Rituals of Spring

Yesterday, a relatively unknown young man, Zack Johnson walked to the famed Butler Cabin on the Grounds of Augusta National. He met with William Payne, Chairman of Augusta National, Jim Nance of CBS, and Phil Mickelson, last years winner of the Masters. As is the tradition, he is interviewed by Nance, congratulated by Payne and given his "Green Jacket" by Mickelson.

I irreverently call Masters Week "Holy Week" and this year it just happen to fall on one of the busiest of religious weeks. I'm told that besides the Easter and Passover celebrations there were a number of spring rituals observed in almost every religion. But it's not to make fun of religion that I call it Holy Week, rather it's to reflect my feelings about a great event in sports. The Masters is everything that is good about competition. Bobby Jones, legendary golfer and founder of the tradition, wanted to bring together the best golfers in the world and challenge them to a contest to discover and honor the top player. While it's true that most of the contestants these days are professional, there always has been and will be room made for amateur players who can show they belong.

Golf is an unusual sport these days. Every player who competes is an individual entity. With rare exceptions there are no teams in golf. The players are often identified with their country of origin, but they are not sponsored by a country.

Players only get paid if they win. There is no show up money or under the table payments. You post a score and they divide the money. The players pay their own expenses and play in the tournaments they wish to play. While many players earn money as spokespersons for commercial interests, none of them are going to make much money with endorsements unless they win.

It is still a gentleman's game and nothing reflects this more than the Masters. You rarely hear one player bad mouth another player. The players enforce the rules on themselves. A player that cheats is not going to be n the tour very long.

The traditions and respect for the game are foremost in the minds of the players and officials of the USGA and the PGA. Rule enforcement and personal conduct are important in maintaining the integrity of the sport. and yet individuality and flare are not discouraged. Hard drinking fast living players might be rewarded with the admiration of the younger more raucous fans, but as John Daley has discovered it does not payoff on the scoreboard.

To be consistently successful at the game, it takes dedication and persistence. As Zack Johnson found out yesterday, you have to work on your game constantly, play your best, post a good number and you never know when the golf god might smile at you.

(I pause here to remember my good friend and fellow golfer, Jack Zarek. I will never watch the Masters and not remember the good times and fellowship Jack and I shared on the golf course. Jack past away this year after a valiant fight against cancer.

When the dawn breaks over the dew covered greens, I see you Zarek.)