Masters Update

Hello Friends, we've had an exceptional first two days of play. The fat has been trimmed and the contenders have separated themselves from the pretenders. For the record, TCD contender picks are 8 for 9 with Poulter and Westwood tied for the lead at -8. Casey never recovered from that gross triple he picked up (which I sniped online, at the office, utilizing ninja-like skills on the alt-tab function with a gross spreadsheet as backup) on the back yesterday and perhaps the injury that forced him to withdraw from Houston last week could be more serious.

To briefly summarize Thursday and Friday: Thursday was a scoring day with the consensus amongst players that the course was set up for throwing down a low number. Veterans like Freddie Couples and Tom Watson took advantage of the opportunity coming in at -6 and -5, respectively. Westwood and Mickelson shot 67's with Tiger and Poulter at 68. Tiger was scary with how well he played in his debut - he missed at least 3 easy puts to go way lower.

Friday was more of a survival day. Pins were tucked away and greens tightened up with the drier conditions. I have to say that Ian Poulter played the best golf of the day - he seemed to be in total control. Westwood was great as were Tiger, KJ Choi, Ricky Barnes and Anthony Kim. It feels like the whole field has positioned itself for a very dramatic weekend. Leaderboard

The weekend is chalk full of storylines: Tiger, past major winners, old guys, young guys, Ryder Cup studs - it just feels like if you're at even for the tournament, you have a shot. I see Poulter and Woods playing in the final group on Sunday. They both look like they're in total control. Phil can always get loose and rattle off a bunch of birdies to put himself as the leader. Tony Kim has totally legit game but you just wonder how much that thumb is bothering him. Freddie, Ricky, Kuch, KJ, Westwood, Yang, Mahan, Yes! Big time golfers, big time forum, stunning couse, at least 20 players in the hunt, 19 of them wear socks (Freddie!): Get excited, crack a Lachey, have a safety meeting, do whatever you need to do - Just be ready for a great golf weekend. TCD will be following it all the way.