12/22/24
April 11, 2004
"Daddy won! Can you believe it?":
Yes, Phil, we can. The Masters again provides one of the most exciting finishes in golf as Mickelson rims his last putt (but it goes in this time) to win by a single stroke over the Big Easy.
Good on ya, Phil. Great tuhnahment. I loved watching it today, though my bladder is killing me. No commercial breaks is great in concept, tough in reality. I was also rooting against him early (he's not on my fantasy golf team), but was happy to see him win, especially in such a strong way. He definitely 'won'; nobody lost and handed it to him. It was sweet to see his joy and celebration with his family.
posted by msacheson at 11:10 PM on April 11, 2004
I've never watched a round of televised golf in its entirety, but today's round was pretty damned exciting. If there were more like this one, I'd definitely tune in more often. And I'm with grum@work, I also started off hoping to see a flameout by Mickelson, but turned to cheering after the 13th.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:53 PM on April 11, 2004
any pointers to a video clip of the end? neither the masters site nor the PGA site seem to offer me the chance to watch a poor quality postage stamp-sized highlight clip.
posted by gspm at 05:21 AM on April 12, 2004
I caught the back nine Sunday. Man what a finish -- with the exception of Bernard Langer, every one of the contenders kept the pressure up by making shots. As a more golf-crazed friend pointed out last night, Mickelson's demeanour was extremely unusual for a golfer battling for a win. He was smiling and enjoying the walkup to each green as if he knew he'd win the event. Normally, a player in that position is so locked in to the task at hand that he seems robotic or surly. I wasn't much of a Mickelson fan before this, because I was disappointed that the guy was one of the top pros who seemed to wilt when Tiger Woods showed up and took over their sport. But Sunday felt like an Arnie's Army moment -- people in the gallery were crying when he made that putt. Now that he's got the never-won-a-major albatross off his neck, how many more tournaments will he win?
posted by rcade at 07:47 AM on April 12, 2004
Who's going to be the best player never to win a major now?
posted by corpse at 07:52 AM on April 12, 2004
Scott Hoch has won over $17million and 11 tournaments but never a major. He's pretty high up on that list.
posted by grum@work at 09:35 AM on April 12, 2004
How about Montie. He plays in all 4 every year and has never taken one home. Sergio could find his way into the discussion as well, but that's a bit unfair considering his age.
posted by YukonGold at 09:55 AM on April 12, 2004
I'm genuinely pleased for him. That must have been some cross to bear. (Bad timing alert).
posted by squealy at 11:38 AM on April 12, 2004
That list has been taken care of by the good folks at espn. At least the list of those that never won and are now out of their sport. I would argue Chuck off the list but thats just me.
posted by geekyguy at 12:14 PM on April 12, 2004
I agree with rcade's golf-crazed friend. I remember thinking how odd it was that he was so casual looking. His expression reflected humility and joy at the same time, as if he had already won. It just seemed out of place considering his reputation as a choker (obviously undeserved). I found myself on the edge of my seat hoping that that moment in the sun wouldn't go to waste. Fortunately, it didn't.
posted by sixpacker at 12:41 PM on April 12, 2004
That was fun to see. I've always liked that lefty. Phil's wife is hot.
posted by Bernreuther at 01:00 PM on April 12, 2004
And for completion's sake if nothing else, here's ESPN's list of current players who've yet to win the big one.
posted by chicobangs at 01:02 PM on April 12, 2004
You can chalk me up as someone who strictly uses golf for sedative purposes that was intrigued by Sunday's round (well, at least during the breaks in action of the Kings/Lakers game). I was really pulling for KJ Choi to finish strong and provide the upset, but I was surprised at how little pissed I was whin Mick won. Probably that whole story of his third child/wifely woman's complications during labor. Who knew I had a heart?
posted by Ufez Jones at 02:35 PM on April 12, 2004
Another thing I've been meaning to say: Thank you Martha Burke! The Masters would have been appreciably less dramatic with commercials cutting into the action every 10 minutes.
posted by rcade at 04:24 PM on April 12, 2004
Someone with manbreasts the size of Phil's shouldn't be allowed to wear those shirts that show them off so badly. That said, I'm happy for him. Even though this means that I have to hear msacheson continue to bitch that he didn't pick up Phil for his fantasy golf team when he had a chance to do so.
posted by aacheson at 01:04 PM on April 13, 2004
I've been yelling about Phil's man-boobies for years now. I think he heard me... He's gotta be down at least a cup size this year. Scary.
posted by 86 at 02:51 PM on April 13, 2004
Martha should be delighted - someone with tits and no balls won the Masters! I just hope they drug-tested him - that smile wasn't natural. It's quite an awesome thought though - if someone has managed to get into Phil's head and turn off the "go for the flag!" voice, and at least quieten down the "hit it as hard as you can!" voice, he might start winning more - but I don't think the major title flood-gate will suddenly open for him. People expected that of David Duval after he won the Open and now he's in a big old slump. Technically, the best player not to have won a major (yet) is (and was at the start of last week too) Harrington - i.e. he's the highest ranked player not to have done so (yet). He'll win one though - sooner or later. Monty, on the other hand, couldn't beat snow off a rope.
posted by JJ at 03:25 AM on April 14, 2004
I started the day cheering AGAINST Mickelson (I wanted to keep the "lovable loser" tag alive), but by the end I was cheering FOR him because he overcame all the pressure and his nerves to look so good winning it. That quote is from when he picked up his youngest daughter on live TV.