Hello, friends. Do you hear the sound of fake birds chirping behind a soothing piano melody? If so, then it must be time for a tradition unlike any other to begin. Right on the heels of March Madness ending, the first and best major of the golf season tees off. What a beautiful time to be a sports junkie.
To the uninitiated, The Masters is just another tournament, but to those who know and love golf this week is a celebration. The other major tournaments are obviously important, but The Masters is when Golf takes center stage and commands the attention of the whole sports world.
Despite only playing 24 holes of golf this year Tiger Woods is still the biggest draw. He’s won this tournament five times and his course knowledge is second to none. That alone makes him a factor.
And…he’s Tiger effin Woods. When he’s on, there's no one on Earth better than him. The only question, and the same question that has followed him for the last 3 years, is whether his body can withstand the grind. I don’t think there’s much hope he wins, but if he’s in contention on Sunday the entire country will be tuned in.
People may have forgotten that Phil Mickelson tied for second last year at the Masters. He’s an all-time great, but he’s a wild card if there ever was one and it’s anyone's guess what he’ll do this time around. He could win or his bookie could jump over the ropes and chase him down the 17th fairway. You just never know which Phil shows up.
His reputation has taken a hit since joining LIV and I doubt winning will do much to improve it, but can you imagine all the shit he will talk if he does? Those tweets alone might make it worth seeing.
It could be the Irish in me, but I really want to see Rory win a green jacket. He needs a win at Augusta to complete the career grand slam; Something only five other men have ever done. He’s finished in the top-10 seven of the last ten years, but just can’t seem to get it done on Sunday. A win this weekend would cement him as one of the greatest ever and until he actually does no one will believe he can.
Thirteen LIV golfers will be in the field this week. Ten of whom are majors champions. While LIV has done a terrific job at breaking the golf family apart, The Master’s has taken the high road and invited them to compete. I have very little sympathy for the LIV turncoats, but it will be a joy to see the best players back together again playing at the best course in the world.
The parity in Golf right now is incredible. John Rahm is the defending champ and Scottie Sheffler is the favorite, but there are easily twenty other guys who could win. We look back on Tiger’s glory years when he would win tournaments by a dozen strokes as a kind of golden age of golf, but with so many great players who are legitimate threats to win, maybe we should consider the game today even better.
The only thing left to do is to wake up early tomorrow and watch Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and Gary Player hit the honorary drives to open the 88th Masters Tournament. This will also be Verne Lundquist’s last year announcing The Masters. My only wish, apart from Tiger winning of course, is for something so spectacular to happen that he can’t help but say again, “In your life have you seen anything like that?”