A touch of Class- As two time Masters Champion Tom Watson closed out his competitive career at Augusta National on Friday afternoon the membership of this most exclusive club was out in force to wish him well and express their gratitude 
for his contributions to their tournament. Most conspicuous of all at eighteen green, in their Augusta Green Jackets, were Billy Paine and Joe Ford, the chairman and vice- chairman of the club. A fitting, classy send off to a wonderful past champ, hall of famer and all-time great. Farewell, Tom. And well done, Augusta National.
– Welcome to the U.S.Open- Conditions during the third round seemed, for a time, to be roaring out of control, with green speeds out of sight and wind gusts playing havoc with golfers on every hole. The poster child for “ unplayable conditions” was poor Billy Horschel who saw his ball (which was well onto the green) on fifteen get kidnapped by the wind as he studied his putt. All he could do was watch his ball drown in the pond. The next thing he knew he was hitting five from the other side of the pond . Only five players scored under par for the day. This wasn’t unexpected since we all knew the wind would be up and the course would continue to dry out. But it didn’t have to be this way. The course could have been softened a bit but the doyens of Augusta golf don’t play that way. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the borderline conditions was that no one on the CBS broadcast team commented much on it, although Dottie Pepper, to her credit, did say that the conditions were “ firm but fair”. Well, maybe. But the conspiracy of silence from all the other talking heads smacks of a fear of recrimination from the host club. Nobody wants to be in the Arizona desert slurping Margarita’s with Gary McCord on Masters weekend.
– Youth will be served- 22,22,and 24. Those are the ages of three of the top four players on the leaderboard. And with two of the three players tied at fifth both 28 years of age, it’s fair to say that the millennials have taken control, at least through 54 holes. Waging a one man stand against the whipper snapper set is one old great German gent, a two time Masters winner who is the current poster child of the Champions Tour. Bernhard Langer holed six birdies today and his round of 70 was the second lowest of the day. Smylie Kaufman was all smiles as he carded an improbable 69 for low round and only round in the 60’s on Saturday. But I still think Bernhard was wearing a bigger grin at day’s end. And I bet he’ll have the last laugh tomorrow.
– Batman v. Superman- although I don’t get that Marvel Comics rivalry, it seems like an apt metaphor for the Jordan v. Rory pairing we had today. Rory, of course, is Superman with his crushing drives and high, soft iron game. But he 
didn’t play to script as he lost his driving advantage on the second hole and never regained it. Jordan scored the first blow with a second hole birdie . Then he whipped out some Kryptonite with a crazy up and down from the woods on #3, followed by another scrambler on #4 , followed by another at #6. When Rory turned a possible birdie into a three putt bogey on #7, he was done and dusted. Errant tee balls on both #10 and #11 led to three more dropped shots for World #3. If someone told you before today’s round that Rory would go without a birdie today you’d have had the nut committed. But he did. And Jordan showed the golf world that he had an unparalleled mind for the game, at least for 16 holes.
– The Door is Open- after another clutch up and down on #16, Jordan swapped roles with Rory and man handled a four shot lead into a slim margin of one. Being the top dog, day after day, beats a man down. The record books will show that Jordan Spieth has lead the Masters for seven consecutive rounds, an unprecedented feat. But if that streak doesn’t extend to eight it will be a hard pill for that sweet assassin to swallow. Jordan gave twenty players new life with his bogey, double bogey finish. Here’s hoping the Caped Crusader has one more day on top in round four.
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