The champion slipped his hand from the green jacket until nothing seemed familiar about these masters.
The purple, pink and white peacocks, azaleas and dogwoods, which provide such a gorgeous accent to the August Augusta Gusta National in the spring August, give way to the orange and gold hues of autumn. The course will look familiar with its emerald green fairs, white sand filling bunkers, Georgian pines and the stagnant waters of Rye Creek.
It wouldn’t just sound like that, without piercing every hole on thousands of spectators and sending roars piercing it from all corners of the course.
It will not be the same.
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What makes these masters unlike any other is the calendar lender. The Golf is the annual event of golf two weeks before Nxgiving. And without its supporters, Golf’s Cathedral would never be quiet.
“It simply came to our notice then. It’s going to be different, “said Rory McIlroy. “But at least we’re playing for a green jacket.”
Not so certain when the COVID-19 epidemic began to shut down sports around the world a week before the first day of spring. The Masters was postponed – a relief for those who initially feared cancellation – and then rescheduled for November 12-15, the final major of an unforgettable year.
When the epidemic did not grip him, the club had no choice but to close the door on his supporters. No need for green “golf traffic” signs posted about the city, or people lining the streets of Washington Washington Road looking for tickets.
There will be no Par3 contest, in which players dress their children in white armor. First-time players may not know better. For veterans, it may not be different from the August Gusta National from their scouting trips. They will know what they are missing, places and sounds.
“You’re going through the gusto of August Gusta, it’s an energy raja, it’s an expectation,” McLero said, adding that his 10th appearance is the only major place to keep him away from a career Grand Slam. “There’s still a golf course. There’s still a golf tournament to be won, and you have to get the most out of it.
“But they’re playing,” he said. “And that’s the most important part.”
Tiger Woods had to wait 19 months to play the second Masters.
He won his fifth green jacket, just as remarkable considering any of his 15 majors where he was. His Sh-T win last year led to a more significant comeback to the game, including four back surgeries and a DUI arrest from a bad combination of drugs while trying to cope with the pain.
Woods ended the year with a win for the 82nd career win in Japan, breaking Sam Snead’s PGA Tour record. This year, there was excitement, especially towards the Masters. And then it stopped. Woods, 44, kept a limited schedule to get the most out of his body, playing only two tournaments when the epidemic stopped the game.
And then he barely played at all – one time before a normal performance at the PGA Championships, two FedEx Cup playoff events before missing a cut at the US Open, and a tournament in two months leading up to the Masters. Las Vegas set its duration to tie Jack Nichols 35-1 from the sixth green jacket.
“The whole year has been different for all of us,” he said. “And my run until August Gusta is the opposite of what I’ve ever experienced. It’s just like this. ”
But it’s August Gusta National, a course that anyone knows as well. His optimism has not diminished.
“My game is definitely better than the US Open,” Woods said last month. “I think a little more prepared, a little better, and hopefully that transforms into playing a golf course.”
Even as a defending champion and the biggest star in golf, Woods is playing a second billing on the Masters.
Brian Dichembi has been in the golf debate ever since golf came back. He added about 40 pounds of muscle and mass, all designed to swing faster and harder and hit drives than anyone could have imagined. He turned down the convention with a game at the US Open, leading him to a six-wicket victory. And that was just the beginning.
DeChambu entered Wood Gust a month ahead of the Masters – the size used by Virtual Long Drive competitors, its inspiration – the way Woods hit a pitching wedge in the 5th part, hoping to break the August Gusta National. His way of winning by 12 shots in 1997.
“If he can get a -48-inch driver in the game, he’ll shoot below 20 or better. It’s going to be a slaughter, ’said World Long Drive Champion, Kyle Berkshire, reacting to DeChambu. “He may also be the only one in this course.”
Dechambu will not be alone. It will only feel that way.
Players are allowed to bring in another notable and coach. Augusta national members may attend. Just this. And for the masters, it’s not at all.
For now, players should use silence. Spectators were not allowed at the PGA Championship or the US Open, and only a limited number of fans are currently allowed in Bermuda and Houston.
But nowhere except August Gusta National would be so hard to ignore.
“It simply came to our notice then. He travels. “You can find out who’s doing what, and the bar for some people is higher than others,” Woods said. It is unlike any other place in the world. “
Even so, they are playing. Those are the masters. Woods chases another green jacket. Five players have already taken their turn at No. 1 this year. It should be, as always, quite a show, until Point CBS signs the NFL game on Sunday afternoon from Augusta National until it is signed.
