The Non-Tiger Masters Pick

The Masters begins today and you can watch live! The smart money is on Tiger Woods to win. Well I am going to abandon intelligence mainly because there will be no money on it and pick another, slightly more obscure golfer to win. Of course everyone is rooting for Tiger to at least be in the hunt on Sunday, especially CBS. After the clunker that was the national championship in college basketball, the network is certainly praying/hoping/sacrificing small goats in order that El Tigre is wearing that red shirt with pride on Sunday. I have to think the odds are with them.

Yet, sometimes there is a Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Mike Weir or even a Gay Brewer (no making that up he won in '67) who comes along and takes the focus away from the favorites. So with that in mind I am picking Dustin Johnson. Dustin is a young golfer with two career wins including Pebble Beach this year. He is not an incredible long shot since he is ranked 9th in the FedEx Cup and 40th in the world. Johnson is 24, has had a few brushes with the law including a recent DUI so hopefully golf will be an espcape for him.


Johnson attended Coastal Carolina University where the mascot is the Chanticleer. What is a Chanticleer (pronounced shaun-tuh-clear) you ask? It is the name of the rooster character from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales which came from fables surrounding Reynard the Fox. Oh that Reynard. Anyway, Coastal used to be a sister school of the University of South Carolina so in a way to have a link back to their siblings they created a similar mascot. South Carolina is of course the Gamecocks, so Coastal chose the wise, cunning Chanticleer from the fables. There is a tremendous opportunity for inuendo with the mentioning of two roosters, but I will let you imagination do the walking on that one.

In the mean time, I am rooting for Johnson to represent the Chants and the Big South and spoil everyone's hopes that this is going to be a Tiger cake walk.