The 89th Masters golf tournament was followed by people world-wide, golfers or not. It’s not unusual for publishers to use that big event to introduce their newest books, and – since I dabble with book reviews periodically – it’s not unusual for those publishers to send me their books for review purposes.
The week before the Masters teed off at Georgia’s Augusta National I received a copy of “Together We Roared,’’ an interesting account of the glory days of Tiger Woods and his long-time caddie, Steve Williams. It was written in third person but Williams was a co-author with Evin Priest (William Morrow, an imprint of Harper/Collins Publishers). It was a nice rehash of many of the great moments that Woods provided us.
Those days, though, are gone. Woods, 49, hasn’t won a tournament since 2019 – the year he captured his last Masters and the 82nd and last win in a PGA Tour event. He didn’t even attend this year’s Masters, not even the past champions dinner, while recovering from a torn Achilles that required surgery in March.
Yes, the Woods Era is over. It probably would have ended much sooner, but there was no player to replace him. Now there is.
Rory McIlroy didn’t just win the Masters on Sunday. He became the first golfer since Woods to complete the career Grand Slam. Only five had done it before McIlroy – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods.
Winning titles in the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and The (British) Open is no small feat, and McIlroy’s emotional reaction, dropping to his knees and sobbing uncontrollably after the last putt dropped, was a fitting climax to an historic day in sports.
I had a personal reason for being delighted by the result. Picking the winner in the Masters is an annual rite of spring for golf columnists. I made my first pick in 1986 – the first year I covered the Masters in person. My Masters picks were made for publication every year since then, but tabbing McIlroy to win last week in the Daily Herald was only my third winner. The others were Fred Couples in 1992 and Scottie Scheffler in 2022.
McIlroy may never match Woods’ records, but he did surpass the drama on Sunday in my memory book.
There are four most memorable Masters in my years. The first was in 1975, when Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf and Nicklaus were paired as a threesome in the final round. It came down to the final hole and final putts by each, Nicklaus knocking his in last for the victory. Lots of drama that day.
Even more came in 1986, my first Masters on site at Augusta National. Nicklaus won his record sixth title that year thanks to a heart-pounding final round. That was the most memorable day writing-wise in my professional career. And, then there was 1987. A year after Nicklaus’ last win the Masters was decided in a playoff with relative unknown Larry Mize beating legends Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in sudden death.
And now for McIlroy’s win. “His Era’’ may not last as long as the Nicklaus and Woods reigns. Scheffler is fine player, though not as charismatic as the others.
Still, professional golf needed a day with all the excitement that McIlroy’s win provided. The sport that’s been struggling through conflicts between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Players from both circuits play together in the Masters, but in very few other events. Golf needs more such tournaments. This year’s Masters underscored that.