It's been a great year. The Dodgers and Yankees played only five games in the World Series, but two of those games were the stuff of legends -- especially if you're a Dodger fan. The college and pro football seasons were very entertaining, although in the end no one could seriously challenge Ohio State or the Eagles. And the college basketball season that just wrapped up was one of the best I can remember -- that tournament was like an old-school tournament from the 1980s.
And now, after months of rancor, all Southern sports fans can come together and enjoy the Masters. All Southerners -- whether they root for the Tar Heels or the Blue Devils, the Wildcats or the Cardinals, the Commodores or the Volunteers, the Tigers or the Lynx, the Tribe or the Spiders -- can find joy in the Masters.
Here are the Masters Champions in the Heath Post Era:
2011: Charl Schwartzel (RSA)
2012: Bubba Watson
2013: Adam Scott (AUS)
2014: Bubba Watson (2)
2014: Bubba Watson (2)
2015: Jordan Spieth
2016: Danny Willett (ENG)
2017: Sergio Garcia (ESP)
2018: Patrick Reed
2019: Tiger Woods (5)
2020: Dustin Johnson
2021: Hideki Matsuyama (JPN)
2022: Scottie Scheffler
2023: Jon Rahm (ESP)
2024: Scottie Scheffler (2)
And here are the Top Ten golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking:
1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Rory McIlroy (NIR)
3. Xander Schauffele
4. Collin Morikawa
5. Ludvig Aberg (SWE)
6. Hideki Matsuyama (JPN)
7. Russell Henley
8. Justin Thomas
9. Viktor Hovland (NOR)
10. Maverick McNealy
I've never heard of Maverick McNealy, but last November he won a tournament called the RSM Classic. To be fair, I've never heard of that tournament either. Anyway, Maverick McNealy played at Stanford and he is 29 years old.
The honorary starters this year were Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson. I think Nicklaus has to be in the running for "American who has had the most fun in their life."
ReplyDeleteArnold Palmer would also be pretty high on this list.
DeleteYou know who else might be up there is Ken Griffey Jr.
DeleteThe fifth game of the 2025 season was the 14,000th regular season game played by a team from Washington in Major League Baseball. Washington was in the American League from 1901 to 1971, and has been in the National League since 2005. In their 14,000 games, Washington's teams had a record of 6,474 wins and 7,526 losses, for a winning percentage of .462.
ReplyDeletePhil Mickelson is 3 over through 13 holes.
ReplyDeleteHere's the rest of the golf schedule for this year:
ReplyDeleteMay 15-18: PGA Championship (Quail Hollow G.C., Charlotte, N.C.)
June 12-15: U.S. Open (Oakmont C.C., Oakmont, Pa.)
July 17-20: British Open (Royal Portrush G.C., Portrush, No. Ireland)
August 11-17: U.S. Amateur (The Olympic Club, San Francisco)
Sept. 6-7: Walker Cup (Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach, Calif.)
Sept. 26-28: Ryder Cup (Bethpage Black Course, Farmingdale, N.Y.)
I am 59 years old and I have only seen seven golfers in or close to their primes who won at least six majors:
ReplyDeleteJack Nicklaus -- 18 (I remember five of these.)
Tiger Woods -- 15
Gary Player -- 9 (I remember one of these.)
Tom Watson -- 8
Lee Trevino -- 6
Nick Faldo -- 6
Phil Mickelson -- 6
2024 was the first time since 1982 that American men won all four major golf championships.
ReplyDeleteOn this day in 1925, The Great Gatsby was published. The whole last page of this novel is transcendent, but I particularly love this passage:
ReplyDelete"He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night."
I love it when writers refer to the United States as "the republic."
DeleteThis is also really good: "And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes -- a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder."
Delete"Capacity for Wonder" would have been a good alternate name for this blog.
DeleteYes. Excellent.
DeleteJustin Rose (ENG) is six under through 10 holes.
ReplyDeleteI read this morning that he has led more Masters rounds without winning the tournament than any other golfer.
DeleteIt's not looking good for LIV. Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson have all played at least six holes, and every one of them is over par.
ReplyDeleteJustin Thomas, the best golfer ever from Louisville St. Xavier H.S., closes with a birdie and shoots a one-over par 73.
ReplyDeleteJustin Louis Thomas of St. X: KHSAA 2009 state champion and University of Alabama All-American
DeleteFrank Beard of Louisville St. X: KHSAA 1957 state champion and University of Florida All-American
PGA Tour wins: Justin Thomas 15, Frank Beard 11
Best Masters finishes: Justin Thomas fourth 2020, Frank Beard T5 1968
Best PGA Championship finishes: Justin Thomas first 2017 and 2012, Frank Beard T6 1968
Best U.S. Open finishes: Justin Thomas T8 2020, Frank Beard third 1965 and T3 1975
Best British Open finishes: Justin Thomas T11 2019, Frank Beard T19 1972
Scottie Scheffler, who attended Highland Park H.S. in Dallas, shoots a four-under par 68.
ReplyDelete