DEREK LAWRENSON’S MASTERS MEMORIES

HIGHS

AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN’S AMATEUR

You could almost hear the collective groan in the media centre when Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said they’d ‘identified’ women as a growth sector for the sport, which was certainly a weird way to describe half the world’s population. But this new event gave the much-neglected women’s game a showcase they seized in thrilling fashion, with the duel between champion Jennifer Kupcho (right) and Maria Fassi not only a wonderful advert but a worthy prequel to the Masters itself. A great pleasure, too, to see the faces of so many people witnessing golf’s Eden for the first time.

THE NEW FIFTH TEE

Amazing to think that where the tee is situated used to be a busy two-lane highway a couple of years ago. As ever with Augusta, you’d think it had been part of the grounds since the first Masters in 1934. I’m not usually a fan of adding length to holes to cope with the distance the ball travels these days but this one works because the new tee opens up a different vista and probably adds definition to what was previously a rather plain hole. It has also created a new viewing area for patrons behind the fourth green.

TIGER’S RETURN

There was a marvellous cartoon in the Los Angeles Times on Saturday of the media portrayed as a fawning lapdog clinging to Tiger’s leg. Fair enough, there has been much salivating regarding his comeback, which might have reached new heights of sycophancy/ecstasy in this tournament. But it’s like football writers over Lionel Messi or tennis correspondents with Roger Federer. We’re living in an age of three sportsmen who surely are the best we’ve ever seen in their particular games — so why not celebrate the fact and, yes, fawn a little too much.