Masters Reflection

My favorite week in sports has come and gone, and the Masters was beautiful, dramatic and full of controversy but I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Those select few of you who know me will fully understand that from April 10 through April 14, I spent the majority of my schedule glued to a screen gorging myself on golf. Guan Tianlang, Tiger Woods, Jason Day and Angel Cabrera made headlines at Augusta this past week for a variety of reasons, but the dawning of the Green Jacket was Adam Scott’s pleasure. As the first Australian to do so, Scott erased the legacy of Aussie embarrassment that weighed heavily on former great Greg “The Shark” Norman. The CBS coverage was impressive, but as the playoff between Scott and Cabrera began there was no more poignant point made then when it was said that it’s better to see someone win the Green Jacket than lose it. Scott did just that in a thrilling birdie, par, birdie overtime finish that literally kept me on the edge of my seat. Adam Scott was originally heralded as a young gun capable of dethroning Tiger, but we all know how that has turned out. Tiger has 14 majors to Scott’s one. I have always liked Scott for several reasons, the most important of those is his immaculate golf swing. If only my swing was in the same universe as such a crisp and powerful striker as Scott there would be far less shame to my game. Scott unfortunately has two strikes in my book, but he was still my man headed into the playoffs. Of course I was cheering for Tiger until late Sunday, but Jason Day (also an Aussie) was my dark horse. Unfortunately for Day, he wasn’t able to seal the deal (for the second time). Getting back to the man of the hour though, these two strikes against Scott are because of club selection and the man behind the bag. Scott is one of two recent major winners (Keegan Bradley is the other) who favors the long putter. The long putter has been a subject of much debate recently, but to keep it centered on the Masters, I will just say that I agree with the PGA and that your putter should be no longer than the shortest club in your bag. The second strike against Scott is that Stevie Williams is on his bag. I don’t blame or hate on Scott for taking advantage of a good caddie who was on the bag for 13 previous majors before being hired, but I don’t like Williams. Many people abandoned Tiger when he went through the personal struggle a few years back, but the way Williams through him under the bus has always sat wrong with me. I don’t know the ins and outs of the personal dilemma between the two, I’m just saying that it doesn’t pass the eyeball test. I look forward to the next three majors of the year and Scott will still be in my top five contestants but we all know what happens in baseball when you get your third strike.