As yet another Masters tournament comes to an end, I’m left wondering if we are at the start of a new beginning. Having watched the Masters for the past 40 years, I have witnessed countless players’ battle with the golf course and with themselves in order to wear the coveted green jacket. Often the pressure of the tournament has been too much for the players, but 2011 has brought an exciting sense of vitality to the Masters and the game of golf. From the beginning of the tournament, a stream of players set forth with the intent of winning. The huge weight of responsibility that can be felt when playing in such a high profile event and the common fear of dropping shots seemed to be cast aside in order to create one of the most exhilarating final days in the history of the tournament. Many of the players in this year’s Masters are of a new breed of young golfer and they left us with no uncertain statement of intent. These players are here to win.
Tiger Woods made a valiant attempt at chasing the pack and getting himself back into contention but the new wave of young golfers were way ahead. These golfer carried on relentlessly towards their goal. Admittedly, there were one or two problems during the course of the competition. Rory Mcilroy played beautifully on the first two days and in most of the third day but during the final stretch we became aware of his difficulty with putting. McIlroy’s downfall came when he attempted the short putt on the 11th Hole, after missing it the pressure built up and manifested itself on the 12th green and the 13th tee.
I’ve been involved in golf long enough to remember the last wave of young talent that took golf by storm, back in the 1980’s. That generation of golfer’s was led by the precocious Spaniard, Seve Ballesteros, who single handedly attacked the Americans strong hold on the game. The golfer’s who emerged in the 80’s had respect for the course but they occasionally tended to have an obligatory blow out. Yesterday we witnessed something new and exciting. We have been getting glimpses of the new dawn of golfer over the past 5 years, particularly evident during Harrington’s superb final 9 holes at Royal Birkdale and Trevor Immelman’s start to finish victory in the Masters. And who could forget Louis Osterhuizen’s win at St Andrews. The new golfers are exerting a determination to win and we can only wait with anticipation for the coming seasons. It may be argued that we are entering a new phase, A.T. or “after Tiger,” but I’m sure he’s got one or two more things to say about that.
Kaddyshack Golf
