THIS is the week when golf is not merely just a game. It's the week of the Masters. Don’t expect a Tiger
repeat at the MastersThrow Tiger Woods into the mix as the defending champion after his 12-stroke victory last year and you have the makings of an even more remarkable Masters week.
That said, I'm going to predict that though Woods will win again and again at the Augusta National, it won't be this year.
It's simply difficult repeating as champion, although Tiger doesn't seem to think so. He figures he won last year, so what's the big deal.
"I think this year is much easier because I know how to win here," he said.
Ah, the impetuousness of youth.
It might not seem so to Woods, who can reach every par-5 at Augusta in two. But golf's not that easy a game. And Augusta's not that easy a golf course.
For all the talk about Woods making a shambles of the cathedral of American golf in lapping the field last year, just remember that he bettered the course record by only one stroke.
So maybe the other players in the elite field had better get their acts together for making it a Tiger runaway.
That's another reason why I don't think Woods will repeat. The odds are on my side because 87 other players are entered. Though many are ceremonial former champions, it's still a great field. It's Tiger against the field, so I like my odds. Don't go out rushing to fit another green jacket for Tiger just yet.
IN preparing for the Masters, I just finished the most comprehensive book I've come across about the tournament and the people who run the event: "Augusta -- Home of the Masters" by Steve Eubanks.
It recently came out in paperback in time for this year's Masters. Not surprisingly, the latest edition includes a new chapter because of Woods' victory last spring.
Eubanks doesn't cover up the warts -- and they are considerable since we are talking about the most exclusive golf club in America. Arrogance, racism, snobbishness. They're all there.
But, after all is said and done, great golf made the Masters what it is. It helped, too, that one of the guys hanging out with Bobby Jones -- whose idea it was to build a golf course to host an invitational tournament for friends -- was a sportswriter named Grantland Rice.
What made the Masters one of golf's majors, though, was that its champions were among the greatest golfers of their time -- Gene Sarazen, whose double-eagle at the par-5 15th was the shot heard around the golf world in 1935; Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead. Also, Arnold Palmer, who came along at almost the same time as television. And then Jack Nicklaus and now Tiger Woods.
Great golf in a great setting. An unbeatable combination.
JONES was the greatest amateur golfer in history. He never turned pro. He would have loved Woods. Both captured the imagination of the fans. Jones threw clubs, too.
Tiger comes to mind after reading the account of the first tournament in 1934 in the New York Times. No longer at the top of his game, Jones only played to give the event publicity.
"Jones to Tee Off at Augusta Today," was the headline advancing the event.
"Jones Tied for 35th, Six Behind Leaders," it said after the first round.
"Jones Trails by Eight," at the halfway mark.
"Smith's 212 Leads Jones by Ten," was Saturday's headline.
"Augusta Golf Tournament Won by Horton Smith as Jones Finishes Thirteenth," the Monday Times reported.
Some things never change.
We, too, will be kept abreast of exactly how Tiger is doing, no matter what score he shoots.