Spring Has Arrived -- The Masters Start Today
April 9th, 2009
New York, NY
The Masters
Today is the first day of The Masters. This has always been a little bit of an annual milestone in my life, because my brother, my father and I were all golfers. The Masters are a rite of spring and symbolize the impending arrival of prime golf season, the NHL playoffs and the start of the baseball season.
Historically, this tournament have been the most entertaining of the major golf tournaments (unless they played the British Open at St. Andrews – more on that some other day). A
When Alister MacKenzie designed Augusta National he had to know it was for tournament play because he designed it for high drama. Holes used to reward aggressive play all around, and the back nine was custom made for come-from-behind victories. Like the old ABA was about making basketball more entertaining, Alister must have decided that spectator entertainment was going to be really important.
At the old Augusta golfers could put up great scores, but you had to really be aggressive off the tee and on your approach. If you placed some shots well, you’d be seeing tons of red numbers being put up. If not, you were scrambling out of the rough and staring down some long par putts. Either way, it was high drama as golfers shot up the leaderboard and dropped like a rock when they hit “Amen Corner.”
No one defined this better than Greg Norman. When you hear his name, you remember his losing The Masters for 25 straight years after leading going into the final round. OK, I’m inflating that a bit, but think about it: Greg Norman was a golfing machine well before Tiger hit the scene, but we’ll only remember his never winning The Masters. He actually holds the course record, a 63, and has finished second three times. Not a bad record for anyone, much less someone who’s won the other three majors. But all people remember is the action packed finishes where he came up short. Proof history is written by the winners.
Old Augusta created legends, whether it was Arnold Palmer in 1960, coming back from two strokes down to beat Venturi or Tiger lapping the field and winning by 12 in 1997.
Note: If you grew up watching The Masters in the 1980s, you saw the clips of Palmer’s win in 1960 so much that his swing and strut up the fairway is literally burned into my memory. I still imagine I’m him when I’m playing well, and he STILL has the same walk when he smokes a long iron or drive. Arnie is awesome.
Anyway, those were the good old days. After 1997, they tried the alleged “Tiger-Proofing” of Augusta National. First, they lengthened the course, and then made the rough higher, lengthened it again and finally made the greens faster. The result is a course that resembles a U.S. Open layout more than the action-filled Augusta.
Rather than an exciting sprint/shootout to the finish where any number of hot players might win, we have a plodding chess-style game of golf. Players pick their spots to take calculated risks, hoping it gains a stroke, or maybe two. The tourney usually comes down to a two man show, and they grind it out head-to-head on opening day. Not as exciting for the fans, but I guess it makes better TV. Either way, the magic might be gone from The Tournament, but it still marks the beginning of spring.
On the bright side, they have developed an absolutely killer (and free) iPhone app. It’s awesome for keeping track of the tournament if you are away from a TV, or as an accompaniment. It has leaderboards, history, course maps and live video from all over the course. Technology may indeed save us all, other majors, take note.
One last note on Greg Norman. I'm pulling for you buddy! You're too good to have never won this one. Plus, there's a poetic justice to giving it one last shot and winning when your son is on your bag.
In other sports news:
Your New York Rangers
The Rangers can clinch a playoff berth on a game against the Flyers tonight at Madison Square Garden. This is a huge game, since if the Blueshirts don’t win they go on the road and have to play the same team again Saturday. The Flyers are playing for home-ice advantage in the first round so the game has lots of meaning for them, too. Rangers/Flyers games are always intense and hard-hitting, so expect more fireworks than average tonight. That may ultimately be the Rangers’ undoing, since Sean Avery will be tempted to stir things up too much and take a dumb penalty. Here’s hoping coach Tortellini gave him a nice talking to after the fiasco against Boston.
Also, here’s hoping that the last two periods of play against Montreal will continue. It was the first sustained period of quality hockey for the Rangers in three or four games.
The New York Yankees
The Yankees put up eleven runs today for their first win of the season. I was a little worried they’d go 0-162, so I’m quite relieved.
After two games, I have to admit they look pretty good.* Matsui looks like he was never injured and continues to be a hitting machine, moving Jeter to leadoff seems to be a smart move and Posada’s arm looks strong. Historically, the Yankee’s are always slow out of the gate so no worries here. Also, as a bonus Nick Swisher seems to be a complete nut job and might be my new favorite Yankee. Stay tuned, I think I’ll be writing about him regularly.
* NOTE: to Red Sox fans and “the sky is falling” Yankee fans. Yes, I saw C.C. Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang pitch – just relax, it’s early. C.C. is not Hideki Irabu, so call me in July if they still look bad.
New York, NY
The Masters
Today is the first day of The Masters. This has always been a little bit of an annual milestone in my life, because my brother, my father and I were all golfers. The Masters are a rite of spring and symbolize the impending arrival of prime golf season, the NHL playoffs and the start of the baseball season.
Historically, this tournament have been the most entertaining of the major golf tournaments (unless they played the British Open at St. Andrews – more on that some other day). A
When Alister MacKenzie designed Augusta National he had to know it was for tournament play because he designed it for high drama. Holes used to reward aggressive play all around, and the back nine was custom made for come-from-behind victories. Like the old ABA was about making basketball more entertaining, Alister must have decided that spectator entertainment was going to be really important.
At the old Augusta golfers could put up great scores, but you had to really be aggressive off the tee and on your approach. If you placed some shots well, you’d be seeing tons of red numbers being put up. If not, you were scrambling out of the rough and staring down some long par putts. Either way, it was high drama as golfers shot up the leaderboard and dropped like a rock when they hit “Amen Corner.”
No one defined this better than Greg Norman. When you hear his name, you remember his losing The Masters for 25 straight years after leading going into the final round. OK, I’m inflating that a bit, but think about it: Greg Norman was a golfing machine well before Tiger hit the scene, but we’ll only remember his never winning The Masters. He actually holds the course record, a 63, and has finished second three times. Not a bad record for anyone, much less someone who’s won the other three majors. But all people remember is the action packed finishes where he came up short. Proof history is written by the winners.
Old Augusta created legends, whether it was Arnold Palmer in 1960, coming back from two strokes down to beat Venturi or Tiger lapping the field and winning by 12 in 1997.
Note: If you grew up watching The Masters in the 1980s, you saw the clips of Palmer’s win in 1960 so much that his swing and strut up the fairway is literally burned into my memory. I still imagine I’m him when I’m playing well, and he STILL has the same walk when he smokes a long iron or drive. Arnie is awesome.
Anyway, those were the good old days. After 1997, they tried the alleged “Tiger-Proofing” of Augusta National. First, they lengthened the course, and then made the rough higher, lengthened it again and finally made the greens faster. The result is a course that resembles a U.S. Open layout more than the action-filled Augusta.
Rather than an exciting sprint/shootout to the finish where any number of hot players might win, we have a plodding chess-style game of golf. Players pick their spots to take calculated risks, hoping it gains a stroke, or maybe two. The tourney usually comes down to a two man show, and they grind it out head-to-head on opening day. Not as exciting for the fans, but I guess it makes better TV. Either way, the magic might be gone from The Tournament, but it still marks the beginning of spring.
On the bright side, they have developed an absolutely killer (and free) iPhone app. It’s awesome for keeping track of the tournament if you are away from a TV, or as an accompaniment. It has leaderboards, history, course maps and live video from all over the course. Technology may indeed save us all, other majors, take note.
One last note on Greg Norman. I'm pulling for you buddy! You're too good to have never won this one. Plus, there's a poetic justice to giving it one last shot and winning when your son is on your bag.
In other sports news:
Your New York Rangers
The Rangers can clinch a playoff berth on a game against the Flyers tonight at Madison Square Garden. This is a huge game, since if the Blueshirts don’t win they go on the road and have to play the same team again Saturday. The Flyers are playing for home-ice advantage in the first round so the game has lots of meaning for them, too. Rangers/Flyers games are always intense and hard-hitting, so expect more fireworks than average tonight. That may ultimately be the Rangers’ undoing, since Sean Avery will be tempted to stir things up too much and take a dumb penalty. Here’s hoping coach Tortellini gave him a nice talking to after the fiasco against Boston.
Also, here’s hoping that the last two periods of play against Montreal will continue. It was the first sustained period of quality hockey for the Rangers in three or four games.
The New York Yankees
The Yankees put up eleven runs today for their first win of the season. I was a little worried they’d go 0-162, so I’m quite relieved.
After two games, I have to admit they look pretty good.* Matsui looks like he was never injured and continues to be a hitting machine, moving Jeter to leadoff seems to be a smart move and Posada’s arm looks strong. Historically, the Yankee’s are always slow out of the gate so no worries here. Also, as a bonus Nick Swisher seems to be a complete nut job and might be my new favorite Yankee. Stay tuned, I think I’ll be writing about him regularly.
* NOTE: to Red Sox fans and “the sky is falling” Yankee fans. Yes, I saw C.C. Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang pitch – just relax, it’s early. C.C. is not Hideki Irabu, so call me in July if they still look bad.
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