Sports Goggles

The Masters: the two with a chance

Tiger is right there. Sure, he’s four strokes back of Trevor Immelman and Justin Rose, but he was a bad break from being two or three under par yesterday. On the 13th hole, a par five, Woods bombed his drive down the middle-left side of the fairway. With a medium iron shot left to the green Woods’ hit caught the ball just a little thin and instead of his normal high raindrop medium iron shot that seems to fall straight down from the sky, his second shot bounced through the green.

Left with a difficult uphill pitch shot to a green sloping away from him, Woods attempted a chip into the top of the hill hoping the ball would trickle down to the hole. It was a near-impossible shot. Woods’ shot landed, perhaps, three inches short of its target and rolled back down the hill. The mistake resulted in a bogey.

Had he simply hit a flop shot and left himself with a 25-foot uphill putt for a birdie, Woods, at worst pars the hole and probably pars the following hole rather than allowing his anger to get the best of him. In what looked like an effort to split the ball in two Woods over-swung on his 14th-hole tee shot and landed deep in some straw behind a tree stand and in an impossible position to salvage a par. The two-hole loss of concentration put Woods at 2-over par.

On the par-five 15th Woods chipped in for an eagle to get back to even par, which is where he ended after his first round.

As difficult a course as Augusta is, one four-under par round and three 72s can equal a green jacket. As the tournament continues and the pressure mounts, Woods and Zach Johnson are the probably only two players in the field who potentially have more than one under par round left in their nerves; not their game, but their nerves.

Johnson won his jacket last year with a controlled, conservative game plan. He knows it can work, so it is only left for him to replicate last year’s play. Since he attempts no shot outside of the range of his game, Johnson, at 2-under can feel safe as long as the winning score is close to what it is now. Woods is so explosive, so long and soft with his medium to long irons, and is such an adroit putter, that he too feels safe. Two 68s are just as possible as is one round of 64 for Woods. If he shoots either, he will win in a walk.

So, the stage is set. Rose lately has been a first round leader at Augusta, but Friday through Sunday success has eluded him. Immelman has never been in this position and no one expects him to be there Sunday – probably him included. Everyone else from Ian Poulter, he of yesterday’s hole-in-one and 3-under par day to Phil Mickelson at 1-under, is closer to succumbing to the moment and shooting a 75 than they are rising above the fray.

That leaves us with Zach Johnson and Tiger Woods. How about that for an unlikely pair of contenders on Sunday?

Warriors playoff hopes now dim

Last night the Golden State Warriors all but obliterated any chance they had at making the playoffs. In the process they made Charles Barkley prescient.

Before the game – televised on TNT – Barkley said the Denver Nuggets would defeat the Warriors because Denver has an easier time scoring than does Golden State. Barkley added that since the Warriors depend on outside shooting for the bulk of their points and since the Nuggets have multiple players who like to drive to the basket, the Warriors would fail in this battle for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.

Despite being down 37-22 after one quarter and by as many as 18 points in the second, Denver wiped out all deficits with one five minute, 19-0 run, to take a 61-60 lead into halftime. From then on, Golden State’s attempts at staying in the game were futile. As deep Warriors jump shot after three-pointer clanked off the rim leading to layin after easy short jumper for Denver, Golden State’s hopes to squeeze in to the crowded Western Conference top eight faded. And despite Baron Davis’ 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists triple-double effort, The Warriors lost 114-105 and now must win their remaining three games and have Denver lose their remaining three to play beyond the month of April.

Interestingly, what changed the tenor of the game was a desperation defensive switch by Nuggets head coach George Karl. Down 15 after one quarter Karl decided to switch to a zone defense. Though Denver expanded its lead briefly, they were ultimately seduced by the ability to fire up jump shots and allowed Denver to wrestle their way back into the game.

Now that Golden State’s season is all but over, it is time to wonder what lies ahead for Don Nelson and his team. With bona fide centers all over the Western Conference, Nellie’s “small ball” tactics will render him fewer and fewer wins – and fewer playoff appearances. But since Nelson has never proven that he can co-exist with a real low post presence, his stay in the Bay Area might not be for long. With their talented roster, the Warriors should be a perennial playoff team. Should they fail to make the playoffs next season, Nelson will find himself under fire and find that players will suddenly want to win more than pad their stats in Nelson’s wide-open offense.

And we might be seeing the last of Don Nelson on the sidelines in the NBA.