Have you ever had a good round going and then struggle to get it into the clubhouse? Viktor Hovland came to his final hole on Friday only 2 shots behind the leaders, but then broke the cardinal rule of golf by following one mistake with another and another, en route to a quadruple bogey finish.

Here he is trying to escape the brush behind the green, after blading his approach from the fairway bunker.

Thru 17 holes, Viktor Hovland was -7 and two shots back of the lead.

On 18, he would quadruple bogey to finish six shots behind the leader.

Golf is hard. pic.twitter.com/D3GsUrC5w3

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 26, 2021

Here is his shot track. A little bit of a back and forth going on there.

A really nice one-putt from Viktor Hovland to end the day. pic.twitter.com/u0Tq9fhNb4

— Brandon Gdula (@gdula13) February 26, 2021

Here is his card.  One of these things is not like the others.

Viktor Hovland smiling after taking a quadruple-bogey 8 on his final hole. I strive for this level of positivity. pic.twitter.com/iVmf54GZdX

— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) February 26, 2021

To his credit, Viktor handled with his disastrous finish quite well.

https://twitter.com/HovlandTracker/status/1365567729760038915

In the third iteration of “The Match” was played on Black Friday. There were a few good lines, the most memorable by Peyton Manning trashtalking Charles Barkley, on the range, and then later in the match when Barkley was trying to burn Manning, but Manning turned it around with a great line about Charles’ swing-thought.

Another great line was by Charles when he told the TNT group to cue up some Law & Order reruns because the match was going to be over early.

In case you don’t know, **SPOILER** Mickelson/Barkley beat Manning/Curry like a drum, winning easily.

Enjoy the highlights (see above), courtesy of House of Highlights on YouTube.  The biggest highlight is that more than $5 million was raised for various causes.

The e-mail came back in September, but since it is Masters week, I guess I ought to post the bad new.  Here is the e-mail:

2021 Masters Tickets Selection We have completed the selection process for 2021 Practice Rounds and Daily Tournament tickets and regret your application was not selected for tickets. Be sure to visit masters.com in June 2021 for details regarding the ticket application process for the 2022 Masters. Thank you for your continued interest in the Masters. Sincerely, Credentials Committee Masters Tournament

Watch this video captured and posted to Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHky6Y1pCX2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

It appears that the practice area collects the balls in the underground bucket???

According to Golf.com, that is pretty much what happens:

One Instagram user, however, who says he lives in Augusta, Ga., commented on the Instagram post and said: “The practice greens have pipes that run to each of them. They will push the balls in the cup and back in the tent someone will press a button and the balls return to the tent.” Seems like a likely explanation.

It is a Masters practice round tradition for the golfers to try to skip a shot across the pond and onto the green on the 16th. Jon Rahm’s attempt didn’t just get on the green, but ended up as a hole-in-one.  It also happened to be his birthday.  What a great birthday present.

Two hole-in-one’s in two days – Happy Birthday to me! https://t.co/66dxOr47T7

— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmOfficial) November 10, 2020

Today is the day when you can apply to win tickets to the 2021 Masters Tournament.

You can apply at http://www.masters.com/en_US/index.html

Good luck to all.

In these times of Covid-19 and social distancing, people are looking for distractions.  The NBA, MLB, and MLS are all playing virtual seasons or tournaments with their stars, and now it’s time for golf to play its part.

Mastercard and the World Golf Tour (WGT) put on their first virtual match tonight featuring major winners Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell in a nine hole contest over the front nine of Pebble Beach, broadcast live on YouTube.

It was a highly entertaining match, with excellent banter between the two pros.  Both players had obviously spent a fair amount of time on their avatar apparel and gear, and McDowell was obviously the more experienced player.  It sounded as though both had discovered the game in the last few weeks when the world shut down.

Both players commented on how realistic the graphics and course play were, and how the views were true to life.  What wasn’t true to life was that they played in “Practice” mode, allowing them to preview their putts.

Here is GMacca59

Here is JustinRose0730

If you are looking to get in your golf fix, try WGT. Who knows, you might get paired up with a major winner.