A Sunday spent on the couch: The King’s running diary of the 2008 Masters Final Round

2:25 p.m. - Hello, friends. (As Jim Nantz has proved, I think that is the only appropriate way to welcome viewers or readers to anything involving the Masters). Over the first three days of the tournament, I think I’ve watched around 13 hours of golf, and I do not plan on moving from the couch for the next five or six.

2:31 p.m. – Our leaders, Brandt Snedeker (“Sneds,” as his friends apparently call him) and Trevor Immelman, have teed off, and everyone in the field is officially on the course. The Tiger watch is underway, and he’s even par on the day through one hole, keeping his score at -5. His partner, Stewart Cink, birdied number one to tie himself with Woods, and that leaves us with 6 players with a realistic chance at victory. After Woods and Cink at -5, Paul Casey stands at -7, Steve Flesch stands at -8, Snedeker at -9, and Immelman at -11.

2:37 p.m. – Nantz tells us it’s a windy day at Augusta, and the temperatures will be in the low 60’s. The background piano music plays for the first time, and the argument over whether the theme is “sweet” or “puts you to sleep” begins amongst my roommates. “Brick,” the only roommate that does not golf, says every time they play the theme he imagines an old man sitting on his lazy-boy and falling asleep.

2:40 p.m. – “Sneds” and Immelman have both bogeyed number one, and that should keep spirits high of those chasing them.

2:49 p.m. – After watching Tin Cup two nights ago, my roommates and I wonder why Gary McCord is not working the Masters as a commentator for CBS. After some quick Wikipedia research, we discovered that Masters Officials, notoriously uptight, asked CBS to remove him from their Masters team after some choice descriptions of the 17th green in 1995. The good news is that David Feherty and Verne Lundquist are still here. We also decided that golf commentators are the best in sports.

3:00 p.m. – The first graphic shows reminding us that Tiger Woods has never won a major when trailing through 54 holes. His largest comeback in any tournament on Sunday was from five strokes down, so he will have to change both of those statistics in order to win today.

 3:06 p.m. – “Sneds” just hit a 40 footer for eagle on number two, gaining a share of the lead with Immelman at -10, and drawing a Tiger-like fist pump from the Vanderbilt graduate. Of the final three groups, Cink was the only other to take advantage of the Par 5 second, with a birdie.

3:10 p.m. – After a fantastic shot out of the sand, Tiger lips out a 5-foot par putt, leaving him at -4, and back to six shots off the lead.  We really have not seen any extraordinary putting from Tiger this week.

3:31 p.m. – The wind has not been more apparent than at the Par 3 4th. The players have struggled in picking their club, and Cink is the only contender that has even landed the ball on the green in regulation.  The sand trap in front of the hole has claimed several balls, and the hole has taken a stroke from Tiger, two strokes from Paul Casey, and it took tough par putts from Immelman and Snedeker to maintain their scores.

3:36 p.m. – Tiger has birdied number six, followed shortly thereafter by a bogey from Casey at the 5th, leaving Woods, Casey and Cink all at -5.

 3:42 p.m. – After seeing this “Welcome to your moment” AT&T commercial for about the 50th time, I can imagine Nantz exclaiming, “Trevor Immelman, welcome to your moment,” in about four and a half hours.

3:48 p.m. – After a gorgeous approach shot at the 5th, Immelman taps in a 4-footer for birdie, pushing himself right back to -11. At the same time, Paul Casey exemplifies the honesty golf prides itself on. Standing on the 6th green, preparing to knock home a 5-foot par putt, Casey’s ball moved a quarter of an inch after grounding his club behind it, and Casey called himself out on it, enforcing a one-stroke penalty.

3:58 p.m. – Vice Chairman Joe Ford tells us that our Sunday at the Masters will be brought to us with limited commercials, only four minutes out of every hour. Gotta love the people at Augusta.

4:08 p.m. – Another one of my favorite things about the Masters is how there are no “fans.” As the announcers will tell you, they are “patrons.” In a related note, the roars from the “patrons” on Sunday, especially on the back nine, are just incredible. I cannot imagine what it would be like to hear them in person.

4:17 p.m. – Just when I thought we might see Immelman really start to run away with it, he misses a 3-footer at the 7th that, coupled with a Snedeker bogey moments before, would have extended his lead to five strokes. Still, he probably does not hate a four stroke lead with 11 holes to play.

4:28 p.m. – Cink bogeys number nine to drop back to -4, erasing his birdie-birdie start to the day, and I notice Paul Casey has dropped to -2. That leaves Snedeker at -7, Flesch at -8, and Immelman at -11. We also really can’t count out Tiger, at -5 through nine holes, at least until we see him play Amen Corner.

4:41 p.m. – There has been a Phil Mickelson sighting! Phil Mick birdied 13 and 14 for the second day in a row, putting him at -3. As a Mickelson fan, yesterday’s round was about as frustrating as they come. After he was -6 early, he dropped the whole way back to -2, including a missed five-footer for birdie at the 15th, which would have given him three straight birds.

4:54 p.m. – A tremendous up and down by Immelman from a greenside trap at number nine, to avoid back-to-back bogeys. On the same hole, Snedeker bogeyed again, leaving him with five on the front nine, and four strokes back of Immelman, at -10. Also, Tiger has bogeyed on 10, leaving him six back again.

5:09 p.m. – As the leaders approach “Amen Corner,” holes 11, 12, and 13 at Augusta, Nick Faldo tells us it’s been 50 years since that title was dubbed by writer Herbert Warren Wind. Accompanied by some highlights of clutch shots on those holes over the years, you get the feeling these holes will go a long way in deciding this year’s champion as well.

5:19 p.m. – I mentioned the roars of the back nine about an hour ago. Well, there’s another level of those roars, called the “Tiger roar,” which is just a few decibels higher. After a 75-foot birdie putt on number eleven by Woods, the “Tiger roar” was in full effect. You get the feeling Immelman knows that a roar that loud can only be elicited by that one player.

5:29 p.m. – Rae’s Creek has officially claimed its first victim. Steve Flesch, quietly only two strokes off the lead, saw his tee shot at the Par 3 12th land with a splash. A double-bogey has left Flesch at -6, joining Snedeker, and providing Immelman four strokes of breathing room over the field.

5:45 p.m. – Trevor Immelman, ice water in the veins! After leaving a chip short on the 11th, Immelman drained a 15-20-footer from the fringe for par, and that came immediately after he heard roars coming from the 13th, where Tiger has left himself a 6-footer for a birdie try.

5:58 p.m. – Just when the “Tiger is lurking” murmurs probably started circulating, it may be time to kiss his chances of another green jacket good-bye. After a deflating birdie miss at the Par 5 13th, Tiger could not pick himself up, dropping another stroke at number 14. He probably needs an eagle at the 15th to keep himself alive.

6:06 p.m. – “Oh, no!” Those were the words uttered simultaneously by Faldo and on-course commentator Peter Kostis, moments after Brandt Snedeker’s club made contact with his ball on his 2nd shot at the 13th. Sitting only 200 yards out, Snedeker left his ball short, right, and wet, almost identical to the shot he played yesterday afternoon.

6:11 p.m. – The men in Butler Cabin might want to figure out Immelman’s exact size for his green jacket. After watching Snedeker put his ball in the water, Immelman played his approach beautifully, to about three feet from the pin. At that exact moment, Flesch, still at -6, watched a short par putt skirt by on number 14.

6:28 p.m. – A six stroke lead with four holes to play for Immelman. If he wasn’t playing, things would be really fun, with four players currently tied for second at -4, but, alas, he is, and it doesn’t look like we’ll get to see an exciting finish that I was hoping for. Still, he seems like a nice guy, so for his sake I’ll hope that we don’t see the greatest collapse in Masters history. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not hoping for the greatest comeback in Masters history from someone like Snedeker. If you don’t think there’s a difference, let’s just imagine Snedeker going -5 for the last four holes, and Immelman going +1, and they go to a playoff. That’s a comeback, not a collapse. Either way, I seriously doubt anything of the sort will happen.

6:42 p.m. – Zach Johnson has made his way towards the 18th green to a roar reserved for former champions. What a great story he was last year, and I’m glad he came back this year and made a strong showing. I can only imagine his emotions Tuesday evening, when he got his first chance to have the Champions Dinner.

6:50 p.m. – Verne is shocked, and so am I. Immelman has just put his ball in the water off the tee at the Par 3 16th. With the lead he has, there is no reason for him to put the ball anywhere but the far right side of the green, as far away from the water and sand trap as possible. At least he’s making it a little bit exciting for the patrons at home.

7:07 p.m. – Wow.  After doubling sixteen, Immelman has brought disaster into play for the second hole in a row.  From the middle of the fairway on 17, he left his approach short, right in the middle of a sand trap.

7:11 p.m. – Time to breathe a little easier if you’re pulling for Immelman. With all kinds of crazy thoughts surely running through his head, Immelman stepped up and made a splendid up-and-down for par at the 17th green. One hole left now, with a three stroke lead.

7:16 p.m. – You may or may not have known this, but Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, have created a foundation for Math and Science teachers. If you haven’t changed the channel during commercials, you’ll probably never be able to forget that fact. However, joking aside, that is an admirable academy the Mickelson’s have set up.

7:27 p.m. – Congratulations, Trevor Immelman. Three days of rounds in the 60’s, followed by a gut-wrenching round of 75 on Sunday, is something to be proud of. Now that there will be a green jacket in his closet, I’m pretty sure he will never be able to forget it, either.

 7:35 p.m. – Well, it certainly has been a long weekend of golf, but I certainly enjoyed every minute of it. The Masters is truly “a tradition unlike any other.”

- Nicholas King