The Masters

[Midpack]

Ah the Masters...the lease competitive major yet its the most coveted.

I'd love to hear more about that claim, it's the least competitive why?

 

[Big_Hitter]

I'd love to hear more about that claim, it's the least competitive why?

+1

 

[ponyboy]

I'd love to hear more about that claim, it's the least competitive why?

Because the masters has a lifetime exemption...meaning if you win the masters...you can play the masters until you die. If you're 90 and can still walk and swing a club...you can play. What that means is it takes away a slot from a healthy 25 year old pro who can actually be competitive. Say whatever you want but if Jack tee'd it up at the masters he'd be lucky to break 100...yet he's still allowed to play if he wants.

All the other majors have deeper fields in terms of talent. No one ever thinks about this because they're too busy oohing and ahhing on how pretty the course looks.

 

[frayne]

I love the Masters because it is the same track, year after year and only the conditions change. Personally if I had the choice to win only one major, it would be the Masters.

Not to mention that it is always the first major and kind of kicks off golf season in the US.

 

[SecondCor521]

Because the masters has a lifetime exemption...meaning if you win the masters...you can play the masters until you die. If you're 90 and can still walk and swing a club...you can play. What that means is it takes away a slot from a healthy 25 year old pro who can actually be competitive. Say whatever you want but if Jack tee'd it up at the masters he'd be lucky to break 100...yet he's still allowed to play if he wants.

All the other majors have deeper fields in terms of talent. No one ever thinks about this because they're too busy oohing and ahhing on how pretty the course looks.

Emphasis mine.

Yes and no. There are a number of ways to qualify into the Masters, and whoever meets those qualifications and decides to play gets to play; the size of the field is not limited to a specific number of players. So, for example, whether Jordan Spieth or Tiger Woods decides to show up and play on their lifetime exemptions has no bearing on whether the winner of the Shell Houston Open gets to play also.

That being said, Augusta National probably reserves the right to change the qualifications from year to year, and I read an article saying that they like to keep the field size around 100 or less, so if, over time, all the past Masters winners decided to show up and play, they could indirectly affect Augusta National's decision about the qualifications and thus deprive someone of a slot.

I do agree with you that the course is really pretty.

 

[Music Lover]

I believe that only the top 50 world rankings are guaranteed a spot in the field, along with past Masters winners (including those too old to be competitive), and also those who get a 5 year (I think??) exemption for winning a previous major, plus those who have won on the PGA tour in the last year. It is one of the weakest PGA events as most events allow in at least the top 125, and most majors will attract at least 95 of the top 100 in the field.

 

[John Galt III]

I was surprised by the paucity of commercials! Anyone else notice?

 

[Midpack]

Ah the Masters...the lease competitive major yet its the most coveted. Gotta love seeing 50+ year olds playing who have zero chance of winning, lol. Glad to see Sergio pull through...finally got that monkey off his back.

Because the masters has a lifetime exemption...meaning if you win the masters...you can play the masters until you die. If you're 90 and can still walk and swing a club...you can play. What that means is it takes away a slot from a healthy 25 year old pro who can actually be competitive. Say whatever you want but if Jack tee'd it up at the masters he'd be lucky to break 100...yet he's still allowed to play if he wants.

All the other majors have deeper fields in terms of talent. No one ever thinks about this because they're too busy oohing and ahhing on how pretty the course looks.

I believe that only the top 50 world rankings are guaranteed a spot in the field, along with past Masters winners (including those too old to be competitive), and also those who get a 5 year (I think??) exemption for winning a previous major, plus those who have won on the PGA tour in the last year. It is one of the weakest PGA events as most events allow in at least the top 125, and most majors will attract at least 95 of the top 100 in the field.

I'm not sure how having the 51st thru 125th ranked players makes other events more competitive, but OK. Occasionally yes, but more often not. If you could show us how often that group wins other majors, or any other events where the top 50 are playing for that matter, it might add credibility to your POV.

As for the legacy players, if they're no longer competitive they get to fly home Fri night like many other tournaments.

http://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/the-average-world-ranking-of-us-open-winners/

 

[Big_Hitter]

I was surprised by the paucity of commercials! Anyone else notice?

not really but they didn't have that many

 

[ponyboy]

I'm not sure how having the 51st thru 125th ranked players makes other events more competitive, but OK.

Uhh...because they're better golfers at the moment. Pretty cut and dry.

Tiger woods can play in the masters if he wants. Hes currently ranked 780 in the world. There would be a better chance of world ranked 125 winning than tiger woods who is ranked at 780. Tiger can barely walk let along swing a club. Make sense?

 

[Music Lover]

I'm not sure how having the 51st thru 125th ranked players makes other events more competitive, but OK. If you could show us how many times that group wins other majors, or any other events where the top 50 are playing for that matter, it might make something of your POV. As for the legacy players, if they're no longer comoetitivd they get to fly home Fri night like many other tournaments.

The average world ranking of US Open winners - CBSSports.com

The talent on the PGA field is deep and those ranked 50 - 100 can win in any given week. A couple of lucky shots combined with a hot putter and #98 can be competitive that week. Take him out of the field and there are less people to beat...the best players only have to beat 10 people with a hot putter instead of 20.

 

[ponyboy]

I believe that only the top 50 world rankings are guaranteed a spot in the field, along with past Masters winners (including those too old to be competitive), and also those who get a 5 year (I think??) exemption for winning a previous major, plus those who have won on the PGA tour in the last year. It is one of the weakest PGA events as most events allow in at least the top 125, and most majors will attract at least 95 of the top 100 in the field.

Dont bother trying to explain. I have a feeling there are some on here who have an opinion and never golfed before. Or you have your run of the mill hackers who cant break 100 yet seem to know everything about golf.

 

[Music Lover]

I was surprised by the paucity of commercials! Anyone else notice?

The Masters committee only allows I think 4 minutes of commercials per hour. They make far less money than they could, but they do it by choice. The Masters is private and not an actual PGA event...in fact, there is a corresponding PGA event going on at the same time.

 

[Midpack]

I'm not sure how having the 51st thru 125th ranked players makes other events more competitive, but OK. Occasionally yes, but more often not. If you could show us how often that group wins other majors, or any other events where the top 50 are playing for that matter, it might add credibility to your POV.

Uhh...because they're better golfers at the moment. Pretty cut and dry.

Obviously not better than the top 50 "at the moment" where the winner will come from more often than not. Who else is there outside the top 50 won't make any difference more often than not, they're mostly going home Fri night anyway.

I started playing and following golf in the mid-60's. The only two rounds over 100 I've shot since I was a teenager were on Cog Hill and Muirfield both playing from the tips, but that doesn't mean anything - not sure why you went there.

I have a feeling there are some on here who have an opinion and never golfed before. Or you have your run of the mill hackers who cant break 100 yet seem to know everything about golf.

Show us some evidence that winners often come from 51st thru 125th in tournaments where the top 50 are playing, and we'll gladly concede your point.

 

[Midpack]

The talent on the PGA field is deep and those ranked 50 - 100 can win in any given week. A couple of lucky shots combined with a hot putter and #98 can be competitive that week. Take him out of the field and there are less people to beat...the best players only have to beat 10 people with a hot putter instead of 20.

Of course, but please show us how often than happens when the top 50 are also playing so we can gauge how much difference it makes.

 

[ponyboy]

By that logic you're saying there should only be 50 people in the field...makes sense. My FIL is a pga pro...not competitive professional but a certified pro. Maybe next year he should be allowed to play in the masters since it makes no difference by your logic.

 

[Midpack]

By that logic you're saying there should only be 50 people in the field...makes sense. My FIL is a pga pro...not competitive professional but a certified pro. Maybe next year he should be allowed to play in the masters since it makes no difference by your logic.

I never said anything about inviting 50, that's from the Masters protocol according to you guys/gals.

Again, any data whatsoever to support your hypothesis? Sure winners have occasionally come from 51st thru 125th in some other big tournaments, but more often than not they're not a factor by definition - or they'd be ranked higher.

And while we're , the British Open invites all former winners under 60 and the PGA extends a lifetime invitation to former winners just like The Masters.

Ah thge Masters...the lease competitive major yet its the most coveted. Gotta love seeing 50+ year olds playing who have zero chance of winning, lol.

 

[zinger1457]

Although the official policy is that past winners of the Masters get a lifetime exemption to play I believe the unofficial policy is that unless you still play competitive golf (PGA or Champions tour) the Masters committee doesn't want you playing. They were going to change the lifetime exemption rule about 10 years ago but apparently agreed not to as long as past winners didn't take advantage of it.

 

[pb4uski]

I was surprised by the paucity of commercials! Anyone else notice?

As one who watches behind time and fast forwards through commercials, yes... I noticed. I think there were as many commercial breaks but each commercial break was about 1/2 of what it would be for a normal golf tournament.

 

[ivinsfan]

The Masters has a lot of control over CBS and the broadcast. In fact announcers have been sent packing because of critical or off color comments. In one famous instance an announcer Gary McCord was invited not to return because he joked that the greens looked like they had been coated with bikini wax to make them slick.

 

[frayne]

The Masters has a lot of control over CBS and the broadcast. In fact announcers have been sent packing because of critical or off color comments. In one famous instance an announcer Gary McCord was invited not to return because he joked that the greens looked like they had been coated with bikini wax to make them slick.

Not to mention Jack Whitacre saying the crowd running up the 18th looked like a mob. Pretty stuffy characters there at Augusta National but it is their tournament.

 

[zinger1457]

Pretty stuffy characters there at Augusta National but it is their tournament.

A good read is 'The Masters: Golf Money and Power in Augusta Georgia' by Curt Sampson. It's maybe the only book that gets into the inner working of Augusta National. You'll never hear members discuss anything about the inner workings of the club, they'll lose their membership in a heart beat. Even the reporters who work the tournament are under threat of losing their credentials if they report anything negative about the club.

Cliff Roberts, one of the co-founders along with Bobby Jones was a real piece of work. One of his infamous quotes: "As long as I'm alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black."