Stars still not shining at Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. - I’m sitting here in the media room at Augusta National watching a clip of the day’s events and almost all of them are ugly.

There’s Tiger hitting it in the water at 12. And again at 13.

There’s Paul Goydos hitting a bunker shot across the green and into the pond at 11.

There’s Stuart Appleby picking his ball out of the hole at No. 12 and throwing it in the pond. Guess they didn’t want to show Chris DiMarco doing the same thing.

At least they had the good manners not to show anything Camilo Villegas did, but considering time is always a factor with television, it would be tough to show a guy shooting 85 and putting it like Joe Bob from Gaffney on a three-day weekend at Myrtle Beach.

It’s safe to say this Masters has yet to find its, uh, rhythm or personality or something. It smelled like Christmas Friday morning. It was cold, fans were bundled up in sweatshirts and gloves and there was the scent of woodsmoke in the air. Made you want to throw the football but that would get you escorted off the premises quicker than having a ringing cell phone.

It is, shall we say, a challenge to get excited about Tim Clark and Brett Wetterich sharing the lead midway through this Masters unless your name is Mrs. Clark or Wetterich. That’s not to say they wouldn’t make fine champions but, frankly, they’re not exactly Phil and Tiger.

Then again, Phil and Tiger haven’t been Phil and Tiger yet. They’ve been all over the property so far but so has almost everyone else.

The weather forecast calls for chilly temperatures, windy conditions and a 70 percent chance Ian Poulter will wear something really outrageous in today’s third round.

That’s about the only sure thing right now.