Sean Jensen Posts

Sean Jensen is an award-winning writer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and columnist for AOL Sports. He's eating $1 pimento cheese sandwiches and filing dispatches from Augusta until someone tries the green jacket on for size.

I know who is to blame for Tiger's fashion sense. His mother, Kultida.

I tracked Tiger on the first few holes, and I saw her along the second fairway. She
was bundled up in dark clothes, with sunglasses on. But she completed her
outfit with -- get this -- socks on her hands. White socks. The long,
synthetic ones that your parents would buy you by the dozen at the grocery
store when you were a kid.

I know my credibility took a hit yesterday, when I said Tiger wore black
pants. But his mother, I assure you, really did have white socks on her
hands. It turns out I wasn't crazy -- Tiger was wearing black rain pants.

Somewhat understandable, since it is 54 degrees today, with winds gusting at
15 to 25 miles per hour. But...

As for Tiger, he may be making his move. He birdied the third hole, after a
monstrous drive and a wedge to about 15 feet. He then sunk the putt.

I planned to follow him for a while. But apparently, that's not an original
idea. And, unlike many other events, reporters are not allowed inside the
ropes. So even on the first three holes, I got stuck at crossing points and
saw the back of a lot of hats (Bridgestone appears to be popular here for
some reason).

I'm almost 6 foot 2, and I had trouble in a lot of spots, so I can't imagine
how tough it is for the vertically challenged.

As for Phil Mickelson, he is even for the day through eight holes, and he
remains at five over.

At this rate, after his address to reporters, he probably will
optimistically say that all he needs to do is shoot a 64 tomorrow and he'll
be able to contend for a repeat.

Sean Jensen is an award-winning writer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and columnist for AOL Sports. He's eating $1 pimento cheese sandwiches and filing dispatches from Augusta until someone tries the green jacket on for size.

After the first round, Phil Mickelson said a 68 could get him back in the
hunt.

On Friday, Mickelson didn't come close to that, but he did at least avoid
the cut. Mickelson shot a one over par, which means he now is at five over
through two rounds.

"I fought hard with that five over," Mickelson said. "Have fought both
rounds to hang in there."

Then, as he did Thursday, Mickelson offered another optimistic thought.

"I'll only have to shoot under par, and I'll (get) right back in it.
"If you made the cut, I think you have a chance to win it."

First, Mickelson needs to figure out how to get some consistency with his
drivers. Maybe he should bag one of them since he's hitting around 40
percent of his fairways.

If Zach Johnson can hold on, the cut will be seven over par, which means
this could be a real intimate tournament this weekend.

There are currently 34 players at eight over par, including Seve Ballesteros
with a tournament high 22 over.

Also, as of now, there are five players at seven over, including Trevor
Immelman (one of my draft picks), Jeff Sluman and John Rollins (another of
my draft picks).

Among the big names worse off than that: Retief Goosen (+8), Aaron Baddeley
(+9), Robert Allenby (+15) and Camilo Villegas (+15).

More importantly, seven of my 19 draft picks are looking like they will miss
the cut.

I will be highly upset if John Feinstein, whose picks were made for him,
mostly as jokes, does better than I do.

All right, folks. It's showtime.

Billy Mayfair and Ian Poulter kicked off the tournament this morning at 8
a.m., and they are quickly approaching the turn.

Ian would really like the jacket to match those pants, but I don't think it's going to happen.

No one is off to a blazing start, just yet. I promise to blog as often as
possible. But, as I mentioned earlier in the week, Augusta National strictly
prohibits the use of cell phones on the course, even for e-mail purposes.
So, I will pop into the clubhouse as much as possible.

Don't expect anything for a few hours, though. I'm working on a super-secret
special mission that will keep me under the radar for a while.

Let me know in your comments if there are specific things you would like to
know, and I will try to answer as many questions as I can.

Don't forget that you can watch live from Amen Corner at Masters.org

As for the superstars, Phil Mickelson tees off at 10:56 a.m., and Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh are at 1:52 and 2:03, respectively.

Think it's just a coincidence that Woods tees off in the third-to-last group, when the greens will be far from ideal?