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 insiteful 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).
After thoroughly watching this year’s Masters I couldn’t help but wonder, did anyone miss Tiger Woods? I didn’t – at least not during the pulsating four days of competition and the dramatic finish when Rory McIlroy won the title in a sudden death player to become the sixth player in history to complete a career Grand Slam. The means wins in golf’s four major events – the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The (British) Open.
An extraordinary accomplishment for McIlroy, to be sure. He joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods in completing the career Grand Slam.
I had one reason for being delighted by the result. Picking the winner in the Masters is an annual rite of spring for golf columnists and I made my first pick in 1986 – the first year I covered the Masters in person. Picking the winners of golf tournaments is difficult, much harder than forecasting team champions in various sports.
My Masters picks were made for publication every year since then, but tabbing McIlroy to win this one last week in the Daily Herald was only my third such successful pick. The others were Fred Couples in 1992 and Scottie Scheffler in 2022.
Sunday’s wrapup to this year’s Masters was the most dramatic of my years as an official Masters watcher. I can’t help but compare the others, which date back to 1968.
There are four most memorable Masters in my years. The first was in 1975, when Nicklaus, Tom Watson 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. I’ve long felt that was the most memorable event writing-wise in my professional career. But, then there was 1987. A year after Nicklaus’ last win the Masters was decided in a playoff with Larry Mize beating the much more famous Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman in sudden death.
And now for McIlroy’s win. The final scene with him on hands and knees sobbing uncontrollably on the green after his last putt dropped put everything in perspective. Winning a Grand Slam merits such a reaction, and McIlroy’s was as genuine as it gets.
As for Woods, he didn’t attend this Masters. He wasn’t even at the past champions dinner on Tuesday night while recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in March. I suspect he’ll eventually play some events on PGA Tour Champions, but it’s time to declare an end to the Woods Era and look ahead to what comes next in a 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.