The Masters 2017

As Spring arrives life blooms all around us, but, for golfers it means just one thing… The first of the four majors on the PGA Tour. The Augusta Masters or the Masters as it is known is contested annually at the Augusta National Golf Club. The Masters or the Augusta National Invitational tournament as it was first called  began in 1934. This year marks the 81st edition of The Masters (wasn’t played during WW2)
The Augusta Masters is every golfers dream. It presents them the chance to compete on the hallowed turf at Augusta and the chance to win the coveted Green Jacket (the most prestigious prize in golf)

What makes this place so special? It is the only tournament that will still have prestige and interest even if all the big names boycott it. Other tournaments are made big because the whose who of golf decide to show up and participate.
It has an ordinary entrance, its lawns are separated from the road by a random hedge. Its Traditions are what separates it from the other Majors on the PGA Tour.

This tournament still maintains its traditions such as the dress code for caddies (white jumpsuit, green masters cap and white tennis shoes), the concept of placing chairs around the greens, the Champions dinner, etc. The Club is devoid of any sort of advertising boards along its magnificent greens.
The top 50 ranked players of the PGA Tour get an invitation, but a past winner who is ranked 200 or below will be invited as it is a tradition to invite every single past winner.
The tournament is purely invitational and in a way it celebrates golf… all past winners can be assured of an invitation for Masters Tournament for as long as they desire to play the game. It pays tribute to amateurs and allows them to compete alongside professionals in a bid to make the cut for the weekend by being within 50 places of the leader(ties are counted) or within 10 strokes off the leader. (Friday would mean 2 rounds and par for 2 rounds at Augusta is 144. Say the leader has a 4 under par, so anyone with 150 or 6 over par has made the cut and will feature on the weekend)

The only thing that breaks tradition at The Masters is the playoff format if there is a T1(a tie for first spot) after 72 holes.

Another thing that makes the Masters so special is that it is the only major at the same venue each year(U.S. Open, PGA Championship and The Open Championship are held at different venues each year) new layers of history that will be made -- shots, deeds, heroes, victims, villains -- will be on the same place that legends were created. A stunning shot on Azalea will add a layer of history to this hole which has Phil Mickleson's stunning second shot here in 2010 which helped him record a birdie (1 under par) after his ball fell amongst the pines following tee off.

Jordan Speith’s win in just his second Masters Tournament in 2015 was a -18 under par which matched the course record set by a certain Tiger Woods 18 years earlier. Such a record equalling win at another major wouldn’t be looked at with such prestige as the course is different, the difficulty is different. But here both the -18 under pars are looked at in the same light.

Every winner at the Masters joins legendary names in golf such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, etc. as men who have worn the iconic green jacket. The history they make is right above the place where legends of the game made history, they join the company of legends by standing atop the same spot  where those men stood and became legends as they put on the Green Jacket. i.e. Butler's Cabin.

 The iconic Holes on this course are located on Amen Corner.

12^th Hole- Golden Bell

The tee off point on Golden Bell

The 12th Hole of the Augusta National Golf Club is one of the most famous holes in golf. It is a 3 par hole measuring 155 yards. The hole has determined the outcome of many Masters Tournaments. The swirling winds, Rae's Creek and the green angle makes club selection important. The green, guarded with a deep bunker in the front and two bunkers in the rear, is only nine yards deep in the center. En route to the green the player crosses Ben Hogan bridge. In March, the yellow flowered Golden Bell,  blooms behind the green. Its like you have to tee the ball onto the green and failure to do so results in one having to scoop the ball out of the sand or worse the ball  lands on he slope and rolls into Rae’s Creek.

The Green of the Golden Bell

Jordan Speith in 2016 on the final day, blew up a front nine 4 under 32, 5 shots lead when he hit two balls into Rae’s creek and a third shot into a bunker and ended up quadruple bogeying and he fell right back among the rest of the pack. 1 hole blew up his lead as he crumbled over the back 9.

A player and a caddie dressed in white march towards Rae Creek. We can see the slope which carries a ball into Rae's Creek if it was slightly mishit. Also seen are the 3 bunkers on the periphery of the green

13^th Hole- Azalea

The Green of Azalea

13th hole at Augusta National goes beyond the estimated 1,600 azalea bushes that are bursting with blooms down the left side and behind the green of the best little par 5 in golf. You have to hit the ball over a large number of trees and the crowd reaction tells you about the nature of your shot. Balls can land in the rough.

"It was a shot that could have gone the wrong way fast," Watson said. "When you lose the ball over the trees, that's when you get nervous because you can't see it. When you hear the roar of a crowd, you can breathe again. When you hear a roar on a tee shot, you know you've done good."

Phil Mickelson in 2010 rescued himself to score a birdie after hitting a shot into the rough. He then threaded the needle between a couple of pine trees and on to the green.
It is this shot that made me look at golf as a sport that I should follow. Prior to this I just used to think they hit balls around huge green spaces.

Past Winners

2016: Bubba Watson

2015: Jordan Speith

2014: Danny Willet

2013: Adam Scott

2012:Charl Schwartzel

2011: Phil Mickleson

The most wins by a single player at the Masters is set by Jack Nicklaus who won the tournament 6 times (he is currently 77 years old but keeping in accordance with the Masters Club discouraging past winners with an advanced age from competing, he will not be participating despite officially receiving an invitation as a past winner)However, he will tee off as a honorary starter.

THE CONTENDERS
The Masters consists of 94 participants this year. Some of the favourites based on ranking and form are

JORDAN SPEITH

This will be his fourth visit to the masters and he has always featured among the top in each of his previous visits. He is a past winner and will be looking to erase the demons of his final round capitulation 12 months back. A leader until the final 9 on day 4 he had to present the Green Jacket(which he thought was his) to in accordance with the club tradition of having the winner ceremoniously pass on the jacket. Could it be fitting that he get the jacket back from the man he presented it to?

DUSTIN JOHNSON

The World No.1 and the dominant force in golf today. He is said to thrive in wet conditions and weather forecast post the tornado warning which disrupted practice is suggesting that the course will be wet. However he has sustained a back injury after falling down the stairs of his rented home in Augusta and is a doubt, if he starts it will be under pain killers.

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA

He’s been in contention each of the last two years, and now he’s playing the best golf of his life after a strong start to the season. Matsuyama’s brilliant ball-striking makes a perfect fit for Augusta’s demands, but the question for the young Japanese star remains the same: the putter. If he can be a replacement-level putter on the greens this week, it’ll be hard to keep the Green Jacket off his shoulders.

RORY MCLLROY
The Irishman will be looking to add the one major which is missing from his collection. He has had collapses in past visits to Augusta, but is well rested post his injury break.

Hogan's Bridge on Amen Corner

It truly is, a feeling of accomplishment, to finally walk across the greens, to finally wear that Green Jacket, just to be part of it.

The Masters at Augusta is as spring rite, a "tradition like no other," to use the club's own phrase. It is more than a golf tournament, more than just a beautiful golf course. The Masters is a feeling.

Will we have our winner, or will there be a first timer which will result in the 50^th different winner on these hallowed grounds? Who will spend the evening at Butler’s Cabin?

One thing we can be assured of is that over the next 4 days, history will be created and will forever be a part of the grounds of the Augusta National Golf Club.