Andrew Cotter
Why the Masters is so much more than merely the first Major of the year
The Masters really can’t come quickly enough. From the moment the final putt disappears at the US PGA, golf connoisseurs begin the long countdown until the opening tee shot at Augusta. Despite the best efforts of global tours to keep things alive and swinging through the winter months, your average golf watcher is still largely a seasonal creature – tucking themselves up like grizzly bears until awakened by the scent of pine trees and azaleas. And the hibernation may become even longer if potential plans are realised to move the US PGA to a date in May.
That’s not to say there aren’t fine tournaments through the dark months. The end of tour cash-grabs on the PGA and European Tours are enough to pique the interest of some viewers as well as players’ accountants; and the events in China and the Middle East tend to attract some of the strongest fields of the year.
But it is the Majors which make up the four-cylinder engine driving golf – with the additional super-charging of The Ryder Cup every couple of years.
Golf largely drifts out of sight behind more established autumn and winter sports from September to March. Even in the summer, coverage is scarce enough now – but in the quieter part of the season it is a real concern to see how little air the sport breathes in the mainstream media.
For months, we have had only drops of golfing news making headlines. And not many of those concern on-course achievements. Highest on the agenda have been stories of Tiger’s inevitable decline and then Rory Mcilroy returning from injury to play with a curiously confident fellow in a red baseball cap.
Incidentally, brief thoughts on Rory and The Don (keep reading – it’ll be over soon). I am a big admirer of Mcilroy, but I do think it was a mistake to play golf with Trump and pose for a smiling picture afterwards, arm around the presidential one.
One of Mcilroy’s most admirable qualities is to be honest, open, engaging and to generally not be affected by what other people think, but sometimes you simply cannot be detached and unaware of the bigger picture. The card ‘Hey, I’m just a sportsman, politics isn’t for me’ can’t be played.
A well-worded statement was swiftly produced, explaining that this did not mean he necessarily agreed with the policies – it was just a round of golf. But the golf and cheery photo is unwittingly a tacit endorsement. For some of you that will be fine, but if Mcilroy himself wanted to avoid getting involved in politics then he should probably best have steered clear of a controversial and deeply divisive figure. Anyway, perhaps that is a discussion for another day. Or never. Let’s move on.
Other snippets of golf news surfaced briefly during this quieter time of year. Women, we saw, will be members at The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers; Jason Day did himself a mischief again and both the R&A and the USGA have provided their own alternative facts with research showing that golf balls are not going any further. There has also been the introduction of six-hole golf. The idea of trying something different is certainly something to be applauded, with the only caveat being that for it to succeed it has to get extensive coverage. But in truth none of this really satisfies our appetite for golf. Proper, wonderful, Major golf.
And so we wait for Augusta, glorious Augusta, to bring an end to the dead season. By virtue of its place in the calendar it may well be the most important tournament in the game.
It reminds people that golf exists. It shows them again that it can be colourful and dramatic and exciting.
This year we will have Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth all in fine form, each hoping that Danny Willett will be waiting for them in the Butler Cabin.
Tiger will try to rage against the dying of the light, hoping to echo Nicklaus in 1986, but more likely to be only a shadow of his once brilliant self. Either
way, it will be compelling. And of course Mcilroy will be there, looking for the final piece of the Grand Slam puzzle – playing for a green jacket rather than with an unstable braggart who possesses nuclear launch codes. These are the stories and Augusta is the place which ends the waiting. It is the tournament to remind you of the brilliance of the game. That’s why I hope that BBC TV continues with its current deal to broadcast live the weekend of The Masters. Not for purely selfish reasons, but because it enables the largest number of people – both golf fans and those who aren’t – to see it. To see what golf can be. And with that I am off to squeeze in a quick 18 holes which I’ve arranged with Kim Jong-un. I just think it’s interesting how he came to power – it doesn’t mean I agree with his policies. I might stop short of the photo though.
‘By virtue of its place in the calendar it may well be the most important event in the game’
Part of the BBC commentary team, Andrew Cotter grew up tackling Ayrshire’s links and plays off 3. Follow him on Twitter (@Mrandrewcotter)