italiansportsguys.com Blog

They call Saturday “moving day” at the Masters. You’ve got to make a move up the leaderboard to get in position to be in contention on the final day. Woods started the day at -1 and shot a 4-under 68 to get to -5. Mickelson started the day -5 and shot a 3-over 75 to finish the day -2. It’s a contrast in mental toughness - let’s take a closer look.

Woods struck the ball well early, but hit several makeable birdie putts that grazed the edge of the cup or ran out of steam. Tiger didn’t get discouraged. He kept plugging away and birdied 3 of the last 9 holes to get within striking distance.

After nearly holing a wedge on 17 and tapping in for birdie, Tiger’s tee shot on 18 found the trees, potentially stopping the momentum. He promptly stuck an 8-iron over the trees onto the bottom of the green, and after his first putt came up short, nailed one of those 5-footers to save par that are the test of champions.

Mickelson caught a tough break at one point in round 3. A beautifully played shot with spin that should have landed behind the pin and backed up to within a few feet, instead hit the pin on a fly and spun below the hole. Mickelson promptly 3-putted from within 20 feet, a 2-shot swing.

Phil missed a makeable, short birdie putt on 15. Instead of letting that shot go and moving on, he plopped his tee shot on 16 into the bunker on the short side of the green, an impossible position to scramble from, and he made double bogey.

Tiger is 6 back going into the final round, and Phil is 9 back. If the leader shoots under par on Sunday, neither will contend. But if the leader falters, Tiger is right back in contention. Both great golfers, but Tiger has the mental edge.

Back around 1992-93 while living in Baton Rouge, a co-worker mentioned that her brother was in OK on a golf scholarship but the Monroe native was transferring to LSU. Shortly thereafter she introduced me to him.

Fifteen years later LSU Tiger golfer Brian Bateman won his first PGA tournament (Buick Open 2007), qualifying him for the 2008 Masters. In his first attempt, Bateman made the cut (69, 76), and is -1 through 10 today, bringing him back to EVEN par for the tournament. A great experience and a solid performance for the first timer.

Best of luck to the LA native, as years of grinding through qualifying school is starting to pay off. David Toms, another LSU Tiger is +3 through 3 rounds.

Reports in the media and online are indicating that Trent Johnson will leave Stanford after 4 seasons to take over the LSU basketball head coaching job left open when John Brady was let go last month. More to come.

Congrats to Ms. Michelle Ginsburg for taking the ISG NCAA Tourney Challenge Pool with all 4 Final 4 teams, the final 2, and the champion correct.

Monday night Kyle and Craig will cover the NCAA basketball tournament games, the opening week in MLB, the buzz of the Hornets, and much more (Monday evening’s show available at ItalianSportsGuys.com and on iTunes Tuesday mornings).

We forgot to mention the Zurich Classic Golf Tourney on the show last night. Here’s what you need to know:

Someone you’ve never heard posted a score of (-13) and edged out someone else you’ve never heard of, and some other nobody finished third. Oh yeah, and Tiger Woods didn’t play in New Orleans again.

Let’s face it, in the PGA these days there are Tiger Woods events and tournaments nobody cares about, and the Crescent City has the latter. Unless we find a way to get the marquis players here, this ain’t nothin’ but a stroll in the park on a sunny afternoon.

The upside - The Masters is only a couple of weeks away.