Masters 2021 Albert's Pool, Hans Hosting Masters Pool - 2021 Day 1 I noticed mid afternoon that a couple of great scores were posted by players not selected by their owners. Harmon -3, Kisner -2, were the first to catch my eye. At that point Justin Rose hadnt started his birdie binge...... but wait, there's more. Yes, Rose's -7 65 is the class of the tourney so far, and Fox is crying in his beer that he was too worried about Rosie's bad back to put him in the starting lineup. Bad decision.... I did not escape the run of bad judgement. Kokrak is on the bench, smiling back at me with his 1 under 71. The course really toughened up in the afternoon. All decent scores, save Rose, were posted in the morning. I was shocked by a couple of the high scores - Cantlay with 79. Kuchar 78, McIlroy 76 and big bad Bryson with 76 (actually, that doesnt surprise me. He doesnt yet know how to play Augusta) Sobo takes Day 1 honors and Gabes is in second. I did not properly utilize Al's spreadsheet that does all the calculations - but i will get it right by tomorrow night. My boys are DFL, but fortunately only 15 shots out of 1st. The real question is how many will make the cut. The 'within 10 shots of the leader keeps you in the event' is wonderful, as long as you dont have one player shooting lights out. Rose better tone it down on Friday or most of my team will spend Saturday at home. And one tip - if you havent been on the Masters.com web site, you are missing a wonderful way to watch EVERY shot. More on this tomorrow. Hans Day 2 Attached is the pool - but I reserve the right to double check all numbers in the morning. I would welcome Al's commentary on Day 2. I saw some of the action, but time does not permit me to get into a review of the day's action. Day 2 results: Sobo 1st Jack 2nd Everyone has lost at least one golfer by Missed Cut, or in the case of Wolff, a DQ. Mags and I each lost 3 golfers - so dont look for either of these teams to compete going forward.... I will review the numbers in the morning and confirm or change them as appropriate - not to mention completing the daily results / payouts etc. Hans Day one at Augusta was all about breezy conditions and hard fast screens and the high scores that resulted. Scoring average was 74.5 Day two had hardly any wind and more moisture in the air and on the greens, which were more receptive. But they still proved to be very difficult, as there were numerous three putts and missed three footers. But what it really featured more than I recall were outstanding golfers that were supposed to threaten for the green jacket not even making the cut. None more glaring than my own Dustin Johnson who stepped on himself big time on the closing holes. He cannot even go home to be consoled by Paulina as he asked to stick around and put a green jacket on the winner in Butler cabin on Sunday. Who else missed the cut, you ask? How about Daniel Berger, Brooks K, Rory M, Matt K, Patrick Cantlay, Sergio, Kevin Kistner, Lee Westwood, Max Homa. Oh, and one more… The 30th ranked player in the world golf ranking, a dimpled ball for only the week but he fit in so well… None other than Gabe's favorite golfer, Victor Perez. Other than the golfers who won't be around the weekend, I think the biggest storyline of the day was the fall and then resurrection of Justin Rose. He was three over in his round early, and it could have been even worse. But he righted the ship, played three under on the back for par 72 round that kept him on the lead at -7. But while he held the lead, is 72 did open the door for others to make up ground. A slew of golfers shot 66 through 71, each picking up ground on the leader. Such that as many as 11 golfers are now within three strokes of the lead… A lead that was four strokes clear of the field on Thursday. Justin Rose going for his first green jacket after being denied by Sergio. The Renaissance of Jordan Spieth. Coming out party for will Z? Bryson back from the brink after his opening 76? Or maybe JT calling himself a fag after leaving a tournament winning putt on the 72nd hole inches short? Any number of delicious possibilities… Kick back and enjoy the weekend. Albert Day 3 Who, other than Al expected to see Hideki make an incredible run after play resumed today. It was impressive. His 65 was enough to vault Al's Balls into a tie for first on Day 3 with Sobo (who else??) HIghlights for me included Connor's Ace on #6. At least he is still on my year long team. On the drive to my daughters house for dinner, I heard Greg Norman on the radio say that Rose's sandshot on 11 was impossible - and then Justin hits it to 3 feet and makes the par. I gotta see the replay on that one. Sobo holds a 10 shot lead over Al, 12 over Gabes and 16 over Jack. Those 4 teams are the only ones capable of winning any of the cash in this pool. My boys are DFL. Al, is that a curse on the person running the pool? If you are not taking advantage of Masters.com, you are missing an incredible website. I see that Al has posted some comments - thanks. I'm more distracted than having issues with the spread sheet, which is attached. If there are mistakes, let me know. Enjoy Sunday at the Masters - the BEST golf watching each and every year. Hans Hans is having spreadsheet issues so I will offer up a round three recap… Albeit shorter and less entertaining than its predecessor. Blame the golfers and not me the lack of entertainment value. For the most part, they were somewhere between poor to mediocre with a couple of exceptions.… Some poor performances came from some of the biggest names in golf and pretournament favorites. Justin Thomas made a freaking snowman on number 13, follow that with a bogey on number 14. He went from -4 to -1 and assured himself of being a nonfactor on Sunday. Hans and I are particularly upset as we had JT in a one and done pool based on dollars earned, so that will cost him… And us… Plenty of dollars. And Bryson, who was on the fringes of contention after his brilliant 67 in round two, could only match JT's 75. Plenty of mediocre to be had. Justin Rose treaded water with another even par around. He played alongside Will Z who was only one stroke better. Mark Leishman shot 70. Those three are tied for second at -7. There were only three rounds for players who finished in the top 20 that were in the 60s. One was Cory Connors, and he used an ace on number six to propel him to a 68 and -6 overall. Another was Xander who started three back and shot an excellent 69 to also finish -7 with the group above. But as he was the first one in at -7, he goes out in the final group tomorrow. And Xander will play with… Get ready for the shocker, a dimpled ball…Hideki Matsuyama! He had a single birdie on the front and came to the 11 T -5 for the event. That is when the rain delay came and I guess he pounded some red bull during the 75 minute delay. He went six under from 11 through 17, and that included a three-part par on number 13. For good measure, he made a beautiful par save from behind the 18th green that gave Faldo and Nantz goosebumps. His 30 on the back gave him a 65 for the day, -11 for the tournament and four shots clear of the field. Be assured… I am NOT expecting him to win this thing. He is, after all, a dimpled ball. And dimpled balls shrivel when the moments get big. I expect that he will crash and burn like a Kamakazzee pilot. And then, after bringing shame to all of Japan, he will dramatically commit Hari Kari in the Butler cabin as Dustin Johnson is putting a green jacket on Xander. Well maybe this was an entertaining update. Enjoy the final-round Albert Day 4 A VERY interesting day of golf in Augusta. Congrats to Heideki Matsuyama and Al for his victory. Andy takes day 4 top honors, with Sobo in 2nd. Sobo cashed all 4 days and was the easy winner overall. Congrats to Sobo. The bogey on 18 by Matsuyama cost Al solo 2nd for the tournament. Instead, he and Andy tied for runner up spot. Schauffele's struggles early, then his string of 5 birdies on the back nine while Hedeki put his second shot in the 16th pond on # 15 made things interesting. Then disaster hit with the wet tee shot on 16. Triple bogie was hard to watch. Al, I welcome your additional comments. I wanted to get this out within minutes of the conclusion. Have a great week everyone. Hans I had a feeling that his loose/conservative play over the last four holes… +3… Could cost me some money. But I can't complain about tying for second and winning a major skin. Will Z was the real deal playing in his first Masters. His clutch but on 18 for par was impressive. Xander was playing great on the backside putting pressure on Hideki until the crucial mistake on number 16. You don't see balls in the water on that hole anymore… Until today. Albert Winners Sobo Gabes Jack Al Andy Day 1 22.05 9.45 Day 2 22.05 9.45 Day 3 15.75 15.75 Day 4 9.45 22.05 Final 113.40 37.80 37.80 Total 182.70 9.45 9.45 53.55 59.85