At Augusta National Golf Club, tradition is not a game. It is the very meaning of existence, it is a religion with its priests dressed in green who pass on the meaning of arcane rites and esoteric signals. Every year, in the second week of April, adoring believers are shown the perfect lawns, majestic trees, greens and fairways that golfers around the world dream of one day touching.
tradition
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Tradition holds together the past, the present and the future and each time reconstructs the fabric on which this myth is nourished. Memory is cultivated in all its aspects: it can be the Green Jacket given to the winner, the merchandising that is sold only in the pro shop and not online, the ban on spectators from racing, the absolute prohibition for any commercial brand to wear on display inside the club, or it is a meeting at the table between the past champions, i.e. the Tuesday evening dinner which brings together the very few who have had the luck and ability to win the Masters. The menu is designed and offered by the reigning champion, in this case Jon Rahm, who made diners taste the delights of Spanish cuisine curated by chef José Andrés. This year there were 33, plus the club president, Fred Ridley. There are no wives, there are no chaperones. Just the golf gods chatting amongst themselves. Among those eligible were Scotsman Sandy Lyle and Angel Cabrera, who did not obtain a visa for the United States because he has just been released from an Argentine prison where he was detained for two years for domestic violence. And Americans, as we know, don’t joke about certain things at all.
forever
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Everyone shows up at the dinner for two reasons: the first is that being there is more than a duty, it would be like for a cardinal to miss a conclave. The second is that half of them are not here to do public relations, but because they are playing the Masters today. And if for some it is normal because they are still in the midst of their career, for others it is not. There are people who are 64 years old like Fred Couples, or 58 like Josè Maria Olazabal or 61 like Vijay Singh. Whoever wins the Masters also gets the right to play it forever. It’s just common sense that suggests at a certain moment to say enough is enough. Three of them, the most important, the most charismatic, are still asked to take the first shot of the tournament. This year they are Jack Nicklaus, 84 years old, Gary Player, 88, and Tom Watson, 74. No one knows for sure what happens behind the doors of the room, one can imagine the speeches, the jokes, the complicity. Memories. There are people who would pay millions to be part of this elite group, finishing your career without the Masters is a lifelong disappointment that you are reminded of every second Tuesday in April.
tiger is there
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In the photo, in the third row, is Tiger Woods. He won five, only Nicklaus was better with six. Today he will play late, at 1.24pm local time, 6.24pm in Italy. Nobody believes in a miracle, even if he smiles slyly and says that if he is here it is clearly to win: “I think I really have a chance of winning the Masters for the sixth time.” For him it is tournament number 26, only once did he fail to make the cut, it happened when he was still an amateur way back in 1996. Since then a streak of 23 passes per weekend, if he were to do so again this time he would establish the absolute record, surpassing the record that for the moment he shares with Gary Player and Fred Couples. He is 48 years old, has infinite self-confidence and is still the emotional center of gravity of the golf world. Today people will look above all at him, and if perhaps no one really expects Tiger to choose the menu for the next dinner – by the way, the first time he proposed cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes, after all he was only 22 years old – it is undeniable that Masters number 88 has him on the cover. Because Scheffler is fine, McIlroy is fine, but as long as Tiger is on the pitch he immediately becomes the center of attention.
