It's Masters Time

Congrats to Geoff Oglivy for slowing down the Tiger juggernaut. It looked like another Tiger runaway after the second round, but Oglivy was right there, hanging tough. Once Tiger's putter went quiet, Oglivy was in the right place when it counted.

The Masters is right around the corner. There are a ton of things that I can write about when it comes to the Masters, and most are controversial. But it all comes down to golf, and Augusta is one of the most perfect courses in the world. I'll admit upfront that I've never seen the place with my own two eyes, and that I've been told that the sheer scale of the course takes the experience of awe you feel to another level. But I do know that there are few safe places on that course, and especially on the greens. I've always been blown away by the fact that the greens are huge enough, fast enough, and sloped enough that if you're on the wrong quadrant, you're looking at a three-putt (or more). I feel pretty lucky when I hit a green these days... imagine how high my score would be if just getting it somewhere on the green were my strategy at Augusta.

The other thing I like about the place is that there's hardly any rough. That brings the trees into play. The only way you'll be in the trees at the US Open or even the PGA is if you fly the ball into them. But at the Masters, if you 're a little loose on a dogleg (like 10 or 14 or 18), the ball can bounce right through the fairway, through the light rough (they call it 'the second cut') and into the huge pine trees. Light rough also tricks the players into playing more boldly than they should. Rather than playing away from the flag, or even bailing out to a chipping area near the green, a player in the light rough might be tempted to go for the glory, thinking he'll be able to get enough club on the ball to stop it on the bikini waxed greens. (That one's for you, Gary McCord). Nine times out of ten, that play won't work out too well, and he'll end up over the green near some body bags. (That one, too).

This hasn't been controversial enough yet, so I might as well go there. It's too bad the place is run by a bunch of tightwad snobs. I'm free to say this because I'll never have the chance to look at the course, much less play it. It's a great tournament, and an even better course, and I rarely miss more than a few minutes of the telecast... but it's unfortunate that Augusta National is run by a bunch of stuffy old... You know what? Screw it. I can complain as much as I'd like about the people that run Augusta National, but in the end, it's their club and they can do as they please inside their gates. And if I were offered the chance to play the course or attend the Masters, you'd better believe that I'd be there in a heartbeat. I've complained about the Augusta members more times than I care to admit, but I'll probably never stop watching their tournament, either. Sometimes sports can be an avenue of social change, and sometimes they can't. In this case, less whining and more golfing is probably the way to go.