Golf Central

Still in yesterday’s pants. You know how sometimes you just can’t be bothered? I mean let’s face it, a man who’s won eight European Tour Order Of Merit titles is entitled to forego a change of underwear – as long as he doesn’t have any dignitaries to meet or he’s in the company of an attractive lady.

Fell asleep watching the golf with the remote control in my hand and an empty tub of Ben & Jerry’s by my side. It must have been good. Nothing against Trevor Immelman’s elegant fade (reminds me of something…) or Brandt Snedeker’s nice hair, but when Nick Dougherty said that of all the Brits he’d love to win a Major he’d choose Justin Rose, I have to say I shed a little tear.

Good old Monty - the forgotten man of British golf. Just wait 'til I'm Ryder Cup captain...

On this day in 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest champion of the Masters when he blitzed Augusta and the field with a tournament-record 18-under-par 270. In Woods' first appearance in a major as a professional, and his performance - a 12-shot win over Tom Kite - was clearly one of the greatest in golf for the last 100 years ...

Wow! I never knew we had so much mojo ...: Do we have that much mojo? ... I have to admit I don't really know what "mojo" is.
It's a magic charm from the African-American folk tradition: OK. I just know that when I was a kid I was always listening to people like Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison singing about "mojo" and I thought it had something to do with wacky tobaccy.
Well, technically no ... but you're not far off. "Mojo" actually comes from the Congo and the word entered the English language during the days of slavery. Africans would use mojo for supernatural powers, such as bringing people good luck.: Thanks for clearing that up. So what does that have to do with Trevor Immelman?
Well, when "The Word" came down that we were supposed to cheer for Trev at the Masters, I figured Trev could use a little mojo. So you're taking credit for Immelman's ball staying out of the creek on the 15th hole then?
Somebody's got to take credit for it. Might as well be our mojo?: Our mojo?
Our mojo, baby.: OK, I'm with you.
Got to admit "something" kept that ball out of the water ...: That's for sure. Immelman was looking at a double-bogey or worse on 15. Instead he saved par and sleeps on a two-shot lead at the Masters on 11-under-par. And he's steady as they come. He's only made two bogeys all tournament. Not bad for our lad from Cape Town.
Well, imagine if we keep up the cheerleading Trevor will be OK ...: He'll do his part as well. All the guys in the press tent are talking about how Immelman doesn't have any experience at leading a major on the final day, but in my view that's over-rated.
As over-rated as Hootie and the Blowfish?: That's pretty over-rated, but yes. But this is shaping up as fascinating stuff. Behind Immelman at 9-under is the buoyant Tennessee boy, Brandt Snedeker. The middle man is 40-year-old lefty Steve Flesch at 8-under, and little Englishman Paul Casey is at 7-under.
And none of those guys have won a major ...: Nope. So you see the odds are pretty good that somebody will win their first major on Sunday and it will be a Green Jacket.
But there's the small matter of that guy at 5-under-par ...: Oh, him? Yes. Tiger Woods has four Green Jackets and he had a sizzling round of 68 Saturday, the best in the field. Some folks think six shots is not too much for Tiger to overcome with a score of 67 or thereabouts ...
That guy's got a lot of mojo as well ...: Yeah. So Trevor Immelman will need all of our mojo, seeing as how we're supposed to be blatant cheerleaders for the guy ... Gotta keep on rising. Rising, rising! ... Rising, rising! ...
Stop singing, please, and concentrate on your mojo ...: Sorry. Mojo it is ...

Augusta in 12 words: Six men select Sunday ensembles that might go with a green jacket
Rumour: People are starting to get the hang of the names of two of the lesser-known contenders for the Green Jacket. On Friday, lefty Steve Flesch was introduced to the media as "Steve Fresh" ... and Brandt Snedeker had to confess that one of his nicknames when he first came on Tour was "Snotlicker". Everyone was getting both of their names right on Saturday night in the Augusta media facility.
Player spotting: Typically the place to see the players having a cold one or two in downtown Augusta is the Soul Bar in Broad Street. But with only 45 players making the cut - and most of them focused on their job - the main attraction at the Soul Bar was a "funky good time" gig by the outstanding Atlanta band Soulphonics ... However, everyone's favourite hillbilly Boo Weekley was sporting a new look on Saturday morning. His wife said his goatee had "started looking hideous" so Boo dutifully shaved it off.
Star spotting: Goodness gracious, thank goodness somebody pointed out to me who Colbie Caillat is. She's a 22-year-old surf pop singer-songwriter goddess from Malibu, California and she's talented and hot, hot, hot. Buy her records ... now! (Thanks for the tip Jim!) ... Another muso wandering about the National is Augusta native Josh Kelley, a multi-instrumentalist who happens to be married to Grey's Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl. Unfortunately Josh did not bring the missus to his hometown major, so sorry, we're not buying your CDs this week, mate ...
Moody players: This one definitely goes to Phil Mickelson after his roller-coaster Saturday. Lefty was just three shots back until he started messing with his own mind. He fell apart on No. 8 when his beautiful wedge shot hit the flagstick and bounced away 40 feet. Mickelson three-putted from there and Lefty was a study in grimaces after that. Strange to see one of the game's best let an admittedly terrible break get to him so much ...
Heroes of the day: It's high time we mention the unbelievably good value of the $2 beers on the grounds of Augusta. Like Wimbledon, the Masters has lots of green paint, tradition and stuffy men in blazers. But thank God it doesn't set you back £10 for a poxy strawberries and cream ... Props also to Nacho Mama's for proving you can find damn good Mexican food in the Deep South (killer burritos and margaritas) ...
Villain of the day: Time to pick on the towplane that has been buzzing the course with a banner promoting the Atlanta strip club the Cheetah Lounge. We're not getting all moralistic here, but you've got to be a real heavy-hitting highroller at Augusta to want to go all the way to Atlanta for a strip club. Especially when there are at least a half-dozen of these joints in Augusta including the Marine Club in the aptly-named Broad Street. How do we know? Because we're journalists! ... 'Til tomorrow ...