EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 Television
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

The green jacket goes to ...

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Wednesday March 29, 2000 06:54 PM

Wow, do I regret all those jokes I've made through the years about the size of Hal Sutton 's butt. Junk in the trunk? The guy had fire in his eyes. His performance at The Players Championship ranks among the most heroic in recent memory. Before the tournament even began Sutton announced that it was time golf's top players stopped kowtowing to Tiger Woods, and then he backed it up. I don't want to belabor the point (especially because it is the theme of my story in the forthcoming issue of SI), but it's about time someone got in Woods's kitchen and reminded him that he can't win a golf tournament just by showing up on Thursday. Sutton's timing was especially good, with Bob Jones's little invitational coming up next week.

MAIL CALL Gary Van Silly not only commandeered your Mailbag but now he is talking trash. When responding to the question "How badly do you beat that Alan Shipnuck on the course," he wrote: "SI writer Alan Shipnuck and I have played golf together only once. He's a high handicapper with potential; my handicap waffles around 1 or 2. Frankly, I think Shipwreck is avoiding me." Are you gonna sit back and take that?!?! --John Gardner, Portland, Ore. Oh, it's on. It is definitely on. Gary is gonna have to change his name to Van Suckle by the time I'm done with him. It's true we've only played together once, in late 1998; someday historians will no doubt draw parallels between that transitional stage in my game and the well-chronicled swing changes that Tiger made around the same time. I had just overhauled my grip and swing plane and couldn't keep the ball on the planet. Hence Gary Van's overconfidence. I'm sure he and I will tee it up down in Augusta, and, given a couple of pops a side, rest assured I'll show him who's daddy. Nice appearance on the Jungle from The Players Championship. You need to get yourself on there at least once a month. --Chad Vassallo, Klamath Falls, Ore. Good advice, Chad. It sounds like I'll be doing semi-regular stints on The Jim Rome Show from now on, including a call-in from the Masters Friday morning. For those of you who missed the first segment, just pick up a copy of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. That was pretty much the level of discourse. I am 14, a Salinas, Calif., native and an aspiring sportswriter. Those three things together obviously mean that you are my role model. Who were your role models growing up? --Doug, Salinas, Calif. Gosh, Doug, all I can say is, I'm sorry. I never meant for it to turn out like this. As for your sportswriting aspirations, I beg you, be gentle when you break the news to your parents. They will no doubt be very disappointed. My role models, funny enough, were mostly SI writers. I started subscribing around age 10, during the heyday of Curry Kirpatrick, Frank Deford and Rick Telander (listed in order of preference). Shortly thereafter Rick Reilly began making the scene, along with Alexander Wolff. It's embarrassing to admit, but when I was your age I used to make diagrams and/or flow charts of my favorite SI stories, trying to figure out their structure and understand the disparate elements that made them so good. If you're serious about a career as a writer, what you need to do, more than anything else, is write. School newspapers, free weeklies, family newsletters -- whatevah. When I was 16 I started stringing for the Salinas Californian, covering high school sports. You should give them a call (say hi for me to George Watkins, my old editor). It would also behoove you to begin making connections in the industry. I would suggest volunteering in the press room during the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, or at Laguna Seca when the races come to town, or, if you're truly desperate, at the rodeo (note to non-Salinasites: snickering here is not appropriate). Drop me a line in late May, with a phone number and a last name, and I'll hook you up with a press pass for the U.S. Open and show you around. It'll be good for you to have a chaperone -- the press room is a dark, dangerous place.

Tiger is still the overwhelming favorite at the Masters, and he deserves to be. Augusta National is a par-68 for him, and he did two things exceptionally well last week at the Stadium Course that could key his performance at the Masters: hit his spots with the driver, and make a lot of putts on devilishly fast, diabolically sloped greens. The Masters is Tiger's to lose for the next 20 years, but there are a host of players who could steal the tournament this year, should Woods slip on the metaphorical banana peel. Sutton, alas, is not one of these contenders. His record at Augusta is so bad it's funny -- he hasn't made a cut there since 1986, and his best finish is 27th, way back in '82.

Among those who put in strong showings at the Players, two guys are the most intriguing -- Tom Lehman and Colin Montgomerie, who tied for third place. Lehman, you will recall, finished tied for third and second in his first two Masters, in '93 and '94, respectively. He is finally rounding into the form that made him a dominant force in the mid-'90s. I talked to Lehman in the deserted locker room Saturday night at the Players, and he was fiery and agitated, having double-bogied the 18th hole to fall four back of Sutton (he would go on to tie for third). He's got his old passion back, and expect him to make a run at the green jacket. Monty, well, what would we do without him? He touched off his usual firestorm by announcing the day before the Players that everyone was playing for second place with Woods around, and he didn't back down in the face of relentless prodding.

Montgomerie has begun to unlock the secrets of Augusta National, finishing 11th and eighth the past two years. He's like Lehman -- you know both will hit the ball great; where they finish will be determined by their work with the flatstick. (Regarding the import of putting, Johnny Miller used to refer to the Masters as the "Annual Spring Putting Contest," and I recently read a mind-blowing statistic: in 1969 Tom Weiskopf hit 67 of 72 greens and still lost the tournament, [no] thanks to 11 three-jacks).

There are plenty of other players to keep an eye on. Lee Westwood, the young, plucky Englishman, was tied for the lead at the turn on Sunday, before finishing sixth. He's got the length and the touch to be a consistent contender. Here's a stat: Fred Couples has the lowest career stroke average in Masters history (71.59). But didn't he retire years ago? Jose Maria Olazabal is my favorite player in golf, and at 71.61 he's only a few ticks behind Couples in lifetime proficiency. Sure, he's playing horribly right now, but that's the case every year leading up to Augusta. Mark it down -- Olley will make a spirited title defense. I like Lee Janzen and Jim Furyk as well, though they may in fact be the same player -- short, straight, good wedge and insane putter. I wouldn't be surprised if Paul Azinger is a factor, what with his creativity around the greens and a reborn putting stroke, thanks to that funky mid-length blade. Darkhorses would include: Carlos Franco, who kills it off the tee and finished sixth in his Masters debut last year; big bopper Scott McCarron, a normally shaky putter who inexplicably comes alive on Augusta's greens; and Bob Estes, a steady Texan who seems to get better every week.

O.K., enough of a preamble. Who's going to win the Masters? David Duval, and you heard it here first. Yes, I know this week's BellSouth Classic is the one-year anniversary of his last victory. That, in fact, is exactly the point. Last year Duval peaked too soon; he had exhausted most of his mojo by the time he arrived in Augusta. He finished sixth on grit, and little else. (In '98 he broke through with a tie for second.) There is the perception out there that Duval is dogging it this year, but in fact he already has four top-five finishes, and heading into The Players Championship he led the Tour in Guns 'N Rose (greens in regulation) and was second in total driving. He's been hitting it great but spending too many strokes on the greens. Midway through the TPC Duval pulled an old putter out of his garage and he played -- and putted -- terrific on the weekend. It's not like Duval has forgotten how to win. We have forgotten about him, is all.

That's about to change, in a big way.

Sports Illustrated golf writer Alan Shipnuck will take you On Tour each Wednesday at golfplus.cnnsi.com. Click here to send Alan a question or a nice, friendly comment.

 

Related information
Stories
The Hot List: March 27 On Tour with Alan Shipnuck Archive
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

 

Related information
Stories
The Hot List: March 27 On Tour with Alan Shipnuck Archive
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Copyright © 2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.