It’s Masters time in Augusta. Point me to the pimento cheese sandwiches.
Nevermind. I can find them myself.
What a privilege to be able to be on hand to cover one of the premier sporting events of any kind in the globe. This is my second opportunity to cover Augusta National during Masters Week, and it honestly feels as sweet as the first, minus the unfamiliarity.
This time, I didn’t have to ask for anyone to point me in the direction of the press area, interview rooms or the place to hitch a ride on a golf cart to the No. 1 Fairway.
I didn’t have to ask where the bathroom was either. I certainly knew where to find the food. I never was much of a pimento cheese guy unless I had some crackers and cold cuts around, but being at a place like this tends to make things rub off on you.
Augusta National feels like it’s own city — it’s own not-so-little labyrinth tucked away in a corner of Augusta that only comes out to play with the general public once a year. For a moment, as I walked through the cross ways on Monday and observed golfers taking their practice swings and patrons soaking up the atmosphere, I almost forgot that I wasn’t supposed to be here as a fan.
It’s hard not to be, though. The ambiance. The casual passing by of people you’re used to seeing only on television. For instance, I did a quick double take when I saw Vijay Singh walk past a conglomerate of patrons watching him head to the clubhouse.
“I didn’t know he was that tall,” one patron said as he sauntered past.
“Looks so much different than on TV,” another remarked.
And that’s not all that’s different. Let me tell you something that I used to believe that I’m now ashamed of.
I used to think that you didn’t really have to be in much shape to be a professional golfer.
I mean, as a young kid, I foolishly and naively reasoned, “It’s not like football. It’s not like basketball or wrestling or even baseball where you have to have speed to run bases and chase down pop flies.”
You swing a club hard. Then soft. And then you walk around a lot. You don’t run. Running on a golf course is actually kind of taboo. You don’t hit anyone. Where’s the rigor in that?
Then, two years ago, I decided to walk the Augusta National. Did the same this year. Suffice it to say, I was in better shape two years ago than now, because back then I was able to walk the first five holes without taking much of a break. This time, the second hole got me and pulled me down for a rest.
Keep in mind, I’m just walking. I’m not carrying any clubs. I’m not stopping to swing with gusto at every other hole. I’m not bending and kneeling under the weight of competition pressure to size up my putts. I was just walking. And there were times when I literally had to stop and take a quick breather as I made my way around.
I can see why a golfer’s health is of paramount importance, because navigating the hills and slopes of a place like Augusta National at a pace brisk enough to stay within the rules is not for the faint of heart.
Knowing this gives even more mystique to me for what Tiger Woods did two years ago, just to complete the course while hobbling on a surgically repaired leg.
Aside from me getting my steps in doubly this week, I’m looking forward to following the drama that will lead us to Sunday’s “Green Jacket Day.”
We have compiled a list of some frontrunners and dark horses we think could make a push. But one thing I do know about golf is that it’s an unforgiving game, subject to the whims of the wind and rain.
Thankfully, the weather is going to be pretty pristine this week, save for Thursday’s forecasted thunderstorms. That’ll make for some interesting moments, because if it’s an all-day rain event, not only will it cause delays at minimum, depending on how much rain we get — and forecasts are currently calling for over an inch — it could greatly test the grounds crew’s ability to ensure the course is in as good of condition for playing as possible.
I do remember the havoc rainy and windy conditions caused golfers here two years ago when Scottie Scheffler was crowned champion. And even two days after the rain stopped, the greens were still damp enough and the winds still strong enough to make golfers have to adjust to the greens’ changing speeds.
Though no doubt frustrating for golfers, it’s actually part of the intrigue of the game.
Not only does it make the golfers earn their money, it adds a major element of the unknown to the outcome, and it’s in such conditions where certain players can benefit from the misfortune of those not adjusting well and make an unexpected climb up the leaderboard.
One thing we can almost assuredly count on — it’ll have to be quite the weather event to keep the tournament from finishing on its traditional Sunday evening. In 87 prior years of The Masters, there have only been five instances where play had to be pushed to Monday because of inclement weather.
Two of those times happened in the 1930s — 1936 and 1938 to be exact. It happened again in 1961 and 1973, but it’s been 41 years since the last Monday extension.
That came back in 1983 when Friday play had to be postponed, effectively pushing each round back 24 hours. It set the stage for Seve Ballesteros to make a one stroke comeback en route to a 3-under 69 score and a four-stroke victory that gave him his second Green Jacket.
Will we see such drama this year? Who knows until it happens. But that’s the best part of being here at Augusta National — getting to watch one of the most unpredictable games in all of sports do its unpredictable thing.
That and the pimento cheese, of course.
Gabriel Stovall is sports editor for The Augusta Press. He can be reached at gabriel@theaugustapress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter), Instagram and Threads: @GabrielCStovall.
