The Masters always generates a lot of memorable imagery, but this one stands in a class all of its own. Taken by Scott Brown for Augusta National, and posted on the Masters site, it’s an amazing piece of work. See the original in its full HD glory.

Congratulations to Adam Scott. He is by all accounts as fine a person as he is a golfer.

This year proves once again that there is no tournament or course that can generate as much excitement as The Masters at Augusta. Another playoff was just the thing to add to the legend. This Masters had the one thing I look for most in a sporting event: competitiveness. For me, sports are far more interesting when the outcome is in doubt. In this case, the outcome was in doubt until the last putt. Half a dozen players had a reasonable chance to win.

The USGA should take a look at how the Masters generates such excitement when setting up their courses. Their intention of identifying the best player often degrades into identifying the most boring course possible.

Scott’s victory ratchets up the belly putter controversy. There can be little doubt that he’s dependent on the long stick. I personally think it is a non-issue, but it will create more buzz.

I was glad to see that Tiger didn’t win—not because I can’t stand him—but because a Tiger win in the wake of Dropgate would cast a pall on an otherwise great weekend. It was also nice that Tiger didn’t finish within two, thereby avoiding another nasty set of conversations. Truth be told, though, Tiger was not in Major form today. Perhaps the whole controversy got to him.

Scott showed a lot of class in acknowledging Greg Norman: “Greg Norman has been incredible to me and all the young golfers in Australia. Part of this definitely belongs to him.”

While nothing can make up for the lack of a Green Jacket, it has to be gratifying to Norman that his mentoring of young Australian golfers has paid off. Norman said of Scott: “I think he’ll go on to win more Majors than any other Australian golfer.”

There’s a bit of the proud father there.

I wonder how many headlines after this win read: Great Scott! It is too good to pass up.

Steve Williams is the all time caddy leader in majors. As part of a team, he trails only Jack. I’m glad he showed the good sense not to jump in front of a microphone—and that CBS had the good sense not to give him the opportunity.

Angel Cabrera is an amazing story. He has two PGA TOUR victories—that is, two Majors. Those same two Majors also count as two fifth of his European Tour victories. It is as though he’s the QB who wins two Superbowls, without winning a regular season game.

There surely was never a day at The Masters like Saturday, which started not with a tee shot but a rules controversy. There’s really nothing I can add to the vast body of punditry that’s already been generated over Dropgate. Golf’s cognoscente spent the morning scrutinizing every millisecond of the drop, and thumbing through rulebooks and rulings. The consensus at one point leaned toward disqualification for Tiger. Then came the rumor—started by several players—that Tiger would receive a two shot penalty, but no disqualification. That turned out to be true, and the discussion turned to whether Tiger got special treatment in not being disqualified.

I predict that some years from now, this will be seen as a watershed moment in golf’s relationship with big media.

From the beginning, I was convinced that the World Number One would not be disqualified. My reasoning, however, was faulty. I thought that rules officials would sidestep the entire controversy by saying the drop was “close enough.” Instead, I think the rules officials took the worst possible option. He got the penalty, but then was excused from the consequences of signing an incorrect scorecard. If Tiger happens to win this one, all hell will break loose.

Could Tiger win? Absolutely. He finished the day just four shots off the lead, close enough for him to come in low and then watch the wreckage behind him.

It won’t be easy, though. There are a lot of fine players in and around the lead. Odds are not good that they all would crash and burn simultaneously.

At the top of the heap are Brandt Snedeker and Angel Cabrera. Snedeker is one of the hottest players in golf right now. He’s the reigning FedEx Cup Champion, and started the year with three top three finishes in four starts. He won his fifth start and rose to number four in the World Golf Rankings. No one would be surprised to see him win a Green Jacket.

Angel Cabrera is a fascinating character. Both of his PGA TOUR wins are majors, and the same Masters and US Open count as two of his five European Tour wins. In other words, he has three non-major wins on the big tours.

Adam Scott, just a shot behind the leaders, was my my fantasy pick to win the tournament. He was runner up at the Masters two years ago and last summer stumbled to finish second at the Open Championship. If there’s anything to be learned from failure, he could be ready for a win.

Marc Leishman and Jason Day are two shots back.  Along with Scott, they give Australia the best chance it has ever had to win the Masters.

All told, there are thirteen within give shots of the lead, including Woods. The numbers alone should guarantee an exciting Sunday finish. With the wild swings Augusta is capable of delivering, any one of those could pull it off. 

I watch sports for the suspense that comes of not knowing the outcome. The longer a game of baseball or football is in doubt, the more I enjoy it. Thus, I was a bit worried late yesterday afternoon when the pack at the top was crumbling and it looked as though Tiger would pull off one of his usual victories by cruising past the physical and mental wreckage of his would-be opponents.

But then the Golf Gods intervened. Tiger was punished for being too accurate. His ball hit the flagstick, bouncing back into the pond fronting the fifteenth green.  Later, he would bogey 18 to fall to -2 for the Tournament, four off the pace.

Meanwhile, other players stepped it up a bit late.

Ahh competition.

Sadly, two rules questions look as though they will dominate the talk of the second day.

The worst, in my mind, was the slow play penalty assessed to 14-year-old Tianlang Guan. While descriptions of the actions that led to his penalty seen fairly clear, I think a little more forgiveness would have made Augusta National a lot more friends. I’ve taught 14-year-olds for twenty years, and they just don’t have the same comprehension of time as adults. Further, many child psychologists even say that teenagers are simply incapable of properly assessing risk. You can threaten a kid with dire consequences, but they don’t believe it will happen to them. You can tell a kid if he texts and drives, he increases his chances of getting into an accident, but won’t believe it will happen to them. Telling a young teen that if he doesn’t play faster he will get a penalty is probably as effective as scolding a cat. He might feel intimidated by the scolding, but has no ability to comprehend in an adult fashion what you’re talking about.

If there was a mistake made here, perhaps it was in allowing him to play in the first place. Augusta might want to think about a minimum age.

The other I think is a non-starter. There’s lots of buzz that Tiger made an improper drop on fifteen after finding the water. I think he’ll be ok on three counts. First, I don’t think Tiger would cheat at Augusta. Second, Augusta doesn’t want another rules problem this weekend. And finally, Augusta doesn’t want another Roberto DeVicenzo story following them for decades.

The buzz is increasing, though. Lots seem to think it was improper. I’ll be gobsmacked, though, if he is DQd or withdraws.

UPDATE: I was both wrong and right on this one. I thought Augusta would rule “close enough” and avoid a controversy. Now, by giving Tiger a two stroke penalty, but not disqualifying him for signing an incorrect card, they made it worse. Apparently there is a rule we don’t know about ... “except in cases where the player is a television ratings draw.”

On to other random thoughts ...

Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia need sports psychologists. Or, if they’re already seeing one, they need a new sports psychologist.

Sad to me to see Lefty play himself out of contention.

I have a man-crush on Fred Couples.

Bernhard Langer?

The odds are pretty good right now that an Australian wins the Masters for the first time. In my fantasy picks, I had Adam Scott as the overall winner, so I’m happy about that. Scott is in a good position.

Looking forward to the rest of today. It looks as though there are some twenty players with a chance right now, and that’s exactly the competition I want.

More than anything else, I’m pleased to see that the first round was so competitive. Marc Leishman and Sergio Garcia! are tied for first. Dustin Johnson is one shot back. Six are just two shots back: David Lynn, Rickie Fowler, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Trevor Immelman, Fred Couples and Matt Kuchar.

There are 19 players within four shots of the lead, including Tiger and Phil.

That said, I fully expect Tiger to make a charge Friday and get into first place. He’ll pull two or three shots ahead on Saturday, and then there won’t be any need to watch on Sunday. I’ll play golf instead of watching it.

All joking aside, for me, sporting events of any sort are at their best when the outcome is in doubt until the last. That’s why the NFL is as successful as it is: “On Any Given Sunday ...” and all that. Whether Tiger wins or not is to me not nearly as important as the degree of suspense throughout the event.

The bunch at the top of the leaderboard after day one is interesting. Marc Leishman is a relative unknown, but would quite a story as the first Australian to win the Masters. Sergio Garcia famously said a couple of years back that he can’t win a Major, and yet here he is in fine shape to do just that.

No one would be surprised to see either tumble from their mountaintops, though. Garcia was low amateur at The Masters in 1999, and early in his career was appointed the title of “Tiger’s Chief Rival.” He has instead remained a frustrating puzzle. He has all the talent in the world, but somehow can’t keep it together.

Interesting fact: At 54 starts, Sergio Garcia has the longest current streak of consecutive Major appearances. He’s due.

Dustin Johnson yesterday showed that he has the overwhelm-the-course firepower that Tiger brought in 1997. Dustin was hitting driver-short irons on the par fives. I would not be at all surprised to see him don a Green Jacket on Sunday.

Rickie Fowler was on a roller coaster. He carded six birdies, one eagle and two double bogeys to end up at 4 under. In the same tier, Trevor Immelman had a bogey free round, a feat he managed when he last won the Masters.

And then there’s 52 year old Fred Couples. As much as the pros profess to love Augusta National, I think that Couples is the one player that the course loves back. There is really no other explanation for his competitive longevity at Augusta. To put it into perspective, Fred Couples, the 1992 winner, put the Green Jacket on Bernhard Langer the following year. Langer hasn’t made the cut since 2006.

Fred has an interesting observation in one of the interviews I read: the key to Augusta, he said, is to make your mistakes in the right places.

The biggest story of the tournament, however, could be Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old from China. Tianling, apparently not intimidated by Augusta National, shot a 73 in the first round. He could actually make the cut.

Here’s hoping for a competitive second day, and a competitive weekend.

Masters Traditions: The Green Jacket

Each year, the winner of the Master’s Tournament is awarded a Green Jacket to commemorate his victory.

Members of the private club have been wearing green jackets to the tournament since 1937. (Although the original jackets were deemed too hot to wear.) Members purchased their jackets from the Brooks Uniform Company in New York.

The first Green Jacket awarded to a player given to Sam Sneed in 1949. It signified his membership—for a year—in the ultra-exclusive Augusta National Golf Club.

Master’s winners must return the jacket to Augusta the following year, where they are stored and made available to the players when they visit. Some past winners, such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer have become actual members of the club and presumably are allowed to have permanent possession of their jackets.

Since 1954, the club has awarded crystal for various achievements, such as low round, holes-in-one and eagles. Jack Nicklaus holds a record 61 pieces of Masters’ crystal.

The legendary Augusta National is the result of a collaboration between Bobby Jones and golf Architect Alister MacKenzie. It’s unlikely that either your or I will ever get to play a round at Augusta. And to my knowledge, that’s the only course designed by Jones. But MacKenzie was far more prolific, and there exist a number of opportunities for the general public to play a course designed by him. So if you can’t play Augusta, those courses may be the next best thing.

Among the Alister MacKenzie courses the general public can play are:

The University of Michigan Golf Course, Ann Arbor

The Scarlet and Grey Courses at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio

Haggin Oaks in Sacramento, California

Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California

Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, California

MacKenzie is an interesting story. A doctor by training, he served in the Second Boer War. Course design, however, was his calling. In association with H.S. Colt, he began with courses in the United Kingdom. He emigrated to the US in the 1920s. He also has designed a number of courses in Australia.

MacKenzie published a book on Golf Architecture (Classics of Golf) in 1920, and summed up his design style therein: “In discussing the need for simplicity of design, the chief object of every golf course architect worth his salt is to imitate the beauties of nature so closely as to make his work indistinguishable from nature itself.”

MacKenzie worked in the era before large scale earth moving became a feature of golf course construction, and his designs are notable for their sensitivity to the nature of the site. He is celebrated for his ability to produce holes with an ideal balance of risk and reward, and for his knack of producing courses which both challenge and accommodate golfers with differing levels of skill.

MacKenzie died in 1934 in Santa Cruz, California and left behind an unpublished manuscript, The Spirit of St. Andrews. The book was rescued and published by Eli Callaway in 1995.