After watching my favorite Red Sox look tired and consequently taking a beating from the Toronto Blue – Jays; I got to thinking about this week’s article. During the drive home we passed by a golf course, and I started thinking about the greatest of golf tournaments that starts this Thursday, April 10th – The Masters. The name says it all. Every year 100 golfers, some American, some European converge on Augusta, Georgia in search of the illustrious Green Jacket. Landmark’s such as Amen Corner, Hogan Bridge, Rae Creek and Eisenhower’s Tree are known by even the marginal of golf fans. The course was created around 1934 and continues to baffle even today’s golfer despite marked improvements in technology, athletic conditioning, and player’s equipment.
Thursday also marks Tiger Woods’s search of another major. In the beginning stages of what could possibly be the greatest season in PGA history, Tiger is in search of his 14th major championship. At the age of 32 years old, Tiger is just 4 majors short of matching the Golden Bear’s record of most major victories. Given that Jack Nicklaus won his last major championship in 1986 at the age of 46. Given that Tiger at his own admission is playing the best golf of his career, it is possible that he may pass Nicklaus in the next couple of years – way ahead of Nicklaus’s pace.
82 – That is the number of all-time career wins for Sam Snead. Tiger is currently “lurking” in a tie for 3rd place with 64. That is 64 wins since 1996. Consider that the second active player on that list is Lefty Phil Mickelson with 33 and then Vijay Singh with 31. Add the fact that Lefty started his career in 1992, makes Tiger’s pace that much more mind boggling. On a side note, Rochester’s own Walter Hagen is 7th with 44 victories.
Even more impressive is the mental aspect of Tiger Woods. When he is leading after 3 rounds, he is an amazing 43-3. When leading in a major after 3 rounds, he is 13-0. Even more amazing, Tiger has NEVER lost when leading by more than one shot after 3 rounds. Golfers have tried to play with him in the last group on Sunday and most fall out of contention. Apparently there is something to that red shirt he wears every Sunday.
This weekend, I encourage everyone to watch the Masters – especially if it is raining your area. We are watching one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game. I hate using ‘the greatest’ because others will bring up names like Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones – and for great reasons. But when his career is over, he will own just about every record in the book. So sit back, relax, and listen to some more Jim Nantz. Actually it is Jim Nantz in his element. But watch the Masters and watch 100 golfers battle it out for the Green Jacket. Millions play the game. Thousands dream of playing on Augusta National. Only 16 golfers have won multiple Green Jackets – but millions have dreamed of winning one.
Enjoy the Masters this weekend..
Smitty — Thanks for writing about the Masters. I used to be an avid golfer, but now only play half dozen times a year during the short Alaskan summers. I love all the Majors and try to at least watch parts of the final two rounds … the Masters is really special — probably because of 1) the name, as you aptly put it and 2) because it is ALWAYs held at Augusta National … “a tradition unlike any other” as Jim Nantz will say about a thousand times over the next 5 days!
And of course you cannot not talk about Tiger Woods. Even in the days of Jack Nicklaus and other golfing legends, when a major tournament was about to start, there was never a perception that any one player had a 50% or better chance of winning the tournament. Maybe we thought Nicklaus or Palmer or Player or Watson each had a maybe a 10-15% chance of winning. This has all changed because of Tiger. He is SO GOOD … so good that we indeed have the perception that he literally has a 50% chance to win any major he enters. Think about that … he’s one of what … 50-100 guys teeing it up on Thursday? And everyone thinks it’s Tiger vs the rest of the field … a coin flip’s chance of winning a major!!! This is unthinkable … especially in today’s age where golf is probably more popular than ever, the money is astronomical and so it’s more competitive. Tiger Woods is just on another planet as a golfer … it’ll be simply amazing … essentially a huge upset if he’s not within 2 strokes or better of the lead when Sunday is over. We could never say that about any other golfer.
So, if you’re a betting man … do you take Tiger or the field? That’s what it’s come to these days!
Wally
Smitty
I’ll echo Wally’s sentiment: great job with leading the golf discussion. Casey gets his money’s worth on the links – that is he takes plenty of swings.
Props for working in the Walter Hagen / Rochester reference. Hey, our former #1 employer may be imploding, taking with it plenty of private businesses, but we still have our legends.
Is it possible that Billy Packer might make a cameo to work with his sycophant, Jim Nantz? 🙂