Fumbleweed

Arlington Road

It's not odd actually. He was simply the better of two bad choices. He's currently unpopular while the democratic party is even more unpopular.

I will say this for the PGA. They're willing to come to Middle America which is why I've been to three of them. And, the PGA is usually hugely exciting. The US Opens just bounce from East Coast and West Coast and back.

Well, as usual, I was so-so in projecting what would happen at the Masters. Picked the winner correctly, but seeing as that was the #2 player in the world, that's nothing to write home about. Conners turned out to be a solid pick also, but I have got to stop trusting Justin Thomas at majors. His major record outside of the two PGA wins simply isn't that good. Apologies, finally, for putting Zach Johnson in the "no chance" category. He proved a lot this weekend. Not as much as Rose did, but quite a bit.

The Masters is now three weeks away and the field is rounding into form. For a few of us, it is just about our favorite sports weekend of the year. For most, probably not, but still a weekend of interest. Here are my initial top ten favorites for this year as has been done for several years now. List is subject to minor changes as the month of March deepens in golf. Should be a great tournament! Top Ten: 1. Rory McIlroy-Won the Players with his B game. Never a better time to claim this with no one else playing elite golf. 2. Justin Thomas- 2025 has brought back moments of greatness. Here’s thinking those moments turn into four solid days. 3. Corey Conners- Just plays effective golf every time out. I think his time to nearly win a major has come. 4. Joaquin Niemann- The one LIV player that seems to still play with fire in his belly. 5. Scottie Scheffler- Look for more frustration for Scottie…and a back door top five come Sunday afternoon. 6. Patrick Cantlay- Played well at Sawgrass. I see a couple of top-ten finishes in majors for him this year. 7. Brooks Koepka- Not sure if he’s hungry, but he does seem relatively healthy for a change. 8. Sepp Straka- Only Rory has looked better this season. Sepp is a legit contender. 9. Jon Rahm- LIV’s best player should at least get a top ten finish in a major he’s won before. 10. Ludwig Aberg- Kind of all or nothing this year so far. I think that levels out at Augusta. Players outside of my top ten who still have a very legitimate shot at winning: Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele Highly ranked players who are off to slow start in 2025, but could catch lightning in a bottle for a week: Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Max Homa, Viktor Hovland, Sungjae Im, Jordan Spieth, Sagith Theegala, Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris Young, exciting players with little Masters experience, but tons of game: Akshay Bhatia, Thomas Detry, Stephen Jaeger, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee, Robert MacIntyre, Taylor Pendrith, Aaron Rai Other LIV participants: Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith, Bubba Watson Solid, tested players...wouldn't be a shocker if they won: Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns, Jason Day, Harris English, Matt Fitzpatrick, Lucas Glover, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Tom Hoge, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, J.J. Spaun Guys who have a punchers chance, but would make for a somewhat shocking winner: Byeong Hun An, Christian Bezuidenhout, Brian Campbell, Rafael Campos, Laurie Canter, Cam Davis, Nick Dunlap, Nico Echavarria, Austin Eckroat, Max Greyserman, Joe Highsmith, Hojgaard Brothers, Chris Kirk, Patton Kizzire, Thirston Lawrence, Denny McCarthy, Matt McCarty, Maverick McNealy, Mattieau Pavon, J.T. Poston, Davis Riley, Adam Schenk, Nick Taylor, Davis Thompson, Jhonathan Vegas, Kevin Yu Guys who have no real shot at winning from my perspective: Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Zach Johnson, Bernhard Langer, J.M. Olazabal, Charl Schwartzel, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Danny Willett, All amateurs

Waiting to see if I finish 3rd. If I do, no money exchanged.

I should have picked Conners in the second. He was at the top of my list, but I thought by some stroke of luck with only 8 teams, he would fall to 3.06. Picked him to finish 3rd in the tournament overall.

We’ll have to agree to disagree. Non-basketball pics tell a different story.

I can see what you're saying about the reps for LIV guys being sufficient, but several just seem to have lost the fire/competitive edge. Dustin Johnson obviously comes to mind, but there are others including Cam certainly. The way Niemann tees it up on other tours and such, I think he's still driven.

Do you think Gabby Marshall is attractive? I always thought she was, but never really asked anybody else if they thought so or not.

Is there anything harder right now than trying to figure out how much shot each of the LIV guys has? They don't play enough. They don't play for much in terms of stakes. I think your assessments here are pretty solid.

Most of our tourneys, I would give a thought to taking the top five from those not picked as a team. Not this tournament.

Not so much. Gabby Marshall on the other hand...

Less than 24 hours away... Tee times: Starting Times and Groupings | The Masters

Another guy not drafted who has fallen is Matt Fitzpatrick. Just goes to show how little confidence any of us has in his game right now.

Alternate is Maverick McNealy

6.03- Harris English

5.06- Sungjae Im

Just a sec...busy day.

First and second round pairings: Starting Times and Groupings | The Masters

4.03- Tony Finau

Prayers and best wishes Jerry. Love having you as a part of this. You’re a good dude.

3.06 - Sepp Straka

2.03- Joaquin Niemann

I am even coming into this event...I will owe $50 to someone for this one or whatever the amount is going to be now.