Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993 TAG: 9304080577
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON GREEN KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: AUGUSTA, GA. LENGTH: Medium
IT'S NOT JUST A TOURNAMENT
At Augusta National Golf Club, the monuments are alive.Byron Nelson. Gene Sarazen. Sam Snead. Billy Casper. Gary Player. Arnold Palmer. Jack Nicklaus. Ray Floyd. Others.
Those who are able play in the Masters, year after year. Some don't play very well anymore, but that's not important. What's important is that in the second week of April, they are back on the flowered grounds where they found glory, renewing treasured memories for themselves and for those of us outside the ropes.
Wednesday, Byron Nelson, 80 years old and using a cane, stood under the giant hackberry trees on the clubhouse lawn, up there where you can see a lot of the battlefield down between stands of pines. He was never without people around him, warming in his glow.
It's a part of the magic.
Fred Couples, who someday will be one himself, had seen the monuments before but never fully appreciated their presence, never fully understood what it meant to be one of them.
Tuesday night, he learned.
As defending champion, it was his pleasant duty to be host of the traditional champions' dinner at the club. It's one of America's most exclusive social events.
Over the chicken cacciatore, Couples looked around the room and saw greatness everywhere.
"People have asked me what winning the Masters meant and I didn't have an answer," he said, "until I was in that room. There was Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Herman Keiser. . . . It was an eerie feeling. That's when it hit me.
"I realized I was going to get to do this for a lot of years.
"I don't think I'm quite the player 80 percent of them are. I was nervous. Just meeting Gene Sarazen made the whole night."
Even Nick Faldo, who hasn't shown as much of his heart as he has his stony resolve, appreciates the meaning of the green jackets he won in 1989 and '90.
"I think it's kind of neat that the old boys all come back, and just knock around the locker room and that sort of thing," he said. "That's a rather nice feeling. I hope that when I'm getting on I'll be able to come back and just putter around with my kids and have a bit of fun for a week."
One of those kids, born two weeks ago, is named Georgia.
At 8:15 this morning, Sarazen, the 1935 champion whose 220-yard 4-wood shot on the 15th hole for a double-eagle remains the most famous in this event, will join Snead and Nelson to hit shots off the first tee as honorary starters. Sarazen is 91; Snead and Nelson, 80.
At 8:38, Gay Brewer and Doug Ford, a couple of long-ago champions, begin the genuine competition. Ford won in 1957. Brewer won in 1967, ending a seven-year run by the Big Three - Nicklaus, Palmer and Player.
Brewer and Ford have no chance to win, but they have a chance to play. And we have a chance to see them, masters of the past.
One master of the present who might not play is Tom Kite. He injured his back and remained in a "wait-and-see" situation after 10 hours of treatments.
In the Wednesday sunshine, a foursome moved around the dogleg at the ninth hole toward their tee shots. Three balls were close together, well back up a hill, a fourth glistening 40-50 yards farther, where John Daly might hit one.
The golfers arrived from around the bend. The three ordinary shots belonged to Jeff Maggert, Floyd and Nicklaus. The long one was Palmer's. As Arnie approached his ball, the crowd along the ropes whooped and clapped and Palmer held his arms out, palms up, as if a bit awed himself.
You have three hall of famers playing Augusta National, Arnie killing a tee ball like it was 1965 and a gallery that appreciates it.
Only at the Masters.
Couples, his new appreciation for Augusta National and the Masters shining in his eyes, said, "It's got to be the best place in the world to play golf."
Chip Beck missed a share of the Par 3 record by one shot when he posted a 6-under-par 21 to win the preliminary event to the 57th Masters. Beck will have to overcome a jinx if he hopes to win the coveted green jacket on Sunday. No Par 3 winner has ever won the main event. The record 20 total was set by Art Wall Jr. in 1965 and tied by Gay Brewer Jr. in 1973. Beck scored his two-shot victory over Joey Sindelar, Mike Hulbert, Gene Sauers and Mark Brooks.
The Associated Press contributed information for this report.)
\ 57TH MASTERS FACTS & FIGURES
Site: Augusta National Golf Club.
Length: 6,905 yards.
Par: 36-36-72.
18-hole course record: 63, Nick Price, 1986.
72-hole course record: 271, Jack Nicklaus, 1965, and Ray Floyd, 1976.
Format: 72 holes (18 daily) stroke play.
Field: 90 (66 American pros, 2 American amateurs, 20 foreign pros, 2 foreign amateurs).
Cut: After 36 holes of play, field will be cut to low 44 scorers, all tied for 44th place and all within 10 shots of the leader.
Prize money: To be announced (1992: $1.5 million).
Defending champion: Fred Couples.
Television (live): Today and Friday, 4-6 p.m., USA Network (cable); 11:30-11:45 p.m., highlight show, CBS (WDBJ Channel 7). Saturday: 3:30-6 p.m., CBS (WDBJ Channel 7). Sunday: 4-7 p.m., CBS (WDBJ Channel 7).