Hard to put yesterday into words. For a number of years I’ve thought that someday, while my dad is still healthy enough to get around the course, I should just swallow hard and get us a couple badges for Masters Sunday on the secondary market. A few months back I decided this would be the year and I picked one up for my brother as well, and then my cousin bit the bullet and bought one for himself to make us four.
At the beginning of the week I would have been satisfied if Tiger made the cut and if even *most* of Sunday’s round was completed. It’s been a long time since I obsessed over a weather forecast like this. As the week went on we gradually allowed our hopes to go higher. Tiger’s going to make the cut, imagine if he actually contends? What if he gets to 12 with a chance? What if he’s in the final group? As each hurdle was cleared the weekend became more and more unreal.
If you’ve ever been to a major you know that you simply can’t see everything. If you commit to seeing a group come through a certain hole you’re going to miss at least one adjacent hole. We were incredibly lucky to catch a lot of Tiger’s pivotal holes. The birdie on 3, the huge putt for birdie on 8, basically all of Amen Corner from the par save on 11 through the incredible drama of 12 and up to the drive on 14. Walking from 14 tee where we saw Mickelson’s group hit down to the area behind 12 tee to catch Tiger was a ridiculously heightened feeling. I feel like I’ve been to a good number of big events over the years but I was really overcome by this feeling of: holy fuck this is really Amen Corner on Masters Sunday.
After seeing Tiger hit on 14 we then staked out 16 tee and missed everything on 15 but had a good view of what was probably the shot of the tournament. Left 16 before the tap in and got to 17 green where we had a good look at what proved to be a crucial approach and par. Had a great look at 18 tee then tried to hustle up to 18 green where.....we couldn’t see shit. Stood on the slope between the green and clubhouse, heard the roar, chanted Ti-ger Ti-ger, and watched him come by. Although ANGC had announced no putting green ceremony we headed over there anyway and the presence of two dozen photographers signaled that it might be worth hanging around. Only maybe 200 people did the same and when he came out to put on the jacket and hold the trophy for the cameras it was a special moment in an incredible day.
Not to be too grand about it but for me a day like yesterday validates why we care about sports at all. It was *everything* that makes it worthwhile: great talent performing at the highest level, high drama, indescribable collective energy, and most of all, just being there with people who are important to you. I’m sure that if I had grown up obsessed with theater or jazz or something else that other thing would have paid off in some kind of transcendent moments, but leaving Augusta yesterday I felt like there’s just nothing in the world like sports at the very highest level. I’ll carry this day around with me for a long, long time.
Tiger Woods is the Masters champion, we were there to see it, and time is no longer undefeated.