Master Pairings Announced / Dustin Johnson Withdraws

Round 1 and 2 tee times and pairing have been announced.  Find the complete listing here:
http://www.masters.com/en_US/players/pairings/index.html

The number 12 ranked player in the world, Dustin Johnson, has withdrawn from this week's event due to a tweaked back.  Rumor has it that he was dancing way too hard this past weekend.

And Here We Go

The week of my favorite sporting event of the year has finally arrived.  The final field for the prestigious Masters tournament has been announced which means we can begin submitting our first set of golfers for our Majors Pool.

Please begin submitting your picks for the Masters by clicking on the 'Submit Golfers' link.

Picks are due by Wednesday night by 9:00 PM.

Here are the top 20 odds for winning the Masters this week according to BetOnline.com (Example: risk $100 on Tiger to win $400):

Tiger Woods    +400 
Rory McIlroy    +500 
Phil Mickelson    +800 
Lee Westwood    +1600 
Luke Donald    +1400 
Adam Scott    +3000 
Jason Day    +4000 
Sergio Garcia    +3500 
Martin Kaymer    +4000 
Dustin Johnson    +2500 
Nick Watney    +3500 
Webb Simpson    +3500 
Charl Schwartzel    +2500 
Hunter Mahan    +2800 
Matt Kuchar    +3500 
Rickie Fowler    +5000 
Justin Rose    +3000 
Steve Stricker    +4000 
Bubba Watson    +4000
K.J. Choi    +5000

All picks will be posted once everyone has submitted.  Good luck to everyone this week.

2012 Masters Invitees

Our first major begins next week and it can't come a day sooner. The final Masters field will be finalized this Sunday, April 1st at the conclusion of the Shell Houston Open.  For now, here is the list of invitees already qualified to tee it up at Augusta this year so you can start pondering your first set of golfers:

Aaron Baddeley Sang-moon Bae Thomas Bjorn Keegan Bradley Jonathan Byrd Angel Cabrera a-Patrick Cantlay Paul Casey Kevin Chappell K.J. Choi Stewart Cink Tim Clark Darren Clarke Fred Couples Ben Crane Ben Crenshaw Jason Day Luke Donald Jason Dufner Simon Dyson Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano Ross Fisher Rickie Fowler Harrison Frazar Jim Furyk Sergio Garcia Robert Garrigus Lucas Glover Bill Haas Anders Hansen Peter Hanson Padraig Harrington

Charles Howell III Trevor Immelman Ryo Ishikawa Fredrik Jacobson Miguel Angel Jimenez Dustin Johnson Zach Johnson Robert Karlsson Martin Kaymer Kyung-Tae Kim a-Kelly Kraft Matt Kuchar Martin Laird Bernhard Langer Paul Lawrie a-Randal Lewis Sandy Lyle a-Bryden Macpherson Hunter Mahan a-Hideki Matsuyama Graeme McDowell Rory McIlroy Phil Mickelson a-Corbin Mills Larry Mize Edoardo Molinari Francesco Molinari Kevin Na Sean O'Hair Mark O'Meara Geoff Ogilvy Jose Maria Olazabal Louis Oosthuizen

Ryan Palmer Ian Poulter Alvaro Quiros Chez Reavie Justin Rose Rory Sabbatini Charl Schwartzel Adam Scott John Senden Webb Simpson Vijay Singh Brandt Snedeker Craig Stadler Scott Stallings Kyle Stanley Brendan Steele Henrik Stenson Steve Stricker David Toms Bo Van Pelt Scott Verplank Johnson Wagner Nick Watney Bubba Watson Tom Watson Mike Weir Lee Westwood Mark Wilson Gary Woodland Tiger Woods Ian Woosnam Y.E. Yang

2012 Majors Pool Registration

Yet another PGA season is upon us so it's time to begin registration for the 2012 Majors Pool. 

The Masters is our first event of the year and round 1 will be played on Thursday, April 6th.  Please use the 'Register for 2012' link to the left to sign up for this year's contest.

The rules are the same as last year (please refer to the 'Rules' link) and entry fee for 2012 will be $50 for the entire season.

Deadline for registration and payment is Wednesday, April 5th.  Payment info can be found under the 'Payment' link.

Feel free to tell your friends.

I look forward to the 2012 season.

PGA Results - 2011 Results

With a star-studded field heading into this week, no one would have predicted the top of the final leaderboard.  I'm sure that wasn't the ideal scenario the suits at CBS hoped for but it turned out to be pretty compelling in the end.  It looked like mini Ray Floyd was going to have a walk in the park after Bradley tripled 16 but when Dufner's tee shot on 15 found the water, the unravelling began.  For the second straight year, the PGA Championship was decided in a playoff and Keegan Bradley prevailed to become the 2011 PGA champion.  You think Dufner is going to have trouble sleeping tonight?  It just goes to show that there will always be those "no-names" sprinkled in the top 10 of any major (take note for next year).

Duke Le was the only player that had Bradley.  This was the only player of his that made the cut but it was enough to give him the win for the weekend by pocketing $1,445,000.  Congrats Duke!

And now the moment we've all been waiting for.  Surpisingly, no one made a charge at the top 7 so everyone heading into this event in the money, stayed in the money.
Final Rankings:
1st place: Hill Shands - $1,217
2nd place: Christina Cung - $845
3rd place: Randal Oudt - $507
4th place: Marshall Cowden - $304
5th place: Gavin Wallace - $237
6th place: Bradley McBride - $169
7th place: Blake Bergstrom - $101

Congrats to the winners.  Please send me your PayPal or mailing address so I can get you your money.
The award for dead last place in the pool goes to David Ahmad.  No need to worry about your entry fee into next year's pool as it is on the house for your achievement.

Please double-check your earnings to make sure they are accurate:
PGA Earnings

Again, thanks to everyone for playing this year.  I had a good time running it and I hope you had fun playing.  We'll do it again next year.

Steve

PGA Championship - Players Posted

It's do or die week for some participants trying to work their way into to the top 7 to cash.

This week's overwhelming favorite is Rickie Fowler, who almost had twice as many picks (42) as the second most popular player Jason Day (24).  Surprisingly, Tiger is the third most popular pick coming off of a dissappointing debut in more ways than one.  The graph of the player breakdown can be found at the bottom of the PGA Championship link.  As always, please check your players to ensure they are accurate.

Once again, the top 7 will pay out as follows:
1st Place - $1,217
2nd Place - $845
3rd Place - $507
4th Place - $304
5th Place - $237
6th Place - $169
7th Place - $101

Also remember that the person that finishes dead last place that submitted for all 5 events will be exempt from next year's contest.  Since Matt Johnson did not submit for this tournament, David Ahmad has a stronghold on this dubious honor.  Good luck Dave.

As always, the scoring leaderboard will updated throughout the tournament so check the back to see where you stand.

Good luck.

Tiger at the PGA

My most recent email regardning the PGA Championship stated that Tiger would still be eligible for those that chose him for the Players.  That was a typo.  The rules clearly state that if a golfer begins his round, they are automatically ineligible.  The 9 players that had him for the Players have been notified that he will not be eligible for use for the last major.  Apologies for the confusion.