America at The Masters

The Masters is here. Golf fanatics like myself are glued to the screen. That is where I am headed as soon as I finish writing. This year is a dandy. The old Augusta course, after a few years of playing soft and easy, is hard, fast and the wind is swirling in the pines, reminding the players that Mother Nature is still the boss.

The old guard is gone. Tiger is out indefinately. Phil Mickleson missed the cut. Ernie Els knocked himself out on the first hole, and all the old Champions, with the exception of the remarkable Bernhardt Langer, are gone.

The new guys are here and boy are they surprised. Ricky Fowler confidently said that this was his year. He missed the cut. Jason Day, World's #1 looked totally befuddled, saying that he was hitting good shots but they just were not going where they should. Jordan Speith is clinging by a very thin thread to the lead and sounded badly shaken at his Friday play. Actually, his 2 over par was not bad in the windy conditions, but his fall off from the 6 under Thursday rould shook him. That's golf. A day's reward will often give way to unpleasantness. The game is humbling.

Rory McIlroy, in 2nd place, had a very sane reaction to his 2nd round. He seemed amazed that he survived it and surpised that he managed a 1 under.

This is why I love golf. Not only is the game difficult, not only do you see great skills displayed, it shows you the mental make up of the players. Bobby Jones said that golf was mostly played on a 6 inch field between your ears. He was right.

So, in just a few minutes, I will be glued to the set, watching what should be quite a show. Oh, and there is a bonus. The Augusta National course is one of the most beautiful bits of landscaping on Earth. Covered with azaleas, dogwoon, redbud, jasimeine, nandina, all set in a backdrop of tall loblolly pines and little creeks and ponds, on a land full of bumps and hills, it is worth watching for its beauty alone.

Update: I wrote the above on Saturday morning and am posting it on Sunday morning. In the meantime, surprisingly little has changed. Bernhardt Langer, who at 59 has the physique of a 15 year old gymnast, is hanging in. Jason Day is 3 back and still seems slightly befuddled. Rory McIlroy is only 5 back after a bad Saturday. At the end of the round interview, he looked ready to weep and said that Sunday he would be shooting at all the pins, a recipe for disaster at Augusta. Jordan Speith looked shell shocked after finishing bogey, double bogey to turn a 4 shot lead to 1 shot. Who will win? Who knows. The wind will be down but the greens will be hard as cement and  fast and slick, like putting on glass. It will be fun to watch.