There is a post that is talking about how boring the Masters was this year. I would argue that professional golf in general is getting more boring, year in and year out. The days of back nine rallies are pretty much gone. Assuming the leader has a 3 stroke lead going into the back nine, all he has to do is par out. There is literally no chance for anyone to make up even 3 strokes.

So my question for the PGA is, why don't they want players to go low? What's the big deal? Par is the same for all the players so the scores only serve to measure performance between them so why go to the bother of making it even more difficult?

I would rather see and exciting final round ending with the winner at -25 than a boring final round with the winner at -8.

After yesterdays masters I may just flip off the t.v. and head out to the course instead. At least I won't have to worry about the course being crowded...or maybe everyone agrees with me and I won't be the only one out there (which in that case I gladly play the 5 hour round because heck, it's sunday.)

Generally if the course is setup easier so people can go low it is believed that the best player may not win as the cost of mistakes and the value of good shots goes down the easier the course setup gets. This levels the field taking away some of the advantage talent and ability provide.

but mistakes will hurt a player on any course on the PGA due to the enormous amount of talent no? i guess that is were i'm a little confused. good shots will still be rewarded, but you will have to make even more good shots to stay in the game. i don't see what's wrong with that. especially since i have no idea how much money Augusta and other course like that have spent modifying layouts. to me it doesn't seem like the payoff is there.

I think they do it to keep guys like Brandt Snedecker and Trevor Immelmann from wining. LOL It didn't work!!! LOL

I think the masters was boring only because Immelman was sooo far ahead of everyone at one point he was 6 strokes ahead of the pack. So he played boring golf, (LIKE HE SHOULD HAVE) to win.

I'm with you. I'd rather see theses guys forced to show their stuff.
Yes, I understand how difficult some of these courses are...but...I'm more a fan of
not allowing these best in the world golfers...to play safe, so to speak.

Level the field? Maybe. Force the best of the best to hit those great shots to win.
Play safe, and go for par...you get lapped. The best will always rise to the top...
over the course of the season.

PGA tour players are ridiculously better than the vast majority of us mere mortal golfers....
So what is so wrong with allowing them to show it...in a way even the casual fan can understand.
It *is* hard for many fans to appreciate how difficult a course is when all they see is what's on TV.
That makes it difficult to appreciate the talent it takes to win at +3. I can shoot +3.
But only on this computer can I go -20. These guys are that good. Make 'em take the risks.
Make 'em go low. When everyone is going low...nobody can sit on that 3 shot lead.
(and that's not intended to make light - in any way - of T.I.'s victory)

You know, make them play like a lot of golfers...go for the big drive, fire at every pin.
They've got the talent to probably pull it off.

Rich

I agree, the best golf tournaments ever were on the back nine at Augusta when you would see a 31 win the tourney. With how difficult they have made the course I really don't see that happening anytime soon unless the weather is perfect. To me it's just another grind it out for par tourney like the US Open/PGA, not very entertaining seeing these guys put up 72's to 77's. We just can't understand the difficulty on TV. Makes the viewing not AS enjoyable. Even a little boring as others have said.

Just in case you guys didn't notice, there was swirling wind out there on Sunday and Tiger was making incredible shots but couldn't putt. I mean the Masters is all about putting and he couldn't do it. They didn't make it too difficult Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 68. If you guys are complaining about -8, don't bother tuning it for the U.S. OPEN.

My problem is mainly with the greens that when well placed shots with decent trajectory hit the greens and roll off into trouble or into hazards. I'm not talking flyers from the rough or players that put excessive spin on the ball. Perhaps others disagree, but it seems more luck than skill at that point. I'm ok with making the rest of the course as penal as can be. I like undulations because it's more of a true test of putting. Excellent Ball strikers can put the ball below the hole, to their advantage.

The course is set up to be difficult but they cannot totally predict what mother nature is going to do. wind, no wind, steady wind, swirly wind, rain, no rain, etc. You play the course as you find it each day and hope that your "luck" for that day is better than the other guys