OSU at the Masters: ROUND ONE

Well, it's April folks. There aren't gonna be a whole lot of sports on except baseball, and unfortunately the less said about Cowboy baseball this year, the better. So until football begins in August we must take our pleasures where we can. ITS MASTERS GOLFIN' TIME:

(to the tune of Hank Jr's "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight")

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME GOLF?

A FOUR-DAY, 72-HOLE PARTY?

HEY, THIS OLD COURSE IS OPEN FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION,

UNLESS YOU TAKE HOME LESS THAN 900K OR ARE SUBJECT TO MENSTRUATION,

ALL MY WELL BEHAVED FRIENDS AND FINANCIAL ADVISERS ARE COMING OVER TONIGHT

(Jump to take a look at the former Cowboy Masters field, and ODDS, ODDS, ODDS...)

The OSU field at Augusta this year features a number of former OSU players, including winner of the 2012 Houston Shell Open Hunter Mahan. Mahan is at the top of his game, he has placed in the top ten at Augusta twice, and holds the distinction of being the #4 golfer in the world right now, the highest ranking American on the list. Mahan managed to embarrass the choke-prone limey Rory Mcllroy despite the announcers openly decrying Mcllroy as the second coming of Old Tom Morris at the Match Play Championship in March. It's Mahan's time to shine. Look for him to either get a top five finish, win the thing outright, or not make the cut altogether as was the case in 2011. He's that kind of golfer.

Rickie Fowler will be there as well to kick some butt for the Cowboy cause. Last year in his first year at Augusta he tied for 38th place. Not too shabby. Fowler should improve on that score this year, maybe even crack the top ten. Fowler has had his best tournaments overseas, winning his first tournament in Korea last October, and finishing in fifth place in last years British Open. Either way, on Sunday he'll be wearing ORANGE.

Scott Verplank and Charles Howell III are still working on that elusive major trophy and will have a chance this week. Bo Van Pelt made a run last year and finished 8th, the best finish of any Cowboy golfer in 2011.

Of non-OSU golfers, Tiger Woods is the talk of the tournament (despite not winning a major in years, when isn't he the talk of the tournament?) because he won something for a change, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill two weeks ago. Is Tiger back, or did he just need to win a fresh pile of singles? Time will tell. Lefty Mickelson will be there, too. And the antique, 62 year-old Tom Watson will trot it out again to see if he can make a run as he did when he tied for 18th place at Augusta in 2010.

Any fan of televised professional golf lives for this week. This is as sad as you are imagining, but hey, even if you hate golf, you've got a field full of Cowboys to root for including Mahan, the highest ranked American golfer in the world. Tune in Sunday and see if we award the first CRFF "Orange Jacket" to the first OSU golfer to win the Masters.

ODDS ON SELECTED PLAYERS:

Tiger Woods: 4/1

Phil Mickelson: 8/1

Hunter Mahan: 35/1

Rickie Fowler: 60/1

Bo Van Pelt: 60/1

Charles Howell III: 100/1

Scott Verplank: 250/1

Tom Watson: 250/1