Monday, April 14, 2008
The Masters of Golf
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As the saying goes in golf, "you drive for show and putt for dough."
This past weekend at the 7,445-yard, par-72 Augusta National Golf Club, the home of the Masters Tournament, that's what many of the PGA Tour players did. Out of the four major golf championships, the Masters brings the most excitement and the top talent on the PGA Tour. 2008's winner, Trevor Immelman, shot a 280, to beat out Tiger Woods, who shot a 283.
"All I can ask for myself is to go out there and play as hard as I can and believe in myself," Immelman told the media.
And that's what he had to do, with Woods in second, three strokes behind and breathing down his back. No one can overlook Woods, who won the Masters in 1997, 2001, 2002, and 2005, as he continues his hunt for his fifth Green Jacket.
"If money titles meant anything, I'd play more tournaments," Woods is quoted as saying. "The only thing that means a lot to me is winning. If I have more wins than anybody else and win more majors than anybody else in the same year, then it's been a good year."
The Masters is not so much about winning the money ($7.25 million purse), but about the privileges that come along with it such as an invitation to play in the other three major championship events (U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship) for the next five years, lifetime invitation to play in the Masters, membership on the PGA Tour and Players Championship for five seasons, and the wearing of the green jacket. Since 1949, when Sam Snead won his first of three Masters Championships, every winner has been presented a green jacket and it is highly coveted amongst professional golfers. The green jacket is the official jacket of Augusta National in which all of its members wear while there and the winner of the Masters becomes an honorary member of Augusta.
The competitive edge is also fierce, with many of the golfers looking at one person — Tiger Woods. With 13 major championships and 88 professional wins, Woods is the player that is watched the most for style of play and guidance. Immelman was quoted as saying, "To win a major while Tiger's playing, and he's told us he's playing at his peak, it's an achievement."
"I'm trying as hard as I can, and sometimes things don't go your way, and that's the way things go," Woods is quoted as saying. "No matter how good you get, you can always get better and that's the exciting part."
Bobby Jones had the idea for Augusta National and the Masters was born, with its first tournament held on March 22, 1934, which was won by Horton Smith. In 1935, Gene Sarazen hit "the shot heard 'round the world," holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle. That tied Sarazen and Craig Wood, and in the ensuing 36-hole playoff Sarazen won by five strokes. From there, the Masters was born with the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player dominating the field from 1960 to 1978, winning 11 times during that span and bringing the Masters and the game of golf to the next level.
"Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work," Nicklaus said about his work ethic and Tiger Woods. "There isn't a flaw in his golf or his makeup. He will win more majors than Arnold Palmer and I combined. Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he's such a great kid."
For years to come, PGA Tour golfers will wear the Masters Championship green jacket and want to emulate what Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, and Woods did for the tournament.
"Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind and character," Arnold Palmer said. He also says that golf takes, "concentration, confidence, competitive urge, capacity for enjoyment."
Something that the Masters offers.