tiger Woods will file for bankruptcy

Last week, our country passed legislation to increase the debt ceiling. Something that is possible when you print money. "Hey boys! Chief pushed the' save our asses' button again...put down your union placards, and help me find the copier button!"

Tiger Woods does not print money. Oh sure, back in the day when he was first featured on a Wheaties box, you could send away box-tops for a sleeve of "autographed" Titleist balls... his star was rising, and you (and his Dad) could see the yellowbrick road paved with millions, and we were glad to pay up for viewing his greatness.

It almost happened..I've heard somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 million...but that was then...

This is now... This week, 10-year sponsor TAG Heuer dropped the Chosen One, to distance themselves from this fallen angel. The last vestiges of multi-platinum contracts has been squashed. Now Tiger is relying on the good people from Japan to pick up the pieces to plug the gaps left in his million-dollar portfolio of sponsors. He is down to 7.

My parents instilled a rare value in me that when you get paid...pay your debts, so you are not a burden to society. Government doesn't do this...they are quite content to kick the can down the road to let future congressmen or adults figure it out..our personal total taxes we pay till August, after that we get to keep it! Where's my barf bag?

Tiger is kicking the can right now...he has huge obligations...alimony...house...house-help, boat...boat-help...pets..ahem...pet help...his charities. You get the idea. Tiger doesn't print money anymore...those days are over. He is relegated as a sojourner...and the media is feeling this. One day, the media will not be enamored in Tiger Woods and his red sunday shirt (or lack therof).

The first sign of his coming money problems came when he let go Stevie Williams...Stevie is the ultimate collateraly-damaged character in this soap opera. Tiger can't afford him anymore. End of story. Good on ya Stevie...judging from the Bridgestone...let's hope Adam keeps it real for you.

My bet is somewhere toward the end of 2012 we will see more cracks in the armor that was once golden and is now stained rose-colored glasses, and the dominoes will fall.

I wonder if he has Tyson's number?


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

New golf movie! 'Seven Days in Utopia'

SEVEN DAYS IN UTOPIA follows the story of Luke Chisolm (Lucas Black), a talented young golfer set on making the pro tour. When his first big shot turns out to be a very public disaster, Luke escapes the pressures of the game and finds himself unexpectedly stranded in Utopia, Texas, home to eccentric rancher Johnny Crawford (Robert Duvall). But Johnny's more than meets the eye, and his profound ways of looking at life force Luke to question not only his past choices, but his direction for the future.

Based on David L. Cook's best-selling book Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia, SEVEN DAYS IN UTOPIA also stars Melissa Leo, Deborah Ann Woll, Brian Geraghty, Jerry Ferrera, Joseph Lyle Taylor, KJ Choi and Kathy Baker. The film is directed by Matthew Dean Russell from a script by Cook, Rob Levine, Russell and Sandra Thrift. The film was produced by Mark G. Mathis (Brick, Precious) and Jason M. Berman (The Dry Land).

Click here to see where you can see the show