What a weekend in Georgia. That roar
we all heard was the sound of a Bengal tiger who had just made another trophy
kill, and most who heard it were delighted, excited, and deliriously joyful.
Some, however, were not so full of joy, still thinking of Tiger Woods as just
another lucky, cocky, uppity black (fill in the “n-word” here). We may have
come a long way in race relations, but there are still too many old fogies with
red necks (fill in “retirees” here) who actively dislike Tiger Woods. Young
people of all ages, but especially pre-teen boys and girls, are now embracing
him as he was never embraced during the glory years from 1997 to 2005. Too bad
for all the non-embracing old folks, though. They missed out on the celebration
that followed Tiger’s fifth win at the Masters. It was good for him; it was
good for the game; it was good for a world that’s grown weary of WH ego tweets.
If Tiger can come back from his physical, mental, and emotional problems over
the last decade, then maybe we as a nation can come back to political sanity in
2020.
More Augusta observations: The golf
course was even more gorgeous than ever before. It looked like they’d hired
thousands of tiny gardeners with tiny scissors to hand-trim every blade of
grass, kneeling in worship as they clipped each hole to resplendent beauty. There
was a fear that thunderstorms would have the audacity to rain on Augusta
National’s parade, but even the rain gods realized what a mistake that would be
and stayed away for most of the four days. 
What
was the pivotal hole on Sunday? It was that little dream-killer the par-3 12th.
Jordan Spieth, in 2017 found out about what pressure can do, dumping two shots
in Rae’s Creek to lose what should have been a walk-in win. And Francesco Molinari
felt the tightening collar when he got there with a two-stroke lead and hit it
in the water. All along, I’d thought of him as the Italian assassin because he
seemingly never made a mistake, making only his second bogey of the first three
and a half rounds. Until he got to number 12 and double bogeyed it. From there
to fifteen, he and Tiger were tied until Molinari dumped another in the water
on the par-5 15th for another double bogey. Goodbye, Francesco. The
Tiger pressure and the pressure of the second nine on Sunday finally assassinated
the assassin.
This
was Tiger’s 5th green jacket and his 15th major. The
Masters, because of its extremely limited field, was probably the most likely
place for him to win another major. But, guess what? Who do you suppose will be
favored to win next month’s PGA at Beth Page or the US Open at Pebblebeach or
the Open in Northern Ireland? Yep, probably Tiger. But that may not hold true
if he doesn’t play well in May at Beth Page. Will the Comeback continue or will
this 15th win be his swan song? We’ll see.
Now that Johnny Miller is gone as golf’s
premier analyst, who’s left to call it like it is or make any controversial and
astute comments about the game and those who play it? Paul Azinger was supposed
to be his replacement but he hasn’t given any indication that he can do it.
Curtis Strange, although he’s finally seen the wisdom of getting rid of his
Southern drawl, is still pretty stupid. CBS’s go-to guy Peter Kostis, in his
annoying soft-speak, makes too many too obvious comments about the action. And one
of the Golf Channel’s spokespeople, Brandel Chamblee, tries to sound
all-knowing by making controversial comments but comes off as seeking attention
only by controversy. Brooks Koepka called him out when he said that Koepka’s rapid
weight loss was the stupidest thing he might have done. I guess that the one I’d
most like to see as golf guru on regular telecasting would be David Feherty,
who is as funny as he is insightful.
Now, to beat on this not-yet-dead
horse, I must comment on the debate about leaving the flagstick in or taking it
out when one is putting. No one has yet mentioned that much of this decision
should rest on what kind of flagstick is being used. The lighter the stick the
more one should use it. In the very old days, a bamboo flagstick was very
lightweight and most receptive to a ball hitting it. Then came the fiberglass
sticks which were also light and receptive. All studies showed that more chips
were made with it in than with it out. Dave Pelz, an old-time putting guru, has
done several studies that showed statistically that more shots were made with
the flagstick in than with it out. However, that was when fiberglass was still
being used. Now that it’s legal to leave it in when putting, what do the
studies show? I noticed that the ones being used at the Masters were the new metal
sticks, narrow at the bottom but much wider up from there, much heavier and
less receptive to balls striking them. These heavier flagsticks will make it a
more difficult decision about leaving it or taking it out. The debate will
continue throughout the rest of this season. I’m guessing that by then, about
half the professional players will leave it in, half will take it out. But
amateurs should leave it in all the time.
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