I love The Masters, and have watched all four rounds for several years now. There's always some stories that surface that go way beyond the confines of Augusta or the PGA. This year's winner Trevor Immelman was an interesting story. Four months after he had a tumor removed from his back, Immelman handled the wind and pressure of Augusta National far better than anyone chasing him Sunday to win the Masters, the first South African in a green jacket in 30 years.
CBS made father and son relationships a theme in their coverage. I remember Tiger embracing his father after his first green jacket in 1997. A couple years ago I watched misty eyed as Arnold Palmer played his last ever hole in his Masters career. He had a great 36 holes for his age and was only a few strokes above the cut, standing in the middle of the 18th fairway and waiting for his turn to hit. Arnie turned to his grandson who was caddying for him and said, "Well...if I would have just gotten in a few more practice rounds, maybe..."
This year as I watched Immelman's toddler son meet him in the clubhouse I thought what a great memory for that kid. And then I remembered how I spent my last four days. For the first time ever, I watched the tournament with my dad. If you know my dad, that sounds odd or even incredible. He's a football, NASCAR, western movie on a Sunday kinda guy. He's gotten to tolerate golf on his TV during my visits the past few years. Tonight he told me he enjoyed the tournament. I don't know if he said that for my benefit, or if it really matters. What matters is the past four days he asked me questions - "What's your best score ever?" "How many jackets does Tiger have?" He even made comments that told me he did some prep before the tournament started, as his understanding of the game has gone from nonexistent to novice. We watched the entire tournament together, all four days including hours of highlight clips and pre-tournament reporting, over several meals and a few cases of "The Beast".
It's always a long wait for me between Masters. This year will seem even longer.
