One of the reasons I love The Open Championship so much (aka The British Open) is I get to watch it immediately after waking up, and not just the groups that are not in contention. The same can be said of this years Masters tournament. With that, I offer these additional thoughts of the 2020 Masters tournament in this year unlike any other:
1. As with other PGA tournaments this year, one benefit of watching with no fans, er, patrons in attendance, is you get to see much more of the course and its beauty.
2. The traditional Sunday pin placement on #16 is not being used this year. They've moved it to about where it was when Nicklaus made his famous put in '75. Without patrons to cheer the ball down the slope to the back left placement, I think this is a good year for a one-time move, adding nostalgic value.
3. Jack may be the greater of the two honorary starters, but I'd take Gary Player's swing at 85 years of age over Jack Nicklaus's at 80 any day. In fact, I'm looking forward to playing golf in my elder years if I can keep my body anywhere near in Player's condition.
4. Speaking of elders, I literally go goose bumps seeing that Lee Elder will join the honorary starters next year. I'm being neither facetious no overly morbid when I say I hope Lee stays in good enough help to make it next April.
5. Yes, I'm using "literally" correctly above. I'm not saying I'm literally a goose, but that I literally got the things on my skin that we traditionally call "goose bumps."
6. Even though Bryson DeChambeau is not in contention, he is fascinating to watch and to think about in how he might impact this game's future. I recall a Long Drive champion once saying about Tiger Woods that he knew one day someone with long-drive-champion skills would figure out how to hit it straight and dominate on tour, and that Tiger was the one. But he really wasn't; Bryson is. Will he dominate? Time will tell, but I think more likely, he will inspire more young players to be like him, a la Jason Belmonte in bowling. While Belmonte continued to dominate, I'm not so sure about DeChambeau.
7. I wonder if, instead of tour players like DeChambeau learning from the long-drive hitters and applying the skills on tour, that some of these Long Drive Tour members might learn from him and hit more of their drives in play. Or maybe if they did, they'd be joining the PGA Tour for the big money.
8. One thing I love about this tournament, even when I don't have a horse in the race, is knowing that if someone like Dustin Johnson wins his first green jacket, it's a lifetime invitation to return. That always makes it interesting in the end. If it comes down to two who have already won, well that's exciting all by itself.
9. When the Masters is in April, it gets me excited about the upcoming golf season here in Minnesota. That's not the case this year, but I can say that I'm excited to work on a few things in the golf domes this winter. With proper social distancing and mask-wearing, of course.
