2018 Masters Preview

It seems like every year around this time I’m telling anyone who will listen to me, “Man, this year’s Masters could be the best one ever.” Well, this time I’m serious. 2018’s iteration of golf’s best event boasts an absurd amount of intriguing storylines. Let’s delve into them, shall we?

Tiger’s Back (for real this time)

At the start of the year, Tiger had every excuse to avoid high expectations going into Augusta National. His last top ten was in 2015, his health situation couldn’t be trusted, and he was facing a whole new crop of young stars. However, against all odds, Tiger has once again asserted himself as one of the best players in the world. He will go into the year’s first major as one of the top favorites, and there is no reason why he won’t be near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.

Rory’s Search for the Slam

This year, Rory will make his fourth attempt to complete the career grand slam at Augusta. While he stumbled at the WGC-Match Play, losing in the group stage, Rory will still bring in a truckload of momentum after a scintillating performance down the stretch at the Bay Hill Invitational. His final round 64 at Arnie’s place reminded the golf world what he’s capable of doing when his game is firing on all cylinders. Rory’s game has always set up well for Augusta on the paper, but the course has consistently beguiled the Northern Irishman. This year, expect Rory to finally contend at the sole major that has eluded his grasp.

Phil Aging Like Fine Wine

One of the most jaw-dropping stats at the start of 2018 was Phil Mickelson’s five-year winless drought on the PGA Tour. Despite playing consistently solid golf over that stretch, he never managed to put four complete rounds together. But at this year’s WGC-Mexico Championship, Phil got back in the winner’s circle after defeating Justin Thomas in a sudden-death playoff. Boasting a closet with three jackets, Mickelson’s track record at Augusta is glittering. Even at age 47, there is no evidence that Phil is slowing down anytime soon.

Spieth’s Struggles

2018’s most peculiar storyline in professional golf has been Jordan Spieth’s rocky play thus far. With more missed cuts than top tens this year, the alarm bells have to be ringing at Chateau Spieth. Astoundingly, the primary culprit in his struggles has been his usually rock-solid putter. Spieth ranks 169th on tour this year in strokes-gained: putting, as opposed to his 8th place ranking in strokes-gained: tee-to-green. However, despite Spieth’s shoddy work on the greens this year, I am still quite bullish on his chances at the Masters. In his four appearances at Augusta his finishes are T2-1-T2-11. Spieth reads those greens like Mozart read sheet music, so expect his rough putting stretch to end at the year’s first major.

Two in a Row for JT?

After setting fire to the PGA Tour in 2017 with five wins including the PGA Championship, Justin Thomas rolls into Augusta hoping for a second consecutive major victory. This season has been more of the same for JT, as he has snagged two victories to go along with no missed cuts in 10 tournaments. This will be Thomas’ third appearance at Augusta, so look for his experience there to finally catch up with his supreme talent.

The Many Failures of Scott Israel

One of the main problems in the left’s analysis of mass shootings is their haste to take a macroscopic view of the event. Minutes after news of a shooting breaks, before all the facts can be confirmed, social media platforms are plastered with fiery takes about America’s societal gun problems. Media organizations play into this snap-judgment culture by tripping over themselves while reporting in the immediate aftermath of these tragedies.

For example, less than 24 hours after the Parkland shooting took place, New York Magazine incorrectly linked the shooter to a white supremacist group, giving free publicity to a reprehensible organization. This false report created a narrative that many people latched onto, coloring their opinion of the whole event. But New York Magazine wasn’t alone in their mishandling of the events that followed the shooting.

The most egregious attempt to frame the Parkland shooting to fit an agenda came from the man most responsible for preventing the tragedy in the first place: Sheriff Scott Israel. Just days after the shooting, during a CNN Town Hall debate, Israel called for more extensive gun control legislation, stating to the crowd of students present, “My generation, we did not get it done. You will get it done.” Instead of taking any blame for the shooting, Israel deflected the criticism onto the shoulders of Dana Loesch and Senator Marco Rubio, two people who had nothing to do with the shooting whatsoever.

A few days after the town hall, Israel made it clear during an interview with Jake Tapper that he wasn’t done grandstanding. When asked by Tapper if he would take any responsibility for what had taken place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Israel responded, “Jake, I can only take responsibility for what I knew about. I exercised my due diligence. I’ve given amazing leadership to this agency.”

Later on in the interview, after Tapper cited the department’s failure to act on the 23 calls they received regarding the shooter, he asked Israel, “Do you think if the Broward Sheriff’s office had handled things differently, this shooting might not have happened?” Israel responded, “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, yeah know, uh, OJ Simpson would still be in the record books.” Tapper than slammed Israel by saying, “I don’t know what that means. There are 17 dead people and a whole long list of things your department could have done differently.”

Tapper is 100% correct in this exchange, as Sheriff Israel inexplicably refuses to recognize any poor judgment on his part in the time leading up to the shooting. The entire 28-minute interview is available here, and I would advise anyone willing to defend the sheriff to view it in its entirety.

Scott Israel failed. He failed as a sheriff, as a public figure, and as a man. Instead of facing up to these failures, he decided to sidestep all blowback and slander his political enemies. Israel deftly crafted a narrative that kept the heat off of him, using the emotions of those most impacted by the shooting to benefit his personal agenda.

In the aftermath of a tragic event such as the school shooting in Florida, the media has a responsibility to report accurately, and the public has a responsibility to judiciously examine the facts before contributing to a public forum. It’s clear that for the most part the press and the powers that be have abdicated their responsibility; it’s critical that we don’t abdicate ours.