Just a shade more than a month to go.
Easter Sunday falls on April 1 and it is a day to proclaim the good news.
HE Is Risen! And The Masters begins that week.
Awesome news.
The Masters can’t get here fast enough.
After checking out the bad gallery behavior that has been a feature on the PGA Tour this year, it’s time for some decorum, time for good behavior, time for people who appreciate where they are and the history of what are golf’s hallowed grounds.
Can’t wait for The Masters.
It was hard not to notice the weird stuff that goes on when Tiger Woods plays. It’s getting worse. Last week at the Honda, might have been the second round, some yobo screamed “Mashed Potatoes!” at impact on a Woods tee shot. Seriously?
Seems countless spectators are obsessed with screaming “Tiiiiiguuuuuurrr!” enough times to make you want to scream “Eldrick!” just to be different.
Then there was the Justin Thomas incident last Sunday at the Honda.
When Thomas was preparing to hit his tee shot at the par four 16th, some bozo screamed something like “hit it in the water!”
J.T. shook that off and laced one and while his shot was in the air, the same bozo screamed something like “get in the bunker!”
Thomas had enough, faced the guy down and had him ejected from the course.
J.T. took a lot of heat for it on social media but what the heck? J.T. and Rory McIlroy were paired with Tiger Woods at the Genesis two weeks ago and it got out of hand enough that Rory had a fan ejected from Riviera.
After taking the social media heat, J.T. came back and said he regretted having the rowdy fan ejected from PGA National.
Which brings us back to Augusta National.
There’s a reason The Masters is the toughest ticket in sports, there’s a reason the players love the tournament more than any other.
It’s all done right at Augusta.
Everything.
No screaming, no blurting “Mashed Potatoes” or the other crazy one “Baba-Louie” and certainly no one screaming “Get in the hole!” when players hit drives on par fives.
What you get at Augusta National are roars — real roars — roars that echo through the back nine. The back nine sits down in a bowl on the property and the roars are amazing. Back in the day, the patrons would tell you “that’s a Palmer roar” or “that’s a Nicklaus roar.”
Then there came the “Tiger roars.”
People don’t get rowdy at Augusta National, no one wants to be escorted out. You also stand the risk of getting zapped off the patron ticket list.
Folk are very careful who they give their tickets to if they aren’t attending in person. Give ’em to the wrong person and you might lose them permanently. Give them to someone who’s trying to scalp them off the property and there’s no doubt you’re done on the ticket list.
Things are getting a bit out of hand at a lot of PGA Tour stops and the tour isn’t doing much about it.
The good news is that the PGA Tour has nothing to do with The Masters.
Nothing at all.
This one’s run by Fred Ridley and his committees.
Thank goodness.
The Masters can’t get here soon enough.
9 Comments
beege
Hi Tom,
did tiger show you anything that makes you seriously feel he is ready to win? come on he is not close to winning…….am i the only one—he played well but well is never going to be good enough anymore on tour–you must excel……and then finish……golf channel continues to subordinate to him and philly–stop it…………to win you must be on all facets of your game and then some..by the way 14 round “veteran” Sam Burns beat him head to head sunday…….i guess he still intimidates???
thank you as my predictions continue……….
yours truly,
robert J geismar
master predictor
Tom Edrington
Bob: I thought Tiger showed a lot considering it was just his second round back…..I want to see how he does at Bay Hill before I pass more serious opinions on his game. Because he knows how to play Augusta National properly, he can play well there, don’t think he can win but he can make his presence known….I see he’s already jumped to 16-1 in the odds, tied with Rickie Fowler.
beege
he did show a lot but not even close to winning form—the pundits that exaggerate his proficiency are not realistic–bay hill is another test for him and as far as augusta—he should play well there also but the kids are so solid–the thing here is that no one fears him they are beyond that even i believe at augusta….when jack won in 1986–Kite, norman and seve all choked like dogs on a bone..those days are over–by the way isn’t that amazing to think about it–three future hall of famers choking? five weeks away. i can wait because march madness is coming and its my favorite—i love the tournament!!!
Tom Edrington
Bob, agreed, agreed and agreed. I’m glad golf goes over to NBC, they don’t stick it behind a college basketball game and basketball games always run late it takes a half hour to play the last 5 minutes.
RM
Powers that be need to squash the crappy fan behavior immediately and decisively. I get the whole need to grow the game thing but golf doesn’t need to kowtow to drunken idiots to survive. A few rotten apples screw it up for the vast normal majority. Just do it.
Tom Edrington
Glad it’s not my imagination!
markburkhart59@yahoo.com
Ya some of the fans have turned turned into idiots. To tell JT to hit it in the water just before he tees off is WAY out of line. That guy deservesd to be kicked out. You don’t (plant) a seed like that before someone hits a shot not even to ur buddy.. People who play serious golf try and block the trouble out. That pisses me off even.. The PGA should try and dosomething
Tom Edrington
Sadly, not much has been done, I know they’re adding extra security for Tiger this week.
markburkhart59@yahoo.com
Keep the party at Phoebux. That tourney it is expected to be rowdy. But still not rudeness directed at the players .