The first shot I saw live at Augusta National was Shane Lowry hitting his ball in the water on the famous Golden Bell par-3 12th. I suppose getting those shots out of the way on the Monday of the Masters never did anyone any harm.
Fittingly, waiting your whole life for your first Masters, seeing a golf ball that seemed destined to dance around the flag come up a few inches short of the green and trickle helplessly into Rae’s Creek is EXACTLY the content I came to see. The pin was in its famous Sunday position, hopefully Shane can avoid a watery grave if in contention after 65 holes.
I was reliably informed that he found Rae’s Creek on the 11th also. But he soon warmed into things and after finding the fairway on the 13th he stuck two 3-woods inside 15-feet for good measure.
Standing above the 12th tee just after 8am, there isn’t a breath of wind, or so it appears. I guess that’s the magic of this short little hole. I glance at the drop zone where things all went wrong for Spieth and I think “how?” It is baffling how when on a hole where there is an obvious safety play, that people succumb to disaster.
The famous saying is that the Masters doesn’t begin until the back nine on Sunday and as I scurried along the pine-straw, shots of Masters past both good and bad came flooding back. See, that’s the thing about Augusta National, even though this is my first time I feel like I have been here before.
Spectators, sorry, patrons murmur and reminisce of famous shots that have been played. One guy swore that he was standing on the exact spot that Phil Mickelson delivered that famous 6-iron on the par-5 13th to four-feet from the pine-straw. As McIlroy did on 15 last year, Phil missed the putt.
I was of course drawn to that, trying to relive it in my mind and come up with my own strategy from that position. But I was also struck by how far the fairway slopes from right to left and I will go into more detail on that later but my mind boggled at how McIlroy managed to fluff that wedge into the water last year.
In fact, McIlroy came into most of my Masters memories on my first walk on the Augusta National turf. Mistakingly and regrettably, I walked the 10th hole from green to tee and I’ve never climbed a hill like it. Ringing in my brain was the McIlroy “is there out of bounds over there” when the then bushy haired youngster snap hooked his tee shot off the planet left. In the recent Prime documentary on his grand slam win last year, McIlroy reflected on that shot and how the ball nestled near two cabins that he didn’t know existed.
Well, they do exist and as I stared at them my mind went back to 2011 and his second shot and the narrow sliver of a gap he was able to squeeze the ball through to get back into play – albeit briefly.
Obviously, McIlroy memories were of the positive variety as well. Standing adjacent to where he hit that famous hook on the par-5 15th and it was made to look even more remarkable from a green-side position, how he managed that I will never know I am still struggling now to find the perfect landing position on the putting surface. The gap he found from the left trees on the 7th just simply does not exist – not to us mortals anyway.
It’s the old cliché but the slopes on the fairways and greens are far more extreme than what is seen on the TV and even the look ridiculous. The par-3 6th green looks like it belongs on a crazy golf course, how anyone can hold for the back left or right pins is beyond me.
Creativity on and around the greens is of paramount importance at Augusta National and the practice rounds is where you will see most of it as the players have a bit more fun than they would in the tournament proper. Players chipping sideways, up slopes, down slopes, putting backwards and at 90 degree angles. The 7th and 9th greens look incredibly penal but there is something magical about being 15-feet from the hole and aiming 30 feet left to try and use a slope to feather the ball towards its destination. First timers like Tom McKibbin were busy getting creative and painting all sorts of lines on Augusta’s canvas.
The press room is heaving with anticipation and excitement. In a brief huddle with fellow journalists from Ireland, Scotland and America of the five of us we each had a different winner come Sunday and nobody said Rory or Scottie, perhaps that shows how open the 90th edition is or that we know nothing.
The sun begins to set and the heaving buzz of the first day of practice at Augusta turns to an oasis of serenity and it’s clear that the starstruck element is wearing off and I have grown comfortable with my surroundings as I lie at the back of the 9th green and pick at the grass. One last observation of the day is a man walking by me wearing flip flops.
Either he is experienced enough to know he can get away with it or he has made a terrible rookie mistake.
Day two promises much with a day set to be spent in the interview room as big hitters face the media including a certain defending champion.
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