Masters Moments: Writers Share Memories From 2022 Masters
Changing of the Guard?
Saturday afternoon, Scottie Scheffler walked up the first fairway after hitting his tee shot. It was still cloudy and chilly and more like November than April. I followed up the left side behind the gallery ropes. On the other side of the tall pines behind me, Tiger Woods walked the other direction down the adjacent ninth hole.
It could've been a passing-the-torch moment, I thought, except for two things: Woods isn't going to give up the torch yet, or maybe ever. We'll probably have to pry it out of his cold, dead hands someday.
Now Scheffler has a green jacket. Will he be king of the hill for the next five to eight years? Not Jon Rahm or Justin Thomas or Bryson DeChambeau or someone else? It's too early to say.
And yet, as Scheffler ambled toward the green with his long strides and Woods labored down the slope at No. 9, I wondered. - Gary Van Sickle
Tiger's vocabulary is back, too
Tiger Woods has been a prodigy, a phenom, an icon, the most dominant golfer ever, an addict, a fighter, and a comeback kid, but what he has always been, through all of it, is a golf dork.
I thought about this again last week as a I stood in the back of a media scrum and heard Woods talk about hitting the ball “holistically.” This made no sense to me. As it turns out, he was actually talking about hitting it “ballistically.” This also made no sense to me. But I enjoyed it immensely, in part because Tiger said it twice, which means he came up with this term and made a conscious effort to drop it that day.
“Ballistically” now joins “traj” and” feels” and “activate my glutes” in the Tiger lexicon. I’m not sure why he does this. Maybe it’s a way to connect with people, like his George W. Bush-esque use of nicknames for everybody he knows. It might be a way to make his profession seem as complicated as possible. But this stuff is so part of the Tiger experience, and it was good to see it return to competition with him. - Michael Rosenberg
One Man's Struggle
We spend a lot of time lauding Augusta National's gorgeous setting, and we should: This place is breathtakingly beautiful. But it's also devilish, and it can be sort of relatedly fun to watch players struggle here. After his sixth of eight shots at the par-5 13th on Saturday, Tyrrell Hatton used his putter as a makeshift shotgun, blowing away everyone nearby. After he shot 8 over par on Sunday to finish dead last at 17 over, Hatton said, "I'm glad it's over. I think that's a pretty good way to sum it up. Obviously, disappointed, but I just never do well here. This course doesn't really suit my eye, to be honest, so, yeah, it's just one of those weeks that I feel like if I come back in the future, it's just a case of trying to get through the best that I can." He called the course "unfair" and said he "[lost] a bit of interest" by the end. "It's not even trying to build on anything for next week," he said. "I'm just trying to ideally get off the golf course as fast as possible."
His caddie, Mick Donaghy, is suffering from knee problems, and for a couple of stretches Hatton carried his own bag. "Maybe I'll be better off if I come back being a caddie here rather than trying to hit golf shots," Hatton said. -Stephanie Apstein
Tiger's Warm-up Act
Monday offered the convergence of two long-awaited forces: a return of full crowds to Augusta National along with the return of Tiger Woods. It made for an unreal scene, masses of people, row after row, six, eight, 10 deep. On Monday. It was a a big and boisterous as any final-round major atmosphere and it was simply a nine-hole practice round with Woods, Justin Thomas and Fred Couples.
“They we’re all here to see Freddie," Woods quipped. Perhaps there is some truth to that.
But they were here to enjoy actually being back, period. Along with the unlikely presence of Woods. - Bob Harig
Appreciation For Jack
Jack Nicklaus is an icon around Augusta National, with six green jackets sitting in his locker, the most prolific winner of the Masters has been an Honorary Starter since 2010.
After hitting a drive down the first hole with Gary Player and Tom Watson on Thursday morning, the trio came down to the interview room to talk about all matter of things.
Those times with Nicklaus are treasured and at 82, you never know when it will be the last time, so it’s always worthwhile to make time for Jack, as it will be for Phil Mickelson, Bernhard Langer, Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia, likely to be Honorary Starters at some time near the end of their careers. - Alex Miceli
A Winning Lotto Ticket
Attending a Masters for the first time was already a dream come true. Add in the buzz of Tiger returning paired with the aura of this place and the week was already unforgettable.
Then on Friday morning came an announcement that the winners of the media lottery, which awards a few golden tickets to play the course on Monday, were on the display screens downstairs. I’d made it halfway down when there it was: my name in lights. I nearly tumbled down the remaining steps.
11:20 a.m. on Monday I’ll be on the first tee. Wonder if the Tiger crowd will stick around for this.
A dream week made even dreamier. Not sure how I’m going to top this one. - Colin McDonald
A Monday Stroll
Augusta National is famous for its electric atmosphere, but even during buzzy afternoons there are still quiet corners. On Monday fans swarmed Tiger Woods’ practice round, leaving the rest of the property mostly tranquil. I always enjoy an early-week stroll to check out the little nips and tucks that have been made since my last visit. This year I studied the 11th tee box (subtle change) and 15th tee box (pushed way back). It’s also fun to kibitz with the gallery guards (Masters-speak for marshals), as these volunteers spend most of the week on their feet but are paid back handsomely by the club with a tee time at the National next month. I stopped at the 18th hole tee and passed my camera to a guard. We took in the fading daylight, the deserted fairway in front of us, the serenity, and he couldn’t help himself: “It’s even better when you play golf out here!” he gushed. My number wasn’t pulled this year in the media lottery to play Augusta on Monday, but there’s always next year. Until then, you still can’t beat a quiet walk around the place. -Jeff Ritter
Tiger In Full
I grew up idolizing Tiger Woods, as I wrote last week. So watching him up close for just the second time in my life was an incredible experience I'll never forget. What's more, he managed to make the cut at a major championship 14 months after reconstructive leg surgery. It's the thing of legends, and I was there for it. - Ross Dellenger
A Sweet Return
I first came to the Masters as a high school senior, making a weekend trip from home in Atlanta with a friend on a couple badges my father got from work. I didn't fully appreciate it — how can you at that age? — but I'm sure I figured I'd return in a year or two. Well, life went in different directions and I never made it back — until this year.
This time, I appreciated every hilly walk, every green-bagged sandwich, even every time I remembered to leave my phone at the press building (whew). I also made a point on Friday afternoon to catch Fred Couples finish his round, since he was the winner from my first Masters in 1992. Hopefully it won't be 30 more years 'til I make it back. - John Schwarb