ESPN predictions: Who will win the Masters?

Editor’s note: Ernie Els has been writing a blog in 2017 and this is his most recent installment. For more information on the World Golf Hall of Famer, visit www.ernieels.com. Before we get on and discuss this week’s tournament on the PGA TOUR, there are a few other items of news that deserve a mention. First of all, big congrats to Jason Dufner at The Memorial. It’s good to see him back in the winner’s circle. Needless to say, it was disappointing to not be able to play at Muirfield Village in what is one of my favourite tournaments of the year, but Liezl and I were attending the school graduation ceremony for our daughter Samantha. Those type of occasions happen only once in a lifetime and no parent wants to miss that. It was a special day. We then all enjoyed a nice weekend at home together. On Monday morning we had a captains’ visit to Liberty National Golf Club, which as you’ll know is the venue for this year’s Presidents Cup. There was some serious business to discuss – specifically, how we go about winning back the trophy after way too long now! But it was also a fun day and great to spend some time with the guys. Of course, Nick and me go way back and it’s an honor that he named me as one of his captains’ assistants. It’s a role that I’m keen to embrace 100 percent. I do think it’s going to be an unreal Presidents Cup. I mean, to be at Liberty National with those wonderful views of the financial district and the rest of Manhattan, it’s such a unique venue, and the energy that comes out of that place is just crazy. I think it’s going to be a terrific week. So, let’s return to the ‘day job’ and this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis. You’d be right in saying this is the final tune-up for the U.S. Open, but this is also undoubtedly a fine tournament in its own right. I’m looking forward to teeing it up here and trying to build further on some of my recent good play at the AT&T Byron Nelson and the BMW PGA Championship over in the UK. Let’s see how we go. It will actually be only my third appearance in the FedEx St. Jude Classic, having made my debut back in 1995 when it was played the week after the U.S. Open, not the week before as it is now. I played here last year also. It’s an historic tournament going back over half a century and it has a great sponsor that is obviously hugely committed to golf here in the U.S. As with every tournament these days on the PGA TOUR, there’s a strong charitable ethos. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital helps find cures for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases and over the years this tournament has helped raise more than $33 million for the cause. You have to applaud that. Follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.

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IRVING, Texas – It was not the kind of send-off Jordan Spieth had in mind for his last PGA TOUR appearance at TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas. For the first time in his seven starts in his hometown event, Spieth missed the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Friday’s second round 75 – which included a quadruple-bogey 9 at the 16th hole when he took two penalty strokes – left him at 3 over, one stroke off the cut line. “It didn’t need to happen,â€� Spieth said. “… Pretty disappointed at this point in time.â€� Starting next year, the tournament will move to Trinity Forest, a new links-style course south of downtown Dallas. Spieth is a member at the course and looking forward to the reboot. While TPC Four Seasons is a course Spieth never solved, he still has a fondness for it. His foundation hosts an annual event here. He attended the tournament during his childhood. And in 2010, he burst onto the scene at age 16, making his first TOUR start here and finishing tied for 16th. Earlier this week, he called TPC Four Seasons a “very special placeâ€� and said this year’s last call was “bittersweet.â€� That’s why he was pressing in hopes of making a big move Friday after his opening 68. His aggressiveness backfired on him, as he made five bogeys in his first 12 holes. “Just ridiculous out here,â€� he said. “… So, so many over-par holes and not necessary. Trying to do too much. Trying to move up the leaderboard instead of just letting it come to me on this course.â€� Even so, he balanced that with four birdies and was still safely inside the cut line with three holes to play. That’s when he reached the par-5 16th. Hoping to reach the green in two, he pressed on the accelerator. His first tee shot sailed right. He then hit a provisional tee shot. He ended up losing both shots into the residential area. “I’ve hit in those houses before, I think, a couple of times,â€� Spieth said. “… The wind flipped from being straight in to quartering off the left and I didn’t adjust. That made the difference obviously being out of play.â€� Finally on his third tee shot – now his fifth stroke — he found the primary rough. Two more shots left him pin high but on the edge of the green. He two putted from 52 feet for the quad. “It didn’t need to happen,â€� Spieth said. “… Just kind of a fluke couple shots.â€� Now outside the cut line, Spieth needed a birdie in one of his last two holes. But he missed a 14-1/2 foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th, then a 13-footer on the final hole. The 75 is more than eight strokes higher than his second-round scoring average here. The primary frustration for Spieth now is his play on the greens. His putting just isn’t where he wants it to be. He changed putters entering this tournament, going from a blade to a mallet putter that he’s used a couple of times previously, including the 2014 Open Championship. In addition, he and coach Cameron McCormick have spent extensive time on the practice green lately. Thus far the work has yet to pay off. Of the 156 players in the field, Spieth ranked 118th in Strokes Gained: Putting the first two rounds. On Friday, he ranked 137th in that category, losing nearly 2.2 strokes to the field. “Just got to figure out my putting and getting through the ball,â€� Spieth said. “I’m standing over it and I don’t feel like I’ve got a stroke that’s producing contact at the right time. … “I put in plenty of work. It’s kind of a thing in my head. I got to get a couple to go in.â€� Instead of playing in front of his adoring fans the next two days, Spieth will work on his game privately. The good news is that next week’s tournament across the Metroplex is on a course that’s been good to him. Spieth won last year at Colonial and will be a favorite again next Thursday when the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational cranks up. “I’ll put in some work this weekend and get over there early and put the right prep in to get ready,â€� Spieth said. No doubt the best way to ease the pain of his abrupt departure at TPC Four Seasons is to say hello to Colonial as quickly as possible.

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