It”s the weekend of the 2009 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. The Masters is the first major championship of the year and it is also unique when compared to other Grand Slam events in that it is always contested on the same golf course year in and year out.
At the onset of golf”s modern era, when Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus ruled the top of the leader boards, the Masters was a decidedly different major when compared to the United States Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. Par wasn”t a part of the equation for donning a green jacket. While a number of holes at Augusta National are downright difficult, there is a risk-reward nature to the course, especially over the final seven holes on Sunday afternoon.
The Mastes used to be all about making birdies and eagles and avoiding watery double-bogeys coming down the stretch. Longtime Augusta National readers could tell what and where something was happening on the course based on the inward nine”s roars, cheers and echoes. A large cheer would erupt and Arnold Palmer would just know that Jack Nicklaus had eagled the 13th hole.
Over the last few years, the spectators at the Masters haven”t had many occasions to give their applause for brilliant shotmaking. Like the U.S. Open, the Masters allowed itself to be all about making par. You can call it U.S. Open Lite.
In 1965, Jack Nicklaus won his second green jacket, breaking the Masters scoring record with a 17-under-par 271. Raymond Floyd matched Jack”s tournament record when he recorded an aggregate score of 17 under par in 1976.
For the next 21 years, no golfer came close to 17 under par, and the best one-year score in that period was 14 under par by Ben Crenshaw in 1995. Tiger Woods raised the bar by one stroke in 1997 when he shot an 18-under-par 270 to win his first major championship. Since then, the course has been lengthened, rough has been grown, fairways have been narrowed, trees have been planted, and the result has been a much more difficult playing venue.
To say it one more time, even par had suddenly become the standard in an effort to Tiger-proof Augusta.
However, the length of the course has been shortened slightly for 2009. The beautiful weather strongly benefited the pros during the first two rounds and the result was that power players such as Chad Campbell would go low, tacticians such as Jim Furyk would go low, and retread past champions such as Larry Mize would go low. Maybe 2009 would be a return to old-style Masters drama.
Of course, Tiger Woods is the favorite once again, even though he had major reconstructive knee surgery some nine months ago. His win at Bay Hill two weeks ago was indication enough that the Great Striped One is back.
Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy are to be highly regarded based on their tour successes during the first three months of the year. Furyk plays tough when he gets into the fray. There is still some great golf left for former Masters champ Vijay Singh. Padraig Harrington is such an unassuming three-time major winner that he”s not even talked about at the Masters, and yet he is probably the best pure putter among the game”s top players. With the start of the 2009 Masters featuring a leader board with a variety of strengths and skills, it”s anyone”s guess who will be wearing the green jacket on Sunday evening.
It”s pretty safe to say that Sergio Garcia will not come through for his first major win at this year”s Masters. With Augusta”s greens registering at Stimpmeter levels of 13 or 14, the flat stick is a necessary component for victory. Sergio may win the British Open someday where the greens are flatter and slower, but he doesn”t have the putting stroke to ever win a Masters. A brilliant ball-striker, he has come up just short in a handful of major championships because of his putting limitations.
The other interesting theme at this year”s Masters revolves around the three teenagers in the field. Northern Ireland”s Rory McIlroy, Danny Lee of New Zealand and Ryo Ishikara of Japan are making their inaugural appearance at Augusta National. McIlroy is a top-50 golfer who has already won on the European Tour. Lee, the reigning United States Amateur champion, won a European Tour event earlier this year too. Of course, he collected zero money as he is maintaining his amateur status through the conclusion of the Masters. Ishikawa received a special invite into the Masters. He has two wins on the Japanese Tour and is ranked 69th in the world.
When all is said and done, the threesome of kids will have no impact upon the leader board at the Masters. Nor will Sergio Garcia. Here”s hoping that the Masters goes back to being more of a Sunday afternoon shoot-out. It”s time to return to the days of roars echoing through the pines over the final nine holes. It”s what used to make the Masters golf”s most distinctive major championship.
