I am here to write about The Masters, the world's greatest golf tournament, which starts this morning.
Four rounds, 72 holes and 93 golfers will make up the meat and potatoes of this 67th serving of the Masters. The soup and salad will come in the form of Hootie Johnson versus Martha Burk and her protestors.
After this paragraph, there will be no more mentions of these increasingly annoying side dishes.
Look, when I go to a steakhouse, I don't select it because it has great French Onion soup or terrific raspberry vinaigrette. I go where I can find the biggest, bloodiest steak. That is what the Masters offers golf fans. The world's best golfers on a course that is equal parts grueling, beautiful and maddening.
The storylines within the ropes are varied. Will the rain ever stop in Augusta? Will even more changes to the course this year affect the outcome? Can anyone stop Tiger Woods from claiming an unprecedented third-straight title?
It rained so hard in Augusta Monday that the club shut down the course during tournament week for the first time in 20 years. Practice resumed Tuesday, but the rains aren't forecasted to stop until Friday. Friday should be gloomy and gusty, but the prayers from Amen Corner should be answered with what is forecasted to be a sunny weekend.
The players will be playing on a course that is once again different from the one they saw a year ago. The members are still concerned about the course's difficulties being negated by the slew of high-tech equipment that allows for obscene distances off the tee.
So, they have spent the past few years lengthening and tricking up the course. This year, the biggest change is No. 5, where the members have narrowed the fairway and added two cavernous bunkers protecting the dogleg.
So what does this all mean? The sloppy conditions will turn Augusta into a bog for the second straight year, favoring the long hitters who don't need roll to get into mid-iron range for their second shot. Maybe players like Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen or Vijay Singh (third, sixth and ninth, respectively, in driving distance) will take advantage early.
Of course, the winds on Friday and the sun on the weekend will harden up the usually lightning quick greens and place a premium on hitting the green and putting well.
That would make one lean toward Jim Furyk (first in greens-in-regulation) or Davis Love III (third in putting average) as a favorite. I haven't even mentioned Ernie Els, who started the 2003 season like he owned it.
But really-who am I kidding? This is one man's tournament and could stay that way for a long, long time. Tiger has hinted at dominance at Augusta that hasn't been seen in the sports world since John Wooden roamed the sidelines at UCLA. This weekend I'll take a Tiger steak. Medium rare. Hold the soup and salad.
- Dawson is a graduate student in the Sports Administration program. Send him e-mail at Dennis.Dawson@ohiou.edu.
17 Archives
Homer Dawson
200304101754midsize.jpg
Homer Dawson
