No slowdown handicaps this competition!

The most prestigious of PGA tournaments is a wholesome sporting event.

The 2009 Masters Tournament is being held against the backdrop of tectonic shifts in the economics, politics and society of the United States. A first-ever Black US president has electrified the world; the US and, consequentially, the world economy is deep in one of the worst recessions ever, causing untold misery and with the end nowhere in sight; the “shatter’d visage” (apologies to PB Shelley!) of once great companies litters the industrial and business landscape; and the imperatives of climate change press impatiently against an as yet unyielding world political and economic order. As a result, several PGA tournament sponsors have been forced to back out of commitments.

None of these affects the Masters. Having and needing no sponsors, this appealing tournament serendipitously sails on amidst universal acclaim as the greatest of all majors, a cachet it is likely to retain not only because this is the only tournament in the world that is always held at the same venue on precisely predictable dates, but also because the Augusta National Club has created and marketed the tournament as a clean, wholesome, cultural and sporting contest that easily surpasses all other such events.

Thousands of spectators will fan out across Augusta National’s luscious green lawns and tread over pine-needle beds as they traverse the course, and reminisce on the great champions of yesteryear as they walk past the bridges named after Hogan, Nelson and Sarazen and stand in awe at the plaques dedicated to Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. All of these players dramatically changed the game of golf and created the platform for Tiger Woods to take the popularity of the game to unimagined heights. There will surely be a monument to Tiger Woods some day in these hallowed grounds.

The visitors will marvel at the aptly named Amen Corner (“amen” is often intoned after administering the last rites) that is bounded by the innocent looking Rae’s Creek which may again be the graveyard of many an aspiring champion.

Here, everything is redolent of tradition, antiquity and southern hospitality. Spectators who have reserved chairs at green sides (reserved only when the owner is present; otherwise anyone may sit) respectfully sit so that the persons standing behind them can have an unhindered view. No cell phones or talk when the green-side action is on is the well followed rule.

The magnolias, the wisteria vines, the great oak tree next to the club house where many player interviews are held are all about 150 years old. The hundreds of loblolly pines lining the holes will sing in prayerful unison as the wind rustles through them, even as the warm sunlight filtering through the firs creates shimmering rhapsodies of green and gold on the immaculate fairways and greens. Each hole is named after a particular flower or tree which actually grows on and typifies that hole (see table).

As the appreciative crowds move from one hole to another, the energising aroma of pines will mingle with the dust and the heat of competitive challenge to throw up a heady cocktail of possible winners.

And this year heralds the return of Tiger Woods who, having been forced to lay off for eight months owing to reconstructive knee surgery, has already won the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational in only his third competitive outing, thus announcing to the world that he is still the man to beat. Phil Mickelson had jokingly hoped that Tiger’s inevitable return to full form would happen a week after the Masters, thus leaving the field wide open for him.

Of course, the only player currently capable of winning four majors in a row is the Irishman Padraig Harrington, who currently holds The Open and the US Open titles. He is always capable of winning against any field, but then so are any one of a host of young, and not so young, incredibly talented golfers who constitute this year’s field.

On whom will Trevor Immelman drape the famed Green Jacket in the late afternoon of April 12, Sunday? There may be some surprises. More on that tomorrow.