The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Roars missing from the Masters this year
Sound is the essence of the Masters. With no patrons this year, a big part of Augusta National will be missing when the tournament tees off Nov. 12.
AUGUSTA, GA. » The roars were endless Sunday at the Masters, coming from everywhere for just about everyone.
One moment stood out in 2011.
From below the rise of the fairway on the par-5 eighth hole, it sounded like a sonic boom. That was an eagle cheer coming from the green, no doubt. But for whom?
“Tiger Woods just came through,” a marshal said, and thus ended the mystery. But it didn’t end there. Woods, who started that final round seven shots out of the lead, now was tied for the lead. Moments later, as Woods headed to the ninth tee, another cheer rang out from the 18th green. And then, another one down by Amen Corner. And then a third cheer in the direction of the 15th green.
More birdies? Eagles? No, it was the crowd scattered across the golf course responding to seeing scoreboards change as Woods moved into a tie for the lead. He couldn’t keep it going. That was the year eight players had at least a share of the lead at some point on the back nine until Charl Schwartzel finished with four straight birdies.
An incredible day. Amazing atmosphere.
And now, silence. This Masters in November will be missing the patrons because of the COVID-19 pandemic and missing the very essence of what makes Augusta National so magical.
“It echoes there. It travels,” Woods said. “It’s unlike any place in the world.”
Woods has heard his share. He probably can still hear the lustrous chants of “Tiger! Tiger!” after he celebrated a fifth and most unlikely Masters victory last year. Or the change in pitch from anticipation to letdown to delirium when
his chip on the 16th hole in 2005 trickled down the hill, stopped for a full second on the brim of the cup until gravity took over and the ball dropped for a birdie.
Ask what one moment stood out and it wasn’t even for him.
He was paired in the final round with Davis Love III in 1998. Right behind them was 58-year-old Jack Nicklaus, making an early charge, chipping in for birdie on No. 3.
“The roars were so much louder. Those were Nicklaus roars,” Woods said. “And that’s what I had grown up watching and got a chance to experience in person.”
Nicklaus had company in producing a cheer that Phil Mickelson still remembers. It was the second round of 1991. Mickelson, the 20-year-old U.S. Amateur champion, opened with a 69 and was on the 18th green.
“Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus were playing together and on the 16th green, one of them made
the putt from down below to the front right upon-top pin. And the place erupted to the point where the ground actually shook and you could feel the vibrations in my feet,” Mickelson said.
“And moments later, the other player — I don’t know who putted first between Tom and Jack — made the same putt and the place erupted again,” he said. “That was my first Masters.”
A charge even more stunning than Woods in 2011 — which also fell short — was Jordan Spieth in 2018. He started the final round nine shots behind, and his birdie on the 16th put him at 9-under for the day and tied with Patrick Reed. Along for the ride that day was Justin Thomas, friends with Spieth since they were teenagers.
“He made about a 35-footer and that was the loudest roar I’ve ever heard in my life. It felt like the ground was moving. It was insane,” Thomas said. “I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it, talking about it. It was unreal.”
Louis Oosthuizen could hear better than he could see when in 2012 he became the only player to make an albatross on the par-5 second hole, holing a 4-iron from 253 yards. He never saw the ball go in the hole, but he saw the people.
And he could hear them.