This weekend W&MC are attending both the Saturday and Sundays rounds of the Masters, the lucky ducks. Will wanted to take Shivonne, but I’m not sure if he can.
Why the Par Three Tournament is the best non-event in sports, better than the slam dunk contest or home run derby.
Like many in the real world, Augusta National has supply chain issues. None of the beloved peach ice cream sandwiches. The price of a beer has increased to five dollars – still cheap for a major sporting event. The plastic Masters logo cup alone is worth that investment. New on the menu this year: a tasty three dollar breakfast sandwich with bacon, sausage, egg, and cheese.
Golf Digest’s best bets to win the Masters.
1. 12/1 Justin Thomas 8 top 10s in past 12 w/ 5 straight.
2. 16/1 Scottie Scheffler has won 3 of past 5
3. 18/1 Viktor Hovland good driver / poor chipper
4. 12/1 Collin Morikawa fastest to win 2 majors
5. 16/1 Cameron Smith won the Players, shot 4 straight rounds in 60s
6. 16/1 Dustin Johnson missed cut last year
7. 14/1 Rory McIlroy
8. 35/1 Will Zalatoris runnerup last year
9. 16/1 Patrick Cantlay won FedEx Cup, missed 2 Masters cuts
10. 50/1 Matt Fitzpatrick 4 of 5 top 10’s in 2022
11. 8/1 Jon Rahm 4 straight Masters top 10s
12. 25/1 Hideki Matsuyama has a sore back
13. 12/1 Jordan Spieth last 3 finishes were poor.
Golf Digest ranked the entire Masters field, from bottom to top. Here’s their top 20, plus a few others of note. I’ve added their world rank.
1. Justin Thomas 7.
2. Brooks Koepka 17.
3. Scottie Scheffler 1.
4. Dustin Johnson 8.
5. Cameron Smith 6.
6. Jon Rahm 2.
7. Collin Morikawa 3.
8. Viktor Hovland 4.
9. Xander Schauffele 10.
10. Will Zalatoris 29.
11. Sam Burns 11.
12. Matt Fitzpatrick 24.
13. Jordan Spieth 18.
14. Shane Lowry 35
15. Patrick Cantlay 5.
16. Rory McIlroy 9.
17. Paul Casey 25
18. Billy Horschel 13.
19. Cameron Young 46
20. Daniel Berger 21
22. Tyrrell Hatton 16
24. Louis Oosthuizen 14
25. Tony Finau 23
30. Adam Scott 36
36. Hideki Matsuyama 12
40. Bubba Watson 68
45. Tiger Woods 973
46. Matthew Wolff 45
48. Bryson DeChambeau 19
57. Patrick Reed 31
58. Kevin Na 30
My Monday: could’ve gone outside after work and hit golf balls, but I was sore from the morning workout, and tired from being on the go the past several days, so I crashed on the couch. C had something at church, so I fixed a ham & cheese quesadilla for supper. Caught up on emails.
C couldn’t get Winnie from the kennel until about noon yesterday. She was happy to be home, but tired from the weekend.
Still sore this morning, but I drug myself to the gym anyway. Didn’t try to set any speed records but still knocked out three pretty decent miles, then stayed at it for another half mile. Time to start increasing my mileage. My third mile was the fastest.
JOE TINKER [SABR Bio] his inside-the-park home run off Christy Mathewson is often overlooked because of Fred Merkle’s base-running gaffe. In the 5th inning on 23-Sep-1908, Tinker, known for his speed, circled the bases scoring the Cubs’only run, but the events that followed are what history remembers. Tinker and Craig Counsel each collected three sacrifices in a single World Series. Tinker in 1906, Craig Counsell in 2001. Tinker managed two different Chicago-based major league teams: CHI (FL) 1914-15 and CHC NL (1916).
DENISON: Secularism continues to grow in the US. According to Pew Research, 30% have no religious affiliation of any kind. Younger generations are less engaged in church than parents; many Christians are not active in a local congregation. Consider King David's admonition in Psalm 14:1: "The fool says in his heart 'There is no God.'" Our secular culture insists that personal authenticity is the path to flourishing, defining authenticity as "a feeling that people interpret as a sign that what they are doing in the moment aligns with their true self." Historian Carl Trueman calls this "expressive individualism." It enables a person to believe they are "a woman trapped in a man's body" or that an unborn child is an organism encroaching on a woman's life she is therefore free to remove. Denison notes in The Coming Tsunami, Christians who disagree are stigmatized as outdated, intolerant, oppressive, and even dangerous to society. How is this radical secularism working? A Wall Street Journal statement: "The world is entering the most dangerous period since the Soviet Union collapsed, and perhaps since the 1930s." Geopolitical dangers, the opioid epidemic and other "deaths of despair," deepening political sectarianism that threatens democracy, the escalating crime rate.
But Josh Selig, a ten-time Emmy Award-winning television producer/director writes: “I'm an atheist, but between COVID and nuclear weapons, I'm ready to give God a try. It feels like we're pretending. Pretending to live. Our jobs no longer seem important. Not much does. He then tells God: "Although I check daily, there are no answers in my newsfeed, my inbox, or phone. So, I've come to you. I think we are ready to listen." Contrary to secularism, religion is growing dramatically around the world. Secular writers agree "religious people are happier, healthier, and live longer" and "religious people are more likely to feel they belong to a community." Numerous studies show religious engagement is vital to flourishing. The health benefits of religion are clear: a comprehensive Harvard study found that people who attend religious services weekly are 16% less likely to become depressed, show a 29% reduction in smoking, and 34% reduction in heavy drinking.
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