5. JACK NICKLAUS IN 1986 No list of great shots at Augusta National should exclude Jack Nicklaus, a six-time champion. His 30 on the back nine in 1986, which carried him to his sixth green jacket, was the most famous charge of all. If there was a signature moment, it happened on the par-3 16th. Nicklaus was coming off an eagle when he walked over to the 16th tee, which was playing about 175 yards. He hit a 5-iron, and as the ball was still climbing, Nicklaus stooped over and picked up the tee — partly because he couldn't see so well, partly because he knew he hit it how he wanted. His son, Jackie, was caddying for him that week and said, "Be right." Nicklaus replied, "It is." And it was. The ball landed right of the pin and trickled down, narrowly missing a hole-in-one and leaving him a short birdie putt that he converted on his way to victory. ___ 4. SANDY LYLE IN 1988 Sandy Lyle had the lead going into the final round of the 1988 Masters, but found himself in a tight battle with Mark Calcavecchia on the back nine. He was tied for the lead going to the last hole, knowing he would need a birdie to win. Hitting a 1-iron into the first of two bunkers down the left side of the fairway was probably not the best way to make birdie. That's when Lyle delivered one of the greatest shots on the closing hole at Augusta. He hit a 7-iron just over the tall lip of the bunker, and the shot covered the flag and landed beyond the pin, rolling back to 10 feet. Lyle made the birdie putt to become the first British player in a green jacket. ___ 3. TIGER WOODS IN 2005 Tiger Woods found himself in a surprising duel along the back nine in 2005 with Chris DiMarco. Woods had a one-shot lead with three holes to play, and he looked to be in trouble when he went long on the par-3 16th hole, and DiMarco had a 15-foot birdie putt. The pin was in its traditional Sunday position, and Woods was in the wrong spot. He had to play the chip away from the flag and catch the slope just right, hopefully without too much speed that it would run by the hole and leave himself a tough putt for par. After measuring the shot for the longest time, he sent his pitch up the slope, and it slowly made a U-turn toward the hole. The ball broke gently to the left and looked like it might go in, except that it was slowing to a stop. One last turn moved it an inch from the hole. Another turn left it on the on the edge of the cup. And after 2 full seconds, gravity took over and the ball disappeared for birdie. Despite such a dramatic moment for a two-shot lead, Woods bogeyed the next two holes and had to make one last birdie in a playoff to win. ___ 2. BUBBA WATSON IN 2012 The final round of the 2012 Masters produced the rarest shot in golf when Louis Oosthuizen holed out a 4-iron on the par-5 second hole for an albatross. At the end of the day, Bubba Watson hit a shot that was rare in its own right. It was a shot only Bubba could hit. Watson and Oosthuizen headed to the 10th hole for the second playoff hole, and Watson was in trouble. He hit driver deep into the woods to the right of the fairway. Watson hung his head for a moment, figuring he would have to scramble for any chance of par. He always tells his caddie, "If I have a swing, I have a shot." No one could have drawn this one up. He hit a 40-yard hook with a sand wedge, low to get under the trees, then rising to get onto the elevated green. The ball somehow landed on the green with enough side spin to turn up the hill and settle about 10 feet away. Two putts later, Watson had his par — and a green jacket. ___ 1. GENE SARAZEN IN 1935 Gene Sarazen was about the only player who didn't think the second edition of the Masters was over. Craig Wood was in the clubhouse at 6-under 282. Sarazen was in the fairway on the par-5 15th hole, three shots behind while playing with Walter Hagen. Sarazen had a 4-wood that he called his "Dodo" club, and while he didn't have a great lie, thought he should go for the green from 235 yards away. He tried to play it slightly off the toe to get a little extra distance, and the shot came off perfectly. The ball bounced just short of the green, hopped on and rolled into the cup for an albatross. Sarazen closed with three pars to force a playoff, and he beat Wood over 36 holes the next day. It remains the most important shot in tournament history because it put the Masters on the map.Where is Larry Mize's chip-in from 140 feet to win the 1987 Masters? That or Sarazen's Double Eagle are at the top of everyone's top Masters shots list, so why isn't it on Ferguson's unless the featured Associated Press writer has lost his mind. I've picked on Ferguson's golf writing for years, most recent example here when he seemed not to know that Houston and Austin are in the state of Texas, but he wrote today is beyond belief. The Masters begins tomorrow. My not so bold prediction- Someone other than Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy wins. BTW Andy North of ESPN put Mize's shot as #1.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Doug Ferguson of Associated Press has lost his mind
He writes a column on what he thinks are the 5 greatest shots in Masters history.
Neal on Neil and Neal
I know it's Masters week, but what better time to let the world know that I'm going to be teaching a summer course on Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson from May 28 through June 28 at SUNY Fredonia?
Here's how I've been pitching it on campus.
ENGL 427 Major Writers: Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson
This course fulfills the "major author course" requirement for undergraduates majoring in English or English Adolescence Education.
Here's how I've been pitching it on campus.
Summer Session I
Bring on the "Ne(a/i)ls":
Bruce Neal Simon Will Be Teaching Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson
ENGL 427 Major Writers: Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson
During Summer Session I, we will examine a sample of works from the major fantasy fiction writer and the major science fiction writer of their generation: Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson. We will start by pairing some shorter works that made the writers' early reputations (for instance, Gaiman's Sandman: Season of Mists and Stephenson's "Mother Earth, Mother Board" from Some Remarks). We will then pair Gaiman's (and Terry Pratchett's) Good Omens with Stephenson's Snow Crash as hugely popular and influential experiments in narrative, humor, and apocalypse. Finally, we will pair Gaiman's American Gods with Stephenson's Anathem as mature and major novels. If we have the time (and are completely insane), we will also try to pack in their most recent novels, Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Stephenson's Reamde--you know, for fun (these novels will be optional purchases)!
We will consider such questions as what makes a writer "major"? how do these very different writers speak to each other, to their own times, and to us? what connections and contrasts can we find between their characters and settings, characteristic themes and figures, central beliefs and values, writing styles and narrative strategies, and literary and political projects?
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Kraft Nabisco Championship Sunday: Inbee Park Wins the Second Major of Her LPGA Career
So Yeon Ryu put the pedal to the metal and fired the low round of the week, a bogey-free 65, while Caroline Hedwall made the turn going birdie-birdie-eagle birdie, today at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, but their fireworks didn't faze Inbee Park in the least. From the moment she birdied the 1st hole and her playing partner Lizette Salas doubled it, Park enjoyed leads of from 4 to 6 shots for most of the day today, as she cruised around Mission Hills on the way to her 5th career LPGA victory and 2nd major on tour.
It's not like there weren't a lot of fine rounds out there today. Shanshan Feng opened with a bogey-free 31 and held on for a 67 that moved her up about 25 spots to -2. Haeji Kang birdied 4 holes in a row late on the back to post a 68 and finish at -6. Cristie Kerr came out flying with a bogey-free 32 on the front to get to -6, but proceeded to shoot herself in both feet with a birdieless 39 on the back, allowing her playing partner Moriya Jutanugarn to finish 1 shot ahead of her thanks to 4 birdies in her last 10 holes of bogey-free golf, including 2 in a row to finish off her round in style. Meanwhile, Catriona Matthew matched Kerr's front 9 and held on for an even-par back 9 to post a 68 of her own that got her to -5. Giulia Sergas birdied 5 of 6 holes as she made the turn to tie Matthew for 7th. Jennifer Johnson played her last 17 holes bogey-free and -5 to catch Jutanugarn at T13 with a great 68. And there were tons of 69s by Jodi Ewart Shadoff, playing partners Se Ri Pak and Jane Park, low amateur Lydia Ko, Alison Walshe, Natalie Gulbis, Jee Young Lee, and Julieta Granada.
But nobody could even come within shouting distance of Inbee Park, who strung together pairs of birdies 3 times in her round, on 1 and 2, 8 and 9, and 12 and 13. Sure, she birdied 6, 10, and 17 to "settle" for a 69 and a 4-shot victory over Ryu, but so what? Compare that to playing partners Ai Miyazato and Carlota Ciganda, who went 76 and 78, respectively, or Ya Ni Tseng's 74 that left her at +2 for the week, or 72s by playing partners Stacy Lewis and Na Yeon Choi that kept them at -1 for the tournament. Or worse: Pornanong Phatlum got it to -8 late on the front, but played her last 11 holes +4 and birdieless; Jessica Korda got it to -7 midway through the back, but finished bogey-double bogey-bogey-par; Karine Icher played a bogey-free round, which sounds great until you realize she got it to -7 as she made the turn but took 2 doubles on the back; Angela Stanford got it to -6 (twice), but finished double bogey-bogey-par; Salas ended up with 2 doubles and 3 bogeys to barely break 80 from the final group of the day. That's what majors are all about, too. Camilla Hedberg fired a pair of 72s to make it to the weekend, but followed them up with a 79 and a 78 to take next-to-last.
But enough agony of defeat. How about our champion Inbee Park? By my count, this one makes it 4 wins, 12 top 5s, and 14 top 10s since last spring. This is her 1st major since the 1st win of her career at the U.S. Women's Open. It's her 2nd win of 2013 and 1st since the season-opener in Thailand. Having finished 2nd 6 times on the JLPGA in 2010 and 6 times on the LPGA last season, often in heartbreaking fashion near the end of the year when the money-list title and Player of the Year race were on the line, this win has to feel particularly satisfying to Park. If she keeps playing like this, there'll be many more to come, too!
It's not like there weren't a lot of fine rounds out there today. Shanshan Feng opened with a bogey-free 31 and held on for a 67 that moved her up about 25 spots to -2. Haeji Kang birdied 4 holes in a row late on the back to post a 68 and finish at -6. Cristie Kerr came out flying with a bogey-free 32 on the front to get to -6, but proceeded to shoot herself in both feet with a birdieless 39 on the back, allowing her playing partner Moriya Jutanugarn to finish 1 shot ahead of her thanks to 4 birdies in her last 10 holes of bogey-free golf, including 2 in a row to finish off her round in style. Meanwhile, Catriona Matthew matched Kerr's front 9 and held on for an even-par back 9 to post a 68 of her own that got her to -5. Giulia Sergas birdied 5 of 6 holes as she made the turn to tie Matthew for 7th. Jennifer Johnson played her last 17 holes bogey-free and -5 to catch Jutanugarn at T13 with a great 68. And there were tons of 69s by Jodi Ewart Shadoff, playing partners Se Ri Pak and Jane Park, low amateur Lydia Ko, Alison Walshe, Natalie Gulbis, Jee Young Lee, and Julieta Granada.
But nobody could even come within shouting distance of Inbee Park, who strung together pairs of birdies 3 times in her round, on 1 and 2, 8 and 9, and 12 and 13. Sure, she birdied 6, 10, and 17 to "settle" for a 69 and a 4-shot victory over Ryu, but so what? Compare that to playing partners Ai Miyazato and Carlota Ciganda, who went 76 and 78, respectively, or Ya Ni Tseng's 74 that left her at +2 for the week, or 72s by playing partners Stacy Lewis and Na Yeon Choi that kept them at -1 for the tournament. Or worse: Pornanong Phatlum got it to -8 late on the front, but played her last 11 holes +4 and birdieless; Jessica Korda got it to -7 midway through the back, but finished bogey-double bogey-bogey-par; Karine Icher played a bogey-free round, which sounds great until you realize she got it to -7 as she made the turn but took 2 doubles on the back; Angela Stanford got it to -6 (twice), but finished double bogey-bogey-par; Salas ended up with 2 doubles and 3 bogeys to barely break 80 from the final group of the day. That's what majors are all about, too. Camilla Hedberg fired a pair of 72s to make it to the weekend, but followed them up with a 79 and a 78 to take next-to-last.
But enough agony of defeat. How about our champion Inbee Park? By my count, this one makes it 4 wins, 12 top 5s, and 14 top 10s since last spring. This is her 1st major since the 1st win of her career at the U.S. Women's Open. It's her 2nd win of 2013 and 1st since the season-opener in Thailand. Having finished 2nd 6 times on the JLPGA in 2010 and 6 times on the LPGA last season, often in heartbreaking fashion near the end of the year when the money-list title and Player of the Year race were on the line, this win has to feel particularly satisfying to Park. If she keeps playing like this, there'll be many more to come, too!
Kraft Nabisco Championship Sunday Pairings
We've got some interesting pairings for the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Mika Miyazato and Candie Kung will get to play fast right behind pacesetter Lindsey Wright. At 9:04, up-and-comers Jenny Shin and Mo Martin will try to build on yesterday's 71s. At 9:39, Lexi Thompson and Morgan Pressel will try to turn around their 2013s, with Shanshan Feng and Natalie Gulbis trying to do the same right behind them. Ai Miyazato fell back in the pack yesterday, but playing with Carlota Ciganda should psych her up. Mina Harigae gets a front-row seat to Lydia Ko's attempt to earn low amateur honors in yet another major. Like Tiffany Joh before her, Jane Park gets to play with living legend Se Ri Pak. Ya Ni Tseng and Beatriz Recari can exchange notes on getting into the zone, while Amy Yang and Michelle Wie can talk about trying to live up to expectations.
And then things get really serious. Stacy Lewis and Na Yeon Choi go off at 11:44. Veteran Cristie Kerr and rookie Moriya Jutanugarn are at 12:11.
And then we get to the leaders:
12:29 Hee Kyung Seo and Anna Nordqvist
12:38 Hee Young Park and Sarah Jane Smith
12:47 Ji-Yai Shin and So Yeon Ryu
12:56 Paula Creamer and Caroline Hedwall
1:13 Jessica Korda and Pornanong Phatlum
1:22 Suzann Pettersen and Karine Icher
1:31 Karrie Webb and Angela Stanford
1:40 Inbee Park and Lizette Salas
Even if this ends up being a 2-player race, these games within the big game should also be interesting to track.
Mika Miyazato and Candie Kung will get to play fast right behind pacesetter Lindsey Wright. At 9:04, up-and-comers Jenny Shin and Mo Martin will try to build on yesterday's 71s. At 9:39, Lexi Thompson and Morgan Pressel will try to turn around their 2013s, with Shanshan Feng and Natalie Gulbis trying to do the same right behind them. Ai Miyazato fell back in the pack yesterday, but playing with Carlota Ciganda should psych her up. Mina Harigae gets a front-row seat to Lydia Ko's attempt to earn low amateur honors in yet another major. Like Tiffany Joh before her, Jane Park gets to play with living legend Se Ri Pak. Ya Ni Tseng and Beatriz Recari can exchange notes on getting into the zone, while Amy Yang and Michelle Wie can talk about trying to live up to expectations.
And then things get really serious. Stacy Lewis and Na Yeon Choi go off at 11:44. Veteran Cristie Kerr and rookie Moriya Jutanugarn are at 12:11.
And then we get to the leaders:
12:29 Hee Kyung Seo and Anna Nordqvist
12:38 Hee Young Park and Sarah Jane Smith
12:47 Ji-Yai Shin and So Yeon Ryu
12:56 Paula Creamer and Caroline Hedwall
1:13 Jessica Korda and Pornanong Phatlum
1:22 Suzann Pettersen and Karine Icher
1:31 Karrie Webb and Angela Stanford
1:40 Inbee Park and Lizette Salas
Even if this ends up being a 2-player race, these games within the big game should also be interesting to track.
Yamaha Ladies Sunday: 19-Year-Old Mamiko Higa Wins Playoff, Takes 1st JLPGA Win
19-year-old Mamiko Higa's best career finish on the JLPGA before this week had been a bronze last year, but she had been playing nowhere near that well in 2013, with a couple of missed cuts and only 2 rounds under par in her 1st 4 events. But in the JLPGA's 1st 4-round event of the season, the Yamaha Ladies, Higa hung tough while big names around her were crashing and burning. A final-round 70, highlighted by 3 birdies and no bogeys in her last 13 holes, brought her to -4 for the week, but she needed a little luck to get into--much less win--the playoff with Teresa Lu and Kaori Ohe. Ohe was -5 with 5 holes to play but after bogeys on the long par-4 14th and 16th needed a walkoff birdie just to get back to -4. Lu, by contrast, suffered a walkoff bogey to drop back into the playoff.
But they were not the biggest names among those who helped Higa to the winner's circle. Even with an early double, Miki Saiki was -4 at the turn, but 2 bogeys and a walkoff birdie later and she ended up 1 shot shy of joining the payoff. Yukari Baba made 3 early birdies to put herself in contention, and her 3 late birdies would have been enough for the win, except for the fact that she also made 3 bogeys over her last 10 holes. The result? A tie with Saiki. Ritsuko Ryu was -5 with 4 holes to play but was -2 as she teed off on the 18th--ouch! Sakura Yokomine bogeyed 2 of her last 3 holes to join Ryu 2 shots out of the playoff. Even money list leader Rikako Morita had her struggles: yes, she fired a bogey-free 33 on the back to leap into T6, only 2 shots out of the playoff, as well, but she opened with a 39 that featured a double on the 9th. Yumiko Yoshida, who won for the 1st time last year, had the opposite problem: a bogey-free 33 on the front got her into contention and she was still at -4 with 4 holes to play, but she bogeyed the 1st 2 of them back-to-back and also had to settle for a T6. Onnarin Sattayabanphot was -4 at the turn, too, but a birdieless 39 on the back left her in T13. Mayu Hattori made 3 bogeys in her last 11 holes and also finished 3 shots out of the playoff.
And those were just the smaller Sunday falls, as bangkokbobby noted. Bo-Mee Lee was leading the tournament at -7 through her 1st 6 holes of bogey-free golf, so of course she made 7 bogeys in her last 12 holes to fall 3 off the pace. Shiho Oyama was right on her tail at -6 through 5 holes today, but a bogey-bogey-double run sent her into a tailspin. Still, after 2 birdies on the back, she was right back in the thick of the things at -4 with 4 holes to go. So of course she finished par-double-bogey-par for yet another near-miss in 2013. And the list goes on: Soo-Yun Kang, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Na-Ri Lee, Yan-Hong Pan, Ah-Reum Hwang, Asako Fujimoto, even new pro Hyo-Joo Kim had their chances at the start of the day to win, but came nowhere close in the end.
Bottom line, though, is that Higa came through when the chips were down. She made a birdie putt on the 2nd playoff hole after all 3 golfers parred the 1st. So congratulations to another in the growing line of under-21 playoff 1st-time winners on the JLPGA: Mamiko Higa! Is this a changing of the guard we're witnessing or just a lucky run?
Here's how the JLPGA money list now looks:
1. Rikako Morita ￥33.97M
2. Mi-Jeong Jeon ￥21.77M
3. Mamiko Higa ￥18.96M
4. Natsuka Hori ￥16.09M
5. Yuki Ichinose ￥14.82M
6. Teresa Lu ￥13.22M
7. Sakura Yokomine ￥12.80M
8. Ritsuko Ryu ￥12.10M
9. Erika Kikuchi ￥11.56M
10. Harukyo Nomura ￥10.74M
11. Yukari Baba ￥10.20M
12. Miki Saiki ￥9.98M
13. Kaori Ohe ￥8.25M
14. Young Kim ￥8.24M
15. Shiho Oyama ￥8.15M
16. Onnarin Sattayabanphot ￥8.12M
17. Megumi Kido ￥7.74M
18. Hiromi Mogi ￥6.54M
19. Na-Ri Lee ￥6.25M
20. Bo-Mee Lee ￥5.71M
Next up is the Studio Alice Ladies, which features Ji-Yai Shin and Ayako Uehara from the LPGA. Let's see if defending champion Miki Saiki can shake off today's disappointment, if Rikako Morita can keep her top-6 streak going, and if the JLPGA's youth movement will keep going full team ahead.
But they were not the biggest names among those who helped Higa to the winner's circle. Even with an early double, Miki Saiki was -4 at the turn, but 2 bogeys and a walkoff birdie later and she ended up 1 shot shy of joining the payoff. Yukari Baba made 3 early birdies to put herself in contention, and her 3 late birdies would have been enough for the win, except for the fact that she also made 3 bogeys over her last 10 holes. The result? A tie with Saiki. Ritsuko Ryu was -5 with 4 holes to play but was -2 as she teed off on the 18th--ouch! Sakura Yokomine bogeyed 2 of her last 3 holes to join Ryu 2 shots out of the playoff. Even money list leader Rikako Morita had her struggles: yes, she fired a bogey-free 33 on the back to leap into T6, only 2 shots out of the playoff, as well, but she opened with a 39 that featured a double on the 9th. Yumiko Yoshida, who won for the 1st time last year, had the opposite problem: a bogey-free 33 on the front got her into contention and she was still at -4 with 4 holes to play, but she bogeyed the 1st 2 of them back-to-back and also had to settle for a T6. Onnarin Sattayabanphot was -4 at the turn, too, but a birdieless 39 on the back left her in T13. Mayu Hattori made 3 bogeys in her last 11 holes and also finished 3 shots out of the playoff.
And those were just the smaller Sunday falls, as bangkokbobby noted. Bo-Mee Lee was leading the tournament at -7 through her 1st 6 holes of bogey-free golf, so of course she made 7 bogeys in her last 12 holes to fall 3 off the pace. Shiho Oyama was right on her tail at -6 through 5 holes today, but a bogey-bogey-double run sent her into a tailspin. Still, after 2 birdies on the back, she was right back in the thick of the things at -4 with 4 holes to go. So of course she finished par-double-bogey-par for yet another near-miss in 2013. And the list goes on: Soo-Yun Kang, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Na-Ri Lee, Yan-Hong Pan, Ah-Reum Hwang, Asako Fujimoto, even new pro Hyo-Joo Kim had their chances at the start of the day to win, but came nowhere close in the end.
Bottom line, though, is that Higa came through when the chips were down. She made a birdie putt on the 2nd playoff hole after all 3 golfers parred the 1st. So congratulations to another in the growing line of under-21 playoff 1st-time winners on the JLPGA: Mamiko Higa! Is this a changing of the guard we're witnessing or just a lucky run?
Here's how the JLPGA money list now looks:
1. Rikako Morita ￥33.97M
2. Mi-Jeong Jeon ￥21.77M
3. Mamiko Higa ￥18.96M
4. Natsuka Hori ￥16.09M
5. Yuki Ichinose ￥14.82M
6. Teresa Lu ￥13.22M
7. Sakura Yokomine ￥12.80M
8. Ritsuko Ryu ￥12.10M
9. Erika Kikuchi ￥11.56M
10. Harukyo Nomura ￥10.74M
11. Yukari Baba ￥10.20M
12. Miki Saiki ￥9.98M
13. Kaori Ohe ￥8.25M
14. Young Kim ￥8.24M
15. Shiho Oyama ￥8.15M
16. Onnarin Sattayabanphot ￥8.12M
17. Megumi Kido ￥7.74M
18. Hiromi Mogi ￥6.54M
19. Na-Ri Lee ￥6.25M
20. Bo-Mee Lee ￥5.71M
Next up is the Studio Alice Ladies, which features Ji-Yai Shin and Ayako Uehara from the LPGA. Let's see if defending champion Miki Saiki can shake off today's disappointment, if Rikako Morita can keep her top-6 streak going, and if the JLPGA's youth movement will keep going full team ahead.
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