The following, a new weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find in informative, insightful and fun.
That’s an odd way to win
Jon Rahm four-putted his first green.
Jon Rahm didn’t reach the fairway on this final drive.
Jon Rahm still won the Masters.
In one of the oddest starts and finishes for a Masters winner, Rahm made double bogey on his opening hole and saved par on the final home to win by four strokes at 12-under par.
Rahm recited the famous Seve Ballesteros quote when asked if he was angry about his opening hole.
“I remembered Seve’s quote, I think it was here at the Masters, right, when he 4-putted. I just kept thinking to myself, “Well, I miss, I miss, I miss, I make.” Move on to the next. I carried a little bit of that negative energy into the tee shot on 2, hit it about ten yards further than I usually do and moved on with my day.
“Again, if you’re going to make a double-bogey, might as well do it on the first hole of the tournament when you have plenty of holes to make it up.”
Holding a four-shot on the 72nd hole, Rahm’s tee shot bounced off trees. He hit a provisional ball in case it was lost. Turns out it was a short walk to find it. The ball had ricocheted into play, short of the fairway. Rahm hit short of the 18th green with a 4-iron, chipped on and made the par putt. No big deal.
“I think that was karma,” Rahm said of the wayward drive. “I was just telling (my caddie) how great I hit a low fade the entire week. Hit pretty much every -- the fairway all four days on 17, which I’ve never done. And I was bragging about it a little bit, and, of course, on 18, that happens, right, which was maybe two feet from missing that tree.
“But it will be a good story in the future, I guess, right. I won the Masters and didn’t even make it to the fairway on the 18th tee shot.”
Well-traveled reliever
What a story Michael Tonkin has been for the Braves thus far. Out of the majors since 2017, he’s served a valuable role in a bullpen down two key contributors in Raisel Iglesias and Collin McHugh.
Tonkin had a 2.16 ERA in his first 8-1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking one. He notably pitched three scoreless innings Tuesday to help the Braves preserve their bullpen after a brief Kyle Wright start.
Among the places Tonkin pitched during his major-league hiatus: Japan, the Pacific Coast League, the Atlantic League, the Mexican League, the Dominican Winter League and the International League.
“Every step along the way (I wondered if this would happen again),” Tonkin said. “There were definitely times where I thought, ‘This is it.’ But I got opportunities from Long Island, from Aguilas in the Dominican, Toros in Mexico. I appreciate every opportunity I’ve gotten because without those, I’m not here.”
Opening attendance up
The Braves drew 165,058 fans during their opening four-game series against the Padres last weekend at Truist park (an average around 41,265 attendees). That’s up from opening weekend last season, when the reigning World Series champions drew 159,322 fans during their four-game series against the Reds
Getting physical
Trae Young and the Hawks had heard the narrative and frankly were quite tired of that. Miami’s tough. Hawks not as tough. Look at last season’s playoffs as an example.
So, the day before the Hawks-Heat play-in game Tuesday, Young met with the media after practice and addressed the elephant in the room head on – without blinking.
“We know they play physical and we’ve got to play physical against them. And it’s not about just saying it (playing physical). We got to go out and really be a physical team and just go out and do it.”
Well, the Hawks did it alright – winning the battle in the paint in the victory over the Heat. Wonder what Trae will say about the next opponent – the Celtics.
Man in white
Grady Jarrett was a vision of white when he toured Atlanta United’s training facility on Tuesday.
White sneakers, white pants, white shirt, white jacket and a thick gold chain were the attire for the Falcons’ All-Pro defensive tackle.
Jarrett said he lived 10-15 minutes from the Marietta building but had never before visited.
Wanting to learn more about soccer and Atlanta United, which like the Falcons are owned by Arthur Blank, Jarrett spent several hours visiting with different people on Tuesday.
Jarrett said he doesn’t follow any particular clubs other than Atlanta United but is gaining an interest in the sport.
Snitker’s electricity
Braves manager Brian Snitker left for spring training on Feb. 8.
After a lengthy spring, and then a weeklong road trip to open the season, he finally returned home on April 5.
He unpacked. He separated the laundry.
And also: “Looking on your desk and seeing what bills are overdue, and hoping they don’t cut the TV and the electricity and that kind of stuff.”
So, is the power on?
“The power’s on,” Snitker said. “I paid a couple. I just sent them in past due, hopefully I’ve been a good enough customer that they don’t do anything, they accept my check.”
You can’t have that
In a game against the Padres, Ronald Acuña Jr. stole second base … and the base itself came out of the ground.
So, two stolen bases?
Acuña held it in his hands and tried to put it back into the ground. He couldn’t do it. Eventually, a groundskeeper came out and screwed it back into place.
No powderpuff
Georgia’s Stetson Bennett is using his fame to raise money for women’s sports back home in Blackshear.
The Bulldogs’ star quarterback and Manning Award winner has organized a “powderpuff” football game that will be conducted on the same Pierce County football field where Bennett passed for more than 8,000 yards for the Bears in high school. Called “Bennett’s Blitz Powderpuff Game,” the event is scheduled for April 24 (6 p.m.), admission is $10 and all proceeds will go toward funding women’s athletics at Pierce County High.
The contestants will be Pierce County female students, which is expected to include Bennett’s youngest sibling. Olivia Bennett, though just a ninth grader, is a standout basketball and softball player competing on varsity teams for the Bears. It is said she can also throw a pretty mean spiral with a football, like her oldest brother.
It’s in Blackshear where Stetson Bennett’s familiar story begins. Before coming to Georgia as a walk-on quarterback in 2017, Bennett passed and rushed for more than 4,200 yards and accounted for 40 touchdowns as the Bears’ senior quarterback. He was the region’s offensive player of the year as both a junior and senior.
Bennett earned notice leading Georgia’s scout team as a freshman, transferred to Jones County (Miss.) junior college in 2018, returned to UGA in 2019 and finally earned a starting job for the Bulldogs in 2020. When his college career ended this past January, he had passed for 8,429 yards and 66 touchdowns, rushed for 530 yards and 14 more scores, won two national championships and earned offensive MVP honors in his last five postseason games in which he played. Bennett also was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and won the Burlsworth and Manning awards.
At the moment, Bennett continues to train for his NFL future. He is expected to be selected sometime after the NFL Draft begins on April 27.
Falcons’ Arthur Blank closely watched sale of Commanders
As things dragged on, Falcons owner Arthur Blank watched the pending sale of the Washington Commanders with great interested.
“I don’t know about the situation in Washington, but my own situation, I paid 21 years ago, $545 million for the team,” Blank said. “Probably could sell it today, according to what’s being published these days by the media, say about $6 billion based on what Washington is doing.”
Blank noted that he doesn’t plan to sell the team, but it looking at the valuations of franchises.
Commanders owner Dan Snyder and Josh Harris, who co-owns multiple professional sports teams, reached an agreement on a sale of the franchise to Harris’ group for an NFL-record price of $6.05 billion on Thursday.
“If you look at the economics of the business, industry of the league over 21 years, it’s been outstanding,” Blank said. “Now, I would say the continued growth of media and forms of media distribution, the Amazon deal, the YouTube deal that we just announced and legalized betting. Just a whole variety of things from a business standpoint, sponsorships or whatever. The opportunities continue to be there for the NFL.”
He noted the robust television ratings.
“You all know the stats of top 100 TV shows per year, 97 of them are always NFL games,” Blank said. “The game, the content and the way that it’s being put on, are all excellent.”
Blank believe the league will continue to grow.
“The focus is going to continue to be on growth opportunities, changes in the market place and continue to produce those opportunities,” Blank said. “The league has some of the best and brightest folks at the league level and I would say at the club level too, that continue to invest in the future.”
The Falcons are valued at $4 billion, a 25% increased over last year, according to a report from Forbes.
“If this was stock, I’d definitely have a buy on it,” Blank said. “In my case, I have a hold on it. I can’t add anymore to it.”
Quote of the week
“We know he’s a monster.” - Braves manager Brian Snitker said of new catcher Sean Murphy, whose first homer with the team was a walk-off Monday against Cincinnati.
-Gabriel Burns, Doug Roberson, D. Orlando Ledbetter, Chip Towers, Justin Toscano, Leo Willingham and Chris Vivlamore contributed to this report.
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