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The Loop

We say goodbye to the Dufners, hello to Tiger Woods, and explain why we need the Masters even more this year

April 07, 2015

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we need the Masters more than ever this year. First, the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl, and now, Duke wins the national title in basketball? It's enough to make the average sports fan throw up. But the Masters ushers in spring and new hope of seeing an exciting sporting event and a champion that doesn't make us cringe. Dear Augusta National, don't let us down! There's a lot to discuss, though, before another green jacket is handed out. Let's get to it.

WE'RE BUYING

J.B. Holmes: After a couple of close calls at Torrey Pines and Doral, Holmes got a well-deserved win at the Shell Houston Open and climbed to No. 12 in the world ranking. Holmes battled back from six shots down with a final-round 64 and beat Johnson Wagner and Jordan Spieth in a playoff. Of course, that's nothing compared to him battling back from brain surgery in 2011.

Brittany Lincicome: When Brittany Lincicome wins a major, Brittany Lincicome does it in thrilling fashion. For a second time, a final hole eagle propelled her to a win at Mission Hills. This time, she won the ANA Inspiration in a playoff over Stacy Lewis and took another dip in Poppy's Pond:

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Augusta National for the Masters, aka THE MASTERS! Get ready for the first major by listening to Dave Loggins performing the tournament's theme song with its lyrics and playing a ukelele:

COMMERCIAL OF THE WEEK

If the Academy doesn't nominate Nike's mini-movie involving Tiger and Rory for best short film next year, we'll be very disappointed:

And you may have heard Lexi landed a fitness cover of her own. . .

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Golfers aren't athletes, eh? SMH as the kids say.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"For me, it was a bit difficult to watch so many years and think, I'm never going to play in the Masters, just because of other issues that I've had. But yet, I just love to watch the Masters. So it's going to be weird not watching the Masters this year." -- Erik Compton. Something tells us he'll like playing even more.

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY KEEGAN BRADLEY-JILLIAN STACEY PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Keegan Bradley proposed to his girlfriend and she said "YES"! . . . to being his caddie in the Masters Par 3 contest.

A photo posted by Jillian Stacey (@jillianfstacey) on Apr 2, 2015 at 9:08am PDT

Not exactly what every little girl dreams up, but it was a romantic gesture, nevertheless.

__ ARCHIVE PDA OF THE DUFNERS __

Of course, nothing will ever top "the butt squeeze."

We'll really miss that Instagram account seeing these guys together.

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THIS AND THAT

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Austin Cook, who Monday qualified for the Shell Houston Open, had a share of the lead in the final round before finishing T-11. He's now finished T-11 and T-13 in the two PGA Tour events he's Monday qualified for. Clutch! . . . An Arizona man bought a used set of golf clubs and found a loaded gun in the bag. This might be the oddest golf story of the year. . . . Danielle Kang shot 77 on Saturday and then had her life threatened at dinner that night. OK, so this is without a doubt the oddest golf story of the year. . . . Bubba Watson finished last in an ESPN poll of players when they were asked who they wouldn't defend in a parking lot fight. Luckily for Bubba, there aren't too many of those at PGA Tour events. . . . I've learned through the years to get the "cookie" when flying Delta. A.) It's good, and B.) the two you get are a lot more filling than that bag of five mini-pretzels.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who will be the next golfer on the cover of Men's Health?

What was Tiger dancing to on Augusta's practice range?

Will Amanda Dufner ever re-join Instagram?

-- Alex Myers is an Associate Editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to email him and please follow him on Twitter since he has self-esteem issues.