Sunday, April 11, 1999
What happened to the Masters?
BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Greg Norman and a cast of thousands were on hands and knees behind the 12th green, ripping through the sacred azaleas, seeking Norman's missing tee ball. When they call the third round at the Masters “Moving Day,” they're not talking about rearranging the horticulture.
At that point, the first thought was, “The gods will get him for this.”
The second thought was, “Here goes Norman's psyche. Look out below.” But a strange thing happened. Norman, normally as fragile at Augusta National as the dogwood branches, returned to the tee some 155 yards away, struck another shot to within 22 feet, then made the putt for the greatest bogey he's ever had.
Norman followed that with birdies on two of the last four holes. He's playing in the final twosome today, a shot from the lead.
Strange day. Strange tournament. Masters traditions would be blowing away like the wind, if there were any wind. Normally, gusts through the pines play mind games on the players. Saturday was still.
Am I in the right place?
Traditionally, long hitters pound drives down wide fairways unthreatened by rough. Now, there's an inch of rough to keep them cautious. Now they talk about being “smart” and “patient.” They sound like they're at the U.S. Open.
Traditionally, players reach the par-5s here in two shots or die trying. There's nothing more exciting in golf than a 220-yard second shot into No.13 or No.15 here. Now, players are laying up. Davis Love III, a pre-eminent long-ball masher, is heard to say, “There's no point in making double (bogey) just to prove you can go for” the green.
Say what? This is so un-Masterly, they might as well award a red jacket to the winner tonight.
It is the Masters nobody can figure out. While most of the field staggered under typical weekend Masters pressure, journeyman Steve Pate made seven straight birdies. Pate hadn't played here since 1993.
In '96, Pate broke both his wrists, causing him to realize that “playing poorly is probably better than not playing at all.” The same thought occurred to Norman last spring and to leader Jose Maria Olazabal after he missed nearly two years with foot pains.
So maybe that's it. Get hurt, get perspective, get a red jacket.
Beats me. Lee Janzen, a two-time Open champ who has played 15 weekend rounds at the Masters and finished under par in just one of them, is three shots from the lead. His secret?
“I just don't try any heroic shots,” he said.
I'm lost now. The Masters is all about heroism and about dying with your boots on. It has nothing to do with making polite pars and laying up. Maybe it's the lack of Jack — Nicklaus is absent for the first time in 41 years — that has thrown Augusta out of whack.
Predictions? No way
Whatever. When they tee it up today, 15 players will be within five shots of the lead. I'd like to say who has the best chance to win. Given the strangeness of this week, I'll pass.
Olazabal? Great short game, past champion, can deal with the heat because he's from Spain, so Masters pressure doesn't get to him.
Love? Has been close before. Had the game to win here, before Augusta re-invented itself as the Open's first cousin.
Janzen? Loves the changes to the course.
That brings us to Norman. At least the Shark could preserve one Masters tradition: The weepy, romantic, fairy-tale ending. Romeo gets Juliet!
“Take your time,” Norman said. Someone asked him how he would deal with Sunday stress. “Let it happen. Let it flow.”
Well, OK. Hit fairways and greens. Lay up on the par-5s. Be patient. Be safe. Sounds like a car trip with the kids to grandma's. Or the U.S. Open.
“I'll give 500 hundred bucks if anyone can go out and find that ball” on No.12, Norman said.
I'll give $500 more to anyone who can tell me what happened to the Masters.
Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.
Continuing Masters coverage from Associated Press
DAUGHERTY ARCHIVE