master-ful

i'm so zzzzzzzzzzzz. it's not b/c of the jet lag. it's not b/c i have sleepless nites thinking about my wedding. it's not b/c i have the most beautifulest fiancee in the world... (ok - if you even SAY the word PUKE...). it's simply the masters season! the greatest golf tournament of the year!! unfortunately, it's in augusta, georgia (america, not russia!!), so the time is waaaayyyyy off!

friday - up at 4:30am, sleep at 7:30am, wake at 8:15am
saturday - up at 4:30am - round is rained out so back to sleep
sunday - up at 5:30am - and up n about all day

then came monday... woke up at 3am. perfect timing had me sitting in front of the tv just as tiger tees off on the 1st hole of the last round of the 69th masters, in the final pairing, 3 shots ahead of chris dimarco. after watching tiger methodically birdie the first 2 holes to stretch the lead 4, i left to go pick up andyG and head up to my big bro's place for a final round bash!

so there we were, 3 golf nuts up at 3:30am watching tiger's pin point shots, and dimarco's steely resolve. it was pretty incredible stuff. i filled my pangs (i skipped dinner) with salt and vinegar chips, then did the unthinkable. i mixed that with haagen daaz cookies n cream ice cream. it's the death combo that i really would not recommend to anyone.

at the turn, we were all talking up tiger's romp to victory as they both shot 34s on the front 9, and tiger still clinging to a 3-stroke lead... at this time, brando fixes us up some sausage n eggs w/toast (i'm just about over the whole salt n vinegar-ice cream thing), and taking the pumpkin pie he just baked outta the oven... we chowin down, and by the time we clear everything up, tiger n dimarco are on the par-5 15th, tiger up 1 shot, AND DIMARCO LAYS UP!!!!! .... WHILE HE'S IN THE THICK OF CONTENTION FOR THE MASTERS!!!!!! we were ALL riled up at this point, yelling and screaming at the tv, as normal rowdy boys are when they all get together at 3am to watch a sporting event. then, after both birdie the hole, dimarco making a spirited charge, and tiger clinging to a 1 shot lead into the par-3 16th, the incredible happens...

dimarco leads off w/a very nice tee shot to about 20ft below the hole - a VERY makeable putt, similar to the one phil mickelson had drained the year before in the final round on the way to winning (incidentally also playing w/dimarco). tiger, on the other hand, pulls a nuked shot over the green and off line, to rest against the 2nd cut of grass, left w/an extremely difficult shot - and would do well just to get it into a makeable range on the green. so we like- oh man, this could be a 2 shot swing to put dimarco in the lead by 1 going to 17 & 18! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

tiger than hits the most dramatic shot that i've ever seen at the masters - with everything on the line... an incredible chip way above the hole, where he checks it up perfectly, and just watches as the ball takes a 90 degree turn back down the slope and curves to the lip of the cup. the 3 of us at this time are slowly getting up and rushing towards the tv (don't ask).. as the ball creeps toward the hole, we chant in unison: go...go...go...go...go... oh my gawd, oh my gawd, oh my gawd... then the ball STOPS just at the lip of the hole, and dangles there for a loooonnnngggg 2 seconds. we screaming at this point, and i don't need to point out that we already out of our seats and already rushing to the tv. c'mon!c'mon! COOOOMMMMEEEE OOOONNNNNN!!!!!!!. then after the 2 secs, the ball just literally dies into the cup! at this time, we like all hi-5'ing each other and screaming some stuff you don't wanna know - clean tho, as andyG is an elder at my church. dimarco is clearly stunned, misses his bird to match, and goes off w/a par, losing an improbable stroke.

then tiger proceeds to bogey 17 & 18, and dimarco incredibly pars both, sending the game to sudden death. wat's incredible is the way dimarco stayed so composed, scrambling tough to save par on 18 w/a testy 5 foot putt. tiger killed the drama on the 1st sudden death hole w/a birdie on 18, winning his 4th green jacket, and 9th overall major. wow....

needless to say, i'm a bit zzzzzzzz now, especially after sitting thru a 2 hour luncheon listening to some economist talk about the asian economy...

however, this tourney was one for the memories. that shot on 16th will stay w/me for a while... the 3 of us were all pumped, especially after tiger's 20ft putt on the 18th in sudden death, when we jumped up, yelled, hi-5'ed.. watever... good times...

it's good to be a boy...