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"FacebookPinterest\n\nI think it's safe to say that more people will likely tune in to the Masters this weekend than probably any other golf tournament ever. So to prepare you for sitting through the non-TW parts, here are five things you should know about the 2010 PGA Tour season thus far:\n\n1) Phil blows. Here's a guy who was cursed by coming to greatness at the same moment as the best player of all time. And what does Phil do when his moment in the spotlight is unobstructed? Never, ever comes through. Granted he's got some other things going on in his life, but please, PLEASE let's hope that he at least gets it together enough to be in contention this week\u2014something he hasn't been able to do in eight starts this year.\n\n2) New sponsors. There's something hopeful (or gravely upsetting) about the fact that several tournaments have traded in hard-hit title sponsors for new blood. The SBS (not Mercedes-Benz) Championship. The Bob Hope (no-longer Chrystler) Classic. The Farmers Insurance Open (subbing in for Buick). The Waste Management Phoenix Open. Oof.\n\n3) Style. Many golfers still dress like your dad, but a handful of young guns are putting it together well. Camilo Villegas. Rickie Fowler. Alvaro Quiros. Luke Donald. Dustin Johnson. Webb Simpson. Just to name a few.\n\n4) L.A. Open disaster. One of the post popular stops on Tour was re-scheduled to accommodate Pebble. Where did the L.A. Open land? On a rainy Super Bowl weekend in February. What did that mean? NO ONE attended. An epic failure of a tournament, won by this past year's most talented, boring player (Steve Stricker), on an afternoon when all anyone cared about was the redemption of New Orleans. An estimated 30,000 total were in attendance this year, as compared to 151,000 in 2007. This was a semi-isolated event, but it's indicative of the larger problem with the 2010 Tour: things aren't just going a little bit bad, they're piling up to dilute interest in even the sure-thing stops. There has yet to be one YouTube-worthy moment on Tour this year, which above all else means we're due. Like now. Like this Sunday. At Augusta.\n\n5) Ernie Els and Fred Couples. Two storylines to watch this week center themselves around a pair of old-time fan-favorites. Ernie Els has won his last two starts (after a two-year winless drought), and is playing as well at age 40 as anyone out there. He's finished second twice at the Masters in his career, but has never won\u2014so look for him to carry that momentum into the weekend. Senior Tour rookie Fred Couples has won three tournaments in a row, and has a runner-up in his only other \"Champions\" Tour start. Which means that turning 50 can be kind of awesome for some guys. Though he may not have the chops to hang with the relative juniors at the Masters, he very well might be the most popular figure in the field. If his back holds up, and he doesn't catch too much flak for playing with Tiger this morning, expect him to hang around.\n\nExtra credit: Speaking of which, check out Tiger's Augusta press conference at 2p EST this afternoon."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/the-five-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-2010-golf-season-before-the-masters-starts>