The kids are all right with Payne as he seeks to expand reach of game
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Ever since Augusta National, under chairman Billy Payne’s guidance, got rid of the men-only albatross that had hung over the golf club and the Masters for years, Payne’s annual news conferences have revealed more and more of his personality.
Wednesday, flushed with success from the national Drive, Pitch and Putt finals that were held at the National — and televised nationally — on the weekend, it was entirely a good news event, with not a single difficult question.
Payne called the Mas ters’ grow-the-game youth initiative “one of the most powerful days of my life,” and indeed, it was an inspiring effort, not only for the awestruck kids who took part but likely for those watching at home, and definitely for the officials and players, like Bubba Watson and Jason Day and 2013 cham pion Adam Scott, who rallied around the kids while they competed.
“I was trying to think about how I had been impacted like that before, and I can only go back to, I used to ask my mother, ‘How will I know when I meet my wife?’ And she would always say, ‘Well, you’ll know. You’ll know,’” Payne said. “And Saturday night at the banquet preceding the Sunday competition, I knew. I knew that there was something very special in these kids and their families, and (their) excitement and anticipation.”
The plan is to expand to 250 quali fy ing venues in all 50 states, with more than 50,000 kids trying to qualify for the finals. Augusta National intends to remain the host. If the R&A does likewise internationally, it could be a giant step toward getting a younger generation into the game.
Payne’s greatest hits from Wednesday:
• On the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews preparing to vote on admitting female members: “Well, I’m proud to be a member of the R&A and I bet you can guess how I’m going to vote. Other than that, I would respect their process, their requirement to conduct a vote...and as I’ve said, I know where one vote is going to be cast.”
• On where he is with the “todo” list he had when he took the chairman’s job in 2006: “Well, I had no list because I didn’t know anything about the job. When I became a member of Augusta National, I had dreams of becoming a scratch golfer (laughter). However, I compete quite well here because I’m also chairman of the handicap committee.”
• On how the club intends to repair the damage to trees caused by the February ice storm: “There are some areas that will, as soon as this summer, have some significant, immediate planning, others that will take longer, either because we’re going to wait and see, or we can’t find specimens large enough to really make the difference. But we still think it’s beautiful.” ----------Phil Mickelson lost a dollar bet with a fan behind the sixth green during a practice round, and had to pay up.
“He was mouthing off about a hard shot, get this up-and-down, no chance, blah, blah, blah. And it wasn’t that hard a shot, and I should have gotten it up-and-down,” Mickelson said, to much laughter. “And I did hit a good shot. I had a seven-footer straight uphill and I missed it, and I had to pay him.”
Someone asked if he really carried $1 bills?
“I had to get a five from a caddy,” he said. -------Ten years after his breakthrough first major win at the Masters, Mickelson was asked about his strongest memory of that Sunday.
“I jumped so high I almost hit lightning that day,” he said, of his much-mocked victory leap. “Unfortunately the photographers, they just didn’t time it right, so it’s very (laughter)...yeah, I felt like that was an unfair assessment of that leap, because I probably could have dunked a basketball if need be.” -------It’s been an even 50 years since Arnold Palmer won his fourth Masters — the last major of his career — and he said the thing he liked best about it was that he had a big lead coming up the 18th. He’d had to grind for the previous three.
“Dave Marr was my playing partner and also a friend, and when we teed off at 18 the last day, I was comfortable. I felt like if I could just keep it down that narrow fairway, I would be all right, and I sort of casually said to David, ‘If I can help you, David, I will,’” Palmer said.
“And he looked at me and he says, ‘ You can help me,‘ and I said, ‘ How is that, David?‘ He says, ‘Make nine.” (Laughter). -------Rory McIlroy said he thinks it’s important for a sport to have a dominant figure, which is why Tiger Woods’ injury is worrisome.
“The Tiger ef fect on golf has been huge from the mid ’90s up until now. I think any sport benefits from a dominant figure like that to not really drive the game forward, but to maybe be the legend, like LeBron James, for example, at the minute, in basketball, or Cristiano Ronaldo in football or (Lionel) Messi. It’s been Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal in tennis, people like that, people that win on a regular basis and people you can sort of look up to as heroes.”