The Masters theme song is the best in sports

Welcome back to SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction, where we prepare for the final major of the year and hope for some blustery winds in Scotland to make things fun.

We are here to discuss a range of statements that writers and editors can declare as “fact” or “fiction” and briefly explain. The answers can also (occasionally) be “neutral” as there are many grey areas in golf.

Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X Account.

Robert MacIntyre won the Genesis Scottish Open, thanks largely to an eagle on the 16th hole on Sunday after he hit his drive into deep rough but was unloaded by a sprinkler head and fell into shorter grass. Such decisions, while legal, make the professional game look bad.

Bob Harig: FACT. But that doesn’t mean it was wrong. It looks bad because a lot of people just don’t understand the rules. And MacIntyre was standing on a sprinkler head that allows free relief. The problem was that the sprinkler head was in the rough and clearly gave him a much better lie than he would have had otherwise. He admitted that. It was a huge break and he took advantage. But where was the ball? No way he could get an eagle putt from there without the drop.

Jeff Ritter: FACT. Harig is right – the ruling is correct, but it is the kind of quirk that is difficult for casual fans to understand.

John Schwarb: FACT. Rough is a strategic element of golf courses and now I imagine every pro stomping around in the hay looking for a sprinkler or other surface that will provide relief for their next shot. It devalues ​​the game whether it is legal or not.

As Bob Harig noted in his (newly named!) Teed Up notebook, the U.S. has won six major tournaments in a row, a streak not seen in over 40 years. After another American victory this week at Royal Troon, that will be seven.

Bob Harig: FACT. I’m betting on numbers here. Xander, Brooks, Bryson, Patrick Cantlay. All Americans who could easily win the Open. The streak continues.

Jeff Ritter: FACT. My pick to win in our preview was Collin Morikawa – I can’t let him down on Wednesday! But there are just too many Americans playing well right now to ignore. The streak will likely continue.

John Schwarb: FICTION. I ride with Ludvig Aberg in the preview mentioned above and the “fiction” here also brings me Rory, Fleetwood, Cam Smith and a few others from outside America who know their way around links courses.

The champions of the LPGA Tour and the PGA Tour played their fourth major tournament last week, with another to come. Five official major tournaments are one too many in golf.

Bob Harig: FACT. It’s an old quote from former PGA Championship winner Jeff Sluman, but it still rings true. “If you go to Denny’s and order the ‘Grand Slam breakfast,’ you don’t get five things, do you?” No, they don’t. The Grand Slam consists of four events. Simple as that.

Jeff Ritter: FACT. Four is the right number. Five is messed up and whatever that fifth major scale is is watered down right from the start.

John Schwarb: FACTThe LPGA’s Evian Championship became a major in 2013 – is it too late to put the toothpaste back in the tube? And there are actually two too many majors in senior golf, with the Regions Tradition and the Kaulig Companies Championship (formerly the Senior Players) closed to members of the PGA Tour Champions.

Dave Loggins, composer of the Masters theme song, died last week at the age of 76. “Augusta” (the title of the song) is the best theme song in sports.

Bob Harig: FACTIt’s hard to argue with the Masters, but I’d throw the old NBA theme song on NBC into the mix as a possible contender.

Jeff Ritter: FICTION. Loggins’ melody is cult, but it is only number 2 on the list of theme songs for the mastersnot to mention the sport as a whole. The first time I hear about it This one here After a long, cold winter, I’m ready to run through a wall of pimento cheese.

John Schwarb: FACT. Like the Masters itself, the theme is so rare precisely because it is so good. We get a few seconds of it as a taste at the beginning of the year, then during the tournament and then, sigh, it’s over.