Fore please: Azaleas, dogwoods and foliage, the 2020 Masters thread

OK, low score record at Augusta is -20 and done in the fall should never be mentioned.

 

Not saying it shouldn't be mentioned, but sometimes benign weather conditions help, no matter the time or place. DJ was -16 with 21 holes to play and played the rest of the tournament at -4. The greens firmed up and the wind whipped up. Sunday was completely different than Friday, when a lot of people made their moves.

 

Mentioning in the fall, without fans, is an asterisk.

His -20 is two shots better than Woods' -18. That's what I'm hearing.

 

People are confusing the objective, lowest score, with the subjective, biggest win.

 

My issue with trying to compare any of the performances in postponed events is that the winners still got the same prize as they would have, had the events been run on the correct dates.

Just because Dustin Johnson won at Augusta in the fall doesn't make his accomplishment any less worthy of a green jacket. Same with Takuma Sato at Indy, or Authentic at the Kentucky Derby. There was a winner once the event was held, just like every year.

Whether you want to argue the conditions were different -- and of course, they were because of multiple reasons, the least of which was nobody to watch them live (plus Augusta National in November was much tamer than in April, the 500 in August was way hotter than in May) -- is determined by how much you want to concern yourself with comparing roses and azaleas.

Just like Zach Johnson's 289 in 2007, Dustin Johnson played the course better than everyone else over the four days. He gets to be called "Masters champion" for the rest of his life. Debating scores over eras, with changing course lengths and equipment and conditions, is really a fruitless endeavor for the trivia-obsessed. (Like me.)

Maybe there should be a OPS+ for the Masters!

 

Biggest win is objective, too. All it means is margin of victory, which is a number not subject to dispute. That to me is why Woods' US Open at Pebble in 2000 stands alone. It was the largest margin of victory in any major as well as the lowest score relative to par in the Open.

 

This.

Johnson won at Augusta against a field with the best golfers who all played in similar conditions. Golf is you against the elements as much as against the course. You find a way to make shots given the conditions, you win. You struggle to make shots given the conditions, you hope everyone else does too.

I said this on the World Series thread, the only asterisk I give is to denote the weirdness of the year. This was a Masters played in November not at the end of Spring for historical record keeping. DJ beat the field he was against on the same course they always play with variable weather conditions.

 

You guys realize I'm not questioning the win; I'm questioning if he deserves the all-time low 72 record.

 

It just lacked that run which a contender usually goes on from 13-16 to make it close or even take the lead. No one made the eagle to get within 1 and as a result DJ didn’t have to take any risks on 13 or 15 and could lay up on both with less than ideal drives.

 

I'm not gonna trash the whole effort, and it was a great week, but when I saw "asterisk scores," I thought more of a reference to the fact that the course got soaked Thursday morning and never really appeared to totally dry out than the fact it was November. So maybe an "asterisk score" like what Rory did to Congressional a couple years back.

 

Does it end this argument if I point out the U.S, Open, British Open and PGA Championships all recognize a 72-hole scoring record -- and they're played on different courses each year?