I’ve stayed away from making predictions about who is going to win The Masters.

Correction – One prediction – Alas, the one and only Scotsman in the field won’t win.

However I’d like to see Sergio win it and dedicate his win to Seve.

This thought was prompted by reading Mike Tokito’s article in The Oregonian

“Imagine a fellow Spaniard winning, then dedicating the victory to Ballesteros.

The ideal man for this job would be Jose Maria Olazabal, already a two-time Masters champion and Ballesteros' frequent Ryder Cup partner. Olazabal, unfortunately, is fighting health problems (rheumatism and fatigue).

That leaves the task to Sergio Garcia, the talented Spaniard who has tantalized us for a decade. Garcia got a breakthrough win in the near-major Players Championship last year, and while he hasn't had a great year, he could certainly elevate his career with a win, then elevate the Masters by dedicating it to Ballesteros.

That would be a great story that would trump such minor trivialities as course conditions.”

Since there’s no Scot with a “snowball’s chance in hell” of winning at Augusta this headline from The Guardian’s Lawrence Donegan, “Englishman Oliver Wilson is a local favourite”

Just loved this passage, particularly the second paragraph.

"But I have had that kind of thing my whole life. I have always known my swing was my weakness, that I could never rely on it. That's why I learned how to score, how to get the ball in the hole, and that is something you can't teach.

You can always fix a golf swing but you can't teach getting out of bad situations, or getting up and down."

Ain’t that the golfing truth. “It’s not how but how many!” And if you really believe and then do it then you’ve gotta have a chance.

As one of Scotland’s old-timers, Willie Park said many a time “A man who can putt is a match for anyone.”

Incidentally refreshed my memory on the source of the quote at golftoday.co.uk

A click on the link will take you to a cornucopia of great quotes about putting some I never seen before and given my years of playing and reading about the game that’s saying something.

Rather liked this one from Gary Player.

“Everyone wants to be known as a great striker of the ball for some reason. Nobody wants to be called a lucky, one-putting s.o.b.”

I’d be more than happy, indeed ecstatic, to regularly hear, “Take that you, lucky, one-putting Scottish s.o.b.” as I put yet another $20.00 note in my sporran.

When not watching The Masters on TV I’ll be playing Steve Williams’ home course at South Head,  OK so it’s not Augusta National but I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like the course.

I’ll also be watching the ‘Young (amateur) guns” playing the North Island champs at Muriwai.

Damn shame about these Norfolk Pines, otherwise it could almost pass as being a typical Scottish links course.

Good golfing at the weekend