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- Playing the Masters With Your Eyes Closed
Edition No. 74 | April 12, 2024
Hey,
Congrats to two more Masters merchandise giveaway winners, Josh M. from Houston and John M. (allegedly unrelated).
Here’s a look at what we gave away to these two gentlemen.
Congrats, Josh M!
Congrats John M!
Again, if you’re receiving this email, you’re automatically entered into our giveaways all week. We have two more boxes to give away on Saturday and Sunday.
Thank you, everyone, for reading and following along this week!
I jotted down a few Normal Sport-y thoughts, notes and takeaways from the first two days at Augusta National.
8 Friday Masters Thoughts
1. The high king of content is back on his throne. It’s not even the weekend, and already this week Bryson has …
• Sat in a press conference directly next to an Augusta National member in a green jacket, and with a completely straight face, opined about Mr. Beast and someone named Jynxzi (to the poor transcriber’s chagrin).
• Put a set of 3D-printed golf clubs in play after they got approved by the USGA on Monday (!!) because “they have just got a different curvature on the face than other equipment” and the “curvature on the face allows me to have my mishits to go a little straighter sometimes.”
Here’s a longer excerpt from Golfweek.
But DeChambeau mapped out exactly what he wanted the irons to be. Bailey’s brother created a CAD file, and they found a supplier in China, who took one look at the irons and declared, “It can’t be done,” [his coach] said. “I said, ‘Welcome to Bryson’s world.’ ”
They tried to do a CNC version initially but based on DeChambeau’s demands, it needed to be a two-piece club and the only way to produce it quickly was via 3-D printing. The irons failed to pass muster with the USGA as recently as last week. The grooves were too narrow because of the way a 3-D printer prints in layers.
Connor Olson, manager of DeChambeau’s company BAD, buffed and grinded the grooves until they were deemed conforming. The USGA signed off on Monday and DeChambeau decided to put them in play at the biggest tournament of the year.
Very normal stuff.
• Refused to divulge any additional information on who is manufacturing these clubs, saying, “I'm not going to speak much more on that but I've had this idea for a long, long time.”
• Dramatically — I’m talking “trying out for a Broadway musical” levels of dramatic — moved the grouping ahead of him out of the way during his second so he could hit.
• Said that middle aged men are coming up to him, “shouting ‘Thanks for the content. Appreciate what you do online.’” Shouting it!
Thanks for the content!
• Carried a sign post around Augusta National on his back like it was a cross.
I mean, it’s not even Saturday yet!
2. In the press building today, they called Johnson Wagner to the front desk for something. “Johnson Wagner to the front desk. Johnson Wagner to the front desk.” I looked at somebody next to me and touched my right arm with my left hand like I was Joe Torre signaling that Mike Stanton being taken out of the game so I could bring in Mariano Rivera.
3. Here’s a half-baked take I was grinding on a little bit today: I think being off of social media as an athlete in 2024 is a massive cheat code. I was thinking about this in relation to Scottie (very not online) facing Max (very online) and Bryson (if possible, even more online) this weekend.
We all know that what happens online. The things people say about us — both good and bad — get inside our brains. Even when we’re not thinking about them, they’re in there. I’m not sure this matters as much in, say, football or swimming where you are mostly just reacting in the moment.
But to have the quiet and peacefulness that comes from being very not online like Scottie is to gain an advantage in a sport like golf that seems like it’s 98 percent mental, especially during major championships.
Not sure I even believe this take, but it’s rattling around.
4. It has been a joy to watch guys have to hit golf shots this week. Like, real, big boy golf shots. High, low, soft, heavy, draws, cuts, flops, running pitches that check hard at the hole, lofted spinners that funnel back slowly.
It’s not the Tour’s fault that its venues are up against one of the great venues for shot shaping in the world, but it feels like I’ve seen more incredible shots these first two days than I have in all of 2024.
It also made me think about an answer Spieth gave me to a question earlier this week when I asked him what about this place is different in terms of how he experiences it as a player.
“I think about getting to hit the shots. Like, I think just the pure golf of it … Here specifically it's having fun hitting the shots on the course.”
Spieth, it turns out, may have had too much fun hitting shots on Thursday and Friday because he got beat by Jose Maria Olazabal and Vijay Singh. ✌️
5. Max talked self-forgetfulness on Friday. It’s a long quote so I blocked it out below, but it’s worth reading the entire thing.
I would give most of [the credit for my patience these first few days] to those thoughts just of not needing to be better than I am.
I wrote something in my journal yesterday that said however good I am is however good I am, I don't need to try to be better than I am, and just see where that takes me. Maybe it's winning this and maybe it's not, and I'm okay with that. I know what I put into this game, trying to get every ounce back doesn't really work, and I've tried that part.
So I just feel like so much of it has been just from making golf swings that feel good to me. They are not always the right one, I would say, for what maybe a commentator would look at, but picking the right ones.
I think regardless of outcome, I'd like to -- I'd like to maintain this outlook I have on how I'm playing golf. Good shot, bad shot, doesn't really matter. Did I go through my process; did I commit to my shot? And once it takes off, I might as well close my eyes. I'd like to see if I can continue to do that this weekend. I think that's something I would like to take with me going forward.
Once it takes off, I might as well close my eyes.
What a wonderful and perfect way to play major championship golf. It’s a variation of what Scottie has been preaching for years now: Acceptance. We are all creatures of control. To not care about outcomes (especially in golf) takes humility, and Max is displaying a lot of it right now in how he plays this course.
6. How insane is it that two years in a row, the field needed JT to bogey No. 18 to move the cut line to a number one beyond what it was, and JT doubled No. 18 to move the cut line but also then to miss the new cut himself.
(also technically I think Hideki’s double in the same group moved the line, but I think since they were in the same group, the concept still applies).
(also JT played the last four in +7 to miss the cut by one! What?!)
7. An amazing idea (again, probably quarter-baked) from SMartin here.
8. Here are some great tweets from the first few days.
Thanks for reading until the end.
Masters boxes No. 4-5 dropping this weekend. Watch this space.
Under strict instruction from illustrator, Jason Page, I will be leaving the following illustration up all week. We might need to change the number to 27.
