It was indeed a great thing to see Lee Elder honored early Thursday morning as an honorary starter on the first tee at the 85th Masters.
Lee was there along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player for the traditional opening ceremony for this annual rite of spring.
It was also sad at the same time. As Nicklaus and Player worked their way to the tee box, Elder sat with oxygen tubes in his nose and a portable oxygen unit behind him. He has battled diabetes for more than 20 years and that disease, along with other health problems has taken its toll. Elder cannot walk and it was no surprise that he was unable to actually hit a tee shot along with Nicklaus and Player.
With help, he stood up, pointed the way for the opening tee shots, received great applause and posed for photos with Jack and Gary.
The diabetes has also robbed him of vision in his left eye.
Still, Elder wouldn’t have missed the moment for anything.
“To me, my heart is very soft this morning, not heavy soft, soft because of the wonderful things that I have encountered since arriving here on Monday and being able to see some of the great friends that I have made over the past years, especially like these two gentlemen (Nicklaus and Player) that are here,” Elder said.
To further honor Elder, Augusta National Golf Club will be endowing two golf scholarships in Elder’s name — one for the men’s golf team and one for the women’s team team at Paine College, a historically Black college in Augusta.
Masters Notes:
Tiger Woods, the five-time champion and winner in 2019, is recovering from his injuries back home in Jupiter.
There was buzz everywhere this week as the L.A. County Sheriff’s investigation released findings from the black box of the Genesis SUV that Woods was driving when he crashed.
The report shows Woods was going in excess of 80 miles per hour, in the 84-87 mile per hour range on a stretch of road that is infamous for accidents.
With those facts surfacing, it reaffirms that Woods is fortunate to have survived.
Abraham Ancer Penalized:
Abraham Ancer channeled Patrick Reed on Thursday. He thought he finished his day with a respectable one-over par 73. A few hours later, a video review showed he accidentally brushed the sand with his club before he hit his third shot from the greenside bunker at the par-five 15th. It cost him two shots.
The 75 left him 10 shots behind leader Justin Rose but still in position to make the 36-hole cut on Friday with a decent round.
“While I’m gutted, I can’t wait to get after it tomorrow,” Ancer wrote on his Twitter account later in the evening. .
It was evident from the outset that Brooks Koepka’s right knee was bothering him during his first round.
Koepka limped noticeably and his game showed a lot of rust from his recovery layoff. He hit just nine fairways and only 10 greens on his way to a 74.
He was seen resting on tee box benches most of the day while waiting to his his tee shots.
“I just didn’t swing it great,” he said afterward. “It’s tired right now, I’m not going to lie. But I’ve just got to play better. It’s not getting any worse; it’s only getting better with everything we do,” he said. “It feels a hell of a lot better than it did a week ago, I’ll put it that way.”
Bernd Gets Burnt At Par Five 15th:
Bernd Wiesberger was in pretty good shape after hitting his second shot onto the green at the par five 15th on Thursday.
He was just two-over for the day, eagle would get him back to even, a two-putt birdie would put at at one-over with three to play. He lined up his 43-foot putt but underestimated the speed.
His ball rolled downhill toward the hole and kept on rolling, past the hole and headed for the steep bank. Water city. He ended up with bogey, made another at 16 and after shooting one-under on the front nine, signed for a 40 coming home.
The Snowmen Cometh:
As difficult as the conditions were on Thursday, it’s surprising there weren’t more scores in the 80s.
U.S. Amateur champ Tyler Strafaci shot 80, British Amateur champ Joe Long signed for 82 along with Carlos Ortiz. Former Masters champions who did fare too well were Sandy Lyle (81) and Larry Mize (84).
2 Comments
baxter cepeda
Nothing sad about that Tom.
I loved the way mr Elder raised his club.
I was feeling it; knowing this great man will go to heaven happy.
Just beautiful.
Tom Edrington
I was sad because once you are on oxygen full-time, it’s never a good thing and your body doesn’t last long, have seen it up close and personal; I knew his health wasn’t good, just didn’t know how bad it was until I saw the unit behind him. Diabetes is an awful disease; Glad he made it, we should all say a prayer for his health to somehow get better.