A Report from the Masters

AUGUSTA, GA. – So the kid stood up admirably and demonstrably under the onslaught of Bubba’s blitz, Fast Freddie’s reluctance to run out of gas and Kuchie’s incline to decline.

So any golfer who was half a fan or fan that was half a golfer had to have basked in the blossoming of the game’s newest boy wonder, Texan Jordan Spieth. Twenty years young but 40 years mature, he came close to near bloom in the 78th Masters Sunday going head to head with Bubba Watson before bombastic Bubba matched deposed southpaw Phil Mickelson for a second Masters green jacket. If you didn’t know Speith until now, hang loose. The kid’s second-place finish was distinguished by the fact he (71-70-70-72) and Jason Blixt (70-71-71-71) were the only player in the field with all four rounds par or better—even if both finished three pokes shy of Watson’s 69-68-74-69.

So again—all the histrionics aside, it’s the things you see when you don’t have a pot to puff in here in golfing heaven that sometimes stand out like the azaleas and color-splattered spectators armed with two fists of beer and giant stogies.

To many, the late lamented Eisenhower Tree was missed more than Tiger, absent for the first time in 20 years—though TV would disagree, viewer ratings off 30 percent the first two rounds.

Slipping in under the radar proudly if not jubilantly, was Denver’s Kevin Stadler, a first timer whose quiet rounds of 70-73-72-73, even par 288 netted him a tie eighth and a return trip to Augusta in 2015. It also earned him a pat-on-the back salute coming off 18 green from his pop, Craig, the 1982 Masters champ, who kissed the Masters folks goodbye Friday when, “playing like blip” in his own words, he exited forever with 82-77.

Craig appeared not the least remorseful not to be among the record six 50-plus-year-olds making the cut with Spain’s Miguel Jiminez  (50) and Germany’s Bernhard Langer (56) both stirring enough of a fuss to finish in the top 10; Fred Couples  (54) running out of competitive gas on with a final nine of 41. Ex-champs Sandy Lyle (56), Larry Mize (55) and Vijay Singh (50) went the distance without ripples. 

There were unforgettables and untouchables—like the lassie galloping across the 10th green during Saturday’s competition, gathered giggling and shown the exit…once dapper and now ever pathetic golfing stand out Doug Sanders pretty in pink on Wednesday as was his habit in playing days long ago and still in the same pink the next four days parading and praying for an audience. That same pink attire is now pock-marked with bird droppings.

Quirks always lurked in the Masters sideshow. Olympic skier Bode Miller and his wife reportedly forked out $7,500 for tickets to the new hospitality suite and later were admonished for trying to exit with quesadillas. There was Johnny (Football) Manziel, Texas A&M’s celebrated quarterback dropout awaiting NFL drafting, hooking up with Ireland’s Graeme McDowell for photo ops ….

There were heartaches and backaches, like Arnie Palmer bent over agonizingly but uncomplainingly as he, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player struck the tournament’s ceremonial opening shots Thursday. The humblest gentleman ever to wear a hero’s  title or king’s crown, Arnie later confessed he was returning to Florida to undergo back surgery to correct spinal stenosis.

And what about and gallery favorite Phil Mickleson? He missed his first Masters cut since 1998 by a single shot, largely because he found no thrills in the bunker chills of the tricky par three 12th hole Friday, counting a triple bogey six after playing ping-pong back and forth three times from front bunker to back bunker to front?

Also a shot short were Ernie Els,  Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, ex-champs Charl Schwartzel and Trevor Immelman.

Barely making the cut, thanks to a 5-foot par putt Friday that made him 51st and last under the wire with 71-77, Rory McIlroy roared up the board Saturday and Sunday to tie eighth.

It’s rough out there. Not so rough, however, that ex-champs Tom Watson (78-81) and Ben Crenshaw (83-85) aren’t coming back for more.  Well, Ben did say 2015 will be it for the Masters as he concentrates on course architecture, but Watson says he “has no thoughts of not coming back.”

And so, number 78 is in the books and the world awaits the return of Tiger, but maybe not as much as the coming of Jordan Spieth or the brilliance of Bubba.    

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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