I've gone several times. As a PGA member I get free access which is not being offered this year.

Perhaps you can show exactly how you can get into The Masters. I know that practice round tickets are fairly easy to acquire but to get into the actual four rounds, you have to enter a drawing with millions of other people.

Yes, it is a bit of an exaggeration. Masters tickets are only the second hardest to get.

http://https://www.businessinsider.c...rnament-2018-3

Upset
 

Cameron Smith will pull the upset.

So far the predictions are......
 

3 dj
3 thomas
2 spieth
2 rahm
1 westwood
1 sergio
1 kuchar
1 smith
1 multi votes
1 lowest score. Ha!

Masters trivia
 

Did you know that co-founder of Augusta National Clifford Roberts said, 'all players would be white, all caddies black" He died at 83 by suicide at Augusta National.

Heheh. Maybe when folks are getting their easy-to-get Masters tickets, they could pick up a few Super Bowl tickets for us all too! :1rotfl:

It opened almost 90 years ago...Different times...

Your point?

I don't think anyone can predict who is going to win, and I don't even want to try.

But, off topic, why are the greens brown? If anyone can make grass green, it should be Augusta National.

Justin Rose leads first round and wasn’t mentioned as a possibility to win. Of course, there is a lot of golf yet to be played.

When I was still working, the Wall Street guys that covered me as an institutional portfolio manager made it very clear that any ticket I wanted was a done deal. That included the Masters, Super Bowls, and anything else I was interested in attending. The moral of the story is that there is no such thing as a difficult ticket, as long as money isn’t an obstacle.

There’s no such thing as a difficult anything if money isn’t an obstacle. :)

No point, reading the history of Masters and was a little shocked by his comment. Glad they honored Lee Elder at this Masters.

Bingo.
We purchased four tickets for everyday from a family in Atlanta. When we needed extra (for customers) we purchased additional sets online and twice from a guy on the street corner. There are always guys walking on Washington selling tickets. We also had vendors offer tickets. Easy. :MOJE_whot:


Today will thin out the leaders today. Back to back good rounds.

Pleased as I am to see a Brit doing well, unfortunately it's the last day that counts!

Prince Philip......RIP

Even though they denied it, I think that the Masters officials were not happy with Dustin Johnson's record winning score last November when the course was soft.

They were hoping for weather that would create firm and fast conditions and they got it. of course they could water the green to make them green but that would soften them up and slow them down.

Just because they are a bit brown looking, as are most US Open greens, it does not mean that they are not putting well. They are very smooth.

Does anyone else think that it's ver odd that Justin Rose was able to shoot an incredible 65 when the conditions were extremely difficult and only 11 players broke par and the average score was close to 75 and then when the course was softened up and a lot of players were going low, he posted 72 and backed up to the field?

It just goes to show that under any conditions, the margin for error is extremely small at Augusta National. Ball that lands on a spot can be excellent and a ball landing a foot away from that spot can spell disaster. Rose had a couple of balls land a foot away from the ideal spot that gave him a 40 on the front nine on Friday.

I think that when the difficulty of obtaining tickets is discussed what is being referenced is getting tickets from the original sellers. Yes, you can get Masters tickets from a scalper but it's extremely difficult to get them from the Masters. The same can be said for The Super Bowl. Tickets are easy if you happen to have tens of thousands of extra cash to plunk down.

The difference with Masters tickets is that once you win tickets in the lottery, you have first dibs on tickets for the rest of your life. If you get them from a scalper, it's one and done.

I'm not familiar with the process. Once you win the lottery then what happens for the rest of your life ? You don't have to enter the lottery again and simply request a ticket ? Is there a time restriction like good for the rest of your life if only used in consecutive years ? Or could you skip 20 years ? Also is the lottery separated into non tournament days vs. tournament days and then further down by individual days ? How does all that complication play into the rest of your life privilege I.E. do you get to pick what day you want tickets for ?

With DJ out and Bryson a long ways back, it's obviously time to guess on another winner. Would still love to see Spieth win, but I think today will tell if he's exorcised all those demons from his two really ugly shots in 2016. One thing is for sure, Zalatoris will be someone to watch in coming years. His drive on 18 yesterday, was unreal. Back to DJ, can there be anything tougher than hanging around for a couple of days without playing, just to put the jacket on a new winner?

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yep - not winning at all or coming in second for a few years. Tough (IMO) is not hanging around Augusta Natl sucking up to sponsors, hanging with friends, free everything, cart blanche. Then after winning last year, the horrible chore of lifting up a jacket on Sunday evening.
(sorry about the rant tvbound, couldn't help it...I do get your point.):ho:
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Once you win in the lottery you get first chance at tickets every year unless you refuse them. If you don't buy them one year, I believe that you no longer have first refusal.

I'm not sure about picking daily tickets is an option. I've never entered the lottery but I believe that you choose from a few different packages. It might be that you are limited to whatever option you select the first time, but I don't know for sure.

Go to Masters.com and I think that all of the information is there.

Do you think that things are still like that at August National or in Georgia?

Times have changed. There have been many black golfers play in the Masters and there are some black and women members now.

I congratulate Augusta National for recognizing the error of their ways and correcting themselves. I was a great thing for them to invite Lee Elder to be one of the honorary starters this year.

Cameron Champ stated in and interview this week that he loves the club and all of its traditions.

And although I would never condone their original policy, it should be noted that many of those black caddies back in those days made a lot more money than they might have made elsewhere. Some of them have been invited back to the club as honored guests during Masters week. Up until1983 players were made to use Augusta National's caddies in The Masters. Many of those caddies made in one week than they made in an entire year.

Again, I do not condone racial discrimination but many of those early caddies were uneducated and unskilled. Caddying at Augusta National gave them a lifestyle that they might never had enjoyed otherwise.

My prediction might still come to fruition.

It has the smallest and weakest field of any of the four majors. That makes it the easiest to win of the four majors.

Here is a list of players that have zero chance to win:
Fred Couples
Sandy Lyle
Larry Mize
Jose Maria Olazabal
Vijay Singh
Mike Weir
Ian Woosnam
Joe Long
Charles Osborne
Tyler Strafaci
Bernhard Langer
Brian Gay
Jim Herman
Mackenzie Hughes
Robert Streb
Martin Laird
Hudson Swafford
Matt Jones
Jimmy Walker

Here is a list of players that it would take a miracle for them to win:
Will Zalatoris
Matt Wallace
Robert MacIntyre
Si Woo Kim
Victor Perez
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Bernd Wiesberger
Stewart Cink
Phil Mickelson
Francesco Molinari
Ryan Palmer
Henrik Stenson
Michael Thompson
Carlos Ortiz
Zach Johnson
(OK, we have the possibility of a miracle with Zalatoris but it's still highly unlikely)

That leaves on 54 players that you have to beat.

This year there are only three amateurs, here are usually six so that's three more that have no chance. And fewer former champions have decided to play this year. There is also a record low six first time players. There have only been two first time players that have won and one of them was Horton Smith in the first Masters. So this year's field is stronger than usual.

Now granted that the players that are left are the cream of the crop but some of the best players in the world are going to have a couple of bad rounds and not make the cut like Rory and DJ so the field could be weakened even more.

Other majors have 144 players most of whom are at the top of the OWGR. The US Open and Open Championship do have a few amateurs and guys that get in through the qualifying system but they are a small percentage.

The PGA Championship does have several club pros, but again they start with a much bigger field than The Masters.

The most difficult tournament to win however is The Players. It has by far the strongest field in golf.

All four these events have half again more players than The Masters and the top players in the are in all of them. That makes The Masters the hardest to get into and the easiest to win.

Hideki at 35-1 looks pretty good right now. I don't even see Will Zalatoris on this list. Did they not know he was in the field?

This has been a very strange year. It seems that the field is having a tough time but every day one player has a spectacular round. Rose's first day 65 was four better than the next best score.

Day two the field was a bit closer as the course played easier. Finau and Weisberger both shot 66 and there were several 67s.

Then of course yesterday, when everyone seemed to be struggling with the pace of the greens and the water on the fairways and fringes after the rain delay, Matsuyama makes four birdies and an eagle on the back nine to finish with 65 three strokes ahead of the next best score and when only four guys broke 70.

It's a very strange Masters.

This is all I found on masters.com :

"All tickets will be awarded through a selection process. 2021 ticket holders of record, not selected to attend, who complete an application will be given priority to purchase tickets for the 2022 Masters Tournament."

I don't even know what that means not alone the answer to the other questions. Seems there must be a pre selection process before the selection process. I.E. what if there were more "ticket holders not selected" that now have preference for next year than tickets available next year ? Does that mean no lottery next year ? If anyone knows the answers or knows a site that spells out the entire process clearly please publish.

I think that what they're saying is that because of Covid and their decision to limit the number of patrons this year, they are not going to take away the privileges of those who have had tickets and decided or were not allowed to attend.

I predict a Matsuyama win.

I predict that Matsuyama will win by one stroke with a score of minus 10

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you must have been sweating at the end.... WZ sure looks like an up & coming winner...
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Soooo. Of the predictions, Jordan Spieth, tied for third, better than most.

We were going to give up watching as it all looked a bit predictable.
Then BOOM! Game on.
Very exciting ending.
Pressure on Mr. H Matsuyama must have been so intense.
Worthy winner.

No, I wasn't sweating. There is always a possibility of a miracle.

So far he's been great in two tournaments, the US Open and The Masters.

There have been players in history that seem to have been able to play their best in majors. Andy North won three tournaments in his his career and two fo them we US Opens.

There have been a lot of players that many thought were going to be the next Nicklaus, Hogan or Woods and many had streaks but didn't sustain their winning ways. There was a guy named Jack Renner back in the 70s and early 80s that was supposed to be the next Hogan. Hal Sutton was deemed to be the next Nicklaus but, although was a very good player, never reached the heights expected of him.

There have also been players that most thought had no chance to win a major and won one and were never heard from again.

We will see if Will Zalatoris becomes a great or just a guy that had a couple of good tournaments.

Jack Fleck anyone?

Jordan's story is interesting. If he had putted the way that he did between 2013 and 2017 he would have won The Masters by ten shots.Then in 2018, his putting became average to good, but not spectacular as it had been.

He was possibly the best putter in the world and maybe the best putter in history during those five years. But he was never a good ball striker by PGA Tour standards. He has worked hard over the past three years and has improved his ball striking by leaps and bounds. His putting has stayed average. So he has found a new way to win.

I and many people have always felt that his lack of good ball striking would eventually catch up with him and it did. You can't rely on making 30 footers all the time and continue to win tournaments.

I think that he is a much more balanced player these days. Although I doubt that if he'll ever putt like he did in his prime, if he can get his putting back to 75% of what it used to be, he'll win a lot.

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BTW - did anyone catch when Hidecki's caddy placed the flag back into the 18th hole after the win - and BOWED to the golf course.

OMG... so touching, and SO Japanese.
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Funny when Matsuyama was standing over his second shot at 15, I was thinking two things. One was "Why not lay up and hit a lob wedge third shot and try to make birdie like Patrick Reid did in 2018?" You might remember that Reid did not go for one par five in four days and played them well under par.

The second thing that I thought was when they said that he had four iron from 226 that with his adrenaline flowing and the shot being downhill, it was too much club. He had already his it over a couple of greens and he or his caddy should have been thinking about that. That shot went one and a half clubs too far and nearly cost him the tournament. The fifteenth green is much deeper on the right and the bunker is not a bad place to be a Shauffele showed. There is also a lot more room over that side of the green and over the bunker. Balls that hit short of the bunker don't tend to go back down into the water like they do in the middle of the green and to the right. At that point, he should have been playing, as Nick Faldo loves to say, "for safety". By either laying up or hitting it to the right he'd be taking bogey out of the equation.

But then again, I wasn't playing in The Masters. I've never been a situation with quite that much pressure. But I can tell you that when you're playing well, you tend to start to believe that you can do anything. Tour players, especially, have so much confidence that it some times can get them into trouble.

I'd love to know what was going on in his mind and his caddy's mind at that point. Did his caddy discuss laying up or hitting it right. Watching him, it doesn't seem as though there is all that much communication between him and his caddy. Some guys like a lot of input and others don't. A good caddy knows when to speak up and when to shut up.

We don't know what went on in their minds or what conversations took place and I certainly couldn't know from my sofa, but I thought it was the wrong play before he hit the shot.

The shot of Matsuyama was a low bullet and sure the downhill lie contributed to shot and that was one of reasons for going over green into water.

Sure was a fun tournament to watch. I'm sure the weight of winning Masters for Japan was unbearable pressure and stress but managed it very well.

Once again, the old adage that "the tournament doesn't really begin, until the back nine on Sunday" came true. Hideki is a very worthy champion. And regardless of what one personally thinks of Tony Romo, it looks like his praise and predictions of Will Zalatoris are spot on.

That was truly a class gesture.