The Masters Update - Day 3

The first half of The Masters PGA golf tournament at Augusta National is in the books.  The leader-board looks very much like golf experts would have predicted, with a few exceptions.  Young guns Rory Mcilroy and Lee Westwood are both one stroke off the lead, at -4 (four under par) and at halfway point either would be a pretty smart bet to end up wearing the green jacket.  The immensely talented Sergio Garcia also shares the #2 spot at -4, one of the few golfers outside of Tiger that the casual sports fan is familiar with.  Did I say Tiger?  Never mind.  One of the more pleasantly surprising story-lines developing is that old school pro Fred Couples shares the lead, with fellow American Jason Dufner, at five under par (-5).  Couples is 53 years young, and has been on the pro tour for 22 years, which is why his stellar play that has him in the lead after two days is such a feel good story.  I am certainly routing for him

To get back to that golfer named Eldrick for a moment.  Quite frankly, he has played like shit.  I watched a good portion of his round yesterday, and I frequently cringed as he missed numerous 5-7 foot puts that would have saved par, found several sand traps, bodies of water, and other hazards, and generally played his way down to +3 after being at even par after the first day of play.  He is currently tied for 40th.  This is not to say that he is out of it, there is plenty of golf left to be played, and eight strokes out of the lead is not an insurmountable deficit with 36 holes left to play, but it is a formidable one, that not only requires Tiger to play two consecutive EXCELLENT rounds, but is also contingent on many of the players at the top of the leader-board to make mistakes and play mediocre golf for the remainder of the tournament.  I would say the most important factor for Tiger's success, at least as it has appeared at the Masters this year, is for him to get control of his putter.  I watched him literally leave at least two puts that were 7 feet or less, at least 3 feet short.  Simply put, I would have been able to put the ball closer to the hole than he did on those two puts.  We shall see if he can turn it around, but its not looking good.  It is also important to note, Phil Mckelson has played some great golf so far and is very much in the hunt at -2, the same goes for Vijay Singh (both previous Masters winners) and on day three they will be paired together.  At this point I am routing for the most exciting American golfer in the tournament; Fred Couples.

                                                                ^ Gangster.