Late last Friday afternoon as the light was dying in Amen Corner, I found myself in the bend of Augusta National’s famous 13th fairway that tilts and turns around the creek and the azaleas and may be the single best place in golf.
Bryson DeChambeau had hammered his tee shot over a forest and to within 130 yards of the par-5 green and about 25 of us were there to watch, knowing that the horn to stop play was a moment away.
There were no gallery ropes and, other than the rustling of feet, there was almost no noise. We had a darkening Amen Corner to ourselves.
It was the November Masters in its peculiar glory.
Undeniably different but as familiar as your own reflection in a mirror, it was a unique triumph, something that will be remembered for what it was rather than for what it wasn’t.
It’s unreasonable to think that the Masters or any other golf tournament will be back at full throttle by next spring but it’s fair to assume the leadership of Augusta National will study what worked last week and see what the times allow them to do five months from now.
For those so inclined, this Masters will be discounted because it wasn’t played in April, the course was vulnerable and, other than a few hundred fortunate souls, there was no one there to watch.
All of those things are true but that is missing the achievement itself, shifting the game’s most beloved tournament out of all that makes it what it is and staging a Masters that met the moment.
In a year when so much has been taken away, the Masters adjusted to the times. It didn’t look nor feel nor sound like an April Masters but, to borrow a line from the Beatles, it took a sad song and made it better.
Be prepared to see something similar in April, at least in terms of patrons on property. It’s unreasonable to think that the Masters or any other golf tournament will be back at full throttle by next spring but it’s fair to assume the leadership of Augusta National will study what worked last week and see what the times allow them to do five months from now.
More than at any tournament, playing the Masters on an empty golf course never felt familiar. At other tournaments in normal times, it feels like there’s golf being played in the middle of a party. At Augusta, the people are there to watch the golf.
“You kind of miss the roars. I think that’s the one thing I miss the most is just kind of the excitement, the buzz that goes around,” Brooks Koepka said Sunday.
“Even when you’re just kind of walking around on Tuesday, you can almost feel it in the air at this place, and I kind of miss it.”
Rory McIlroy felt the same thing.
“The atmosphere, the crowds, the patrons, the feelings that you normally have here that you didn’t quite have. More than any other week of the year I feel like you’re nervous a little more often, and it didn’t quite have that,” McIlroy said.
“Not saying it’s a bad thing; I loved the feeling of being relaxed out there and it’s something I probably need to try to adopt going into five months’ time.”
There were so many questions about the November one-off, but none was bigger than how Augusta National would play this time of year.
As Dustin Johnson’s tournament-record, 20-under-par total proved, a soft Augusta National isn’t much different than any other soft layout trying to hold off the best players in the world. With limited daylight, almost no breeze until Sunday afternoon and greens that stayed soft despite the best efforts of the SubAir system, the fire was missing from Augusta National.
What might have been a chilly, breezy Masters felt more like late spring with warm temperatures and damp conditions. In spots it looked like fall, but it didn’t feel much like it.
The ryegrass overseed is still coming in and while tee shots didn’t get an inordinate amount of roll, players can fly it so far now they stay in attack mode. Even with long clubs, it was different. One player pointed out he hit two 5-wood shots that backed up on the putting surfaces.
There’s an element of fear involved in playing Augusta National when it’s firm and fast. Miss a target by a yard or two going into greens and birdie chances can turn into battles to make a bogey in a hurry. That was missing last week.
The reality is the par-5s are vulnerable. There were 47 more birdies than pars on the second hole (which averaged more than half a stroke under par) and almost as many eagles as there were bogeys. There were only 39 scores worse than par at the 15th all week. The 13th hole still demanded accuracy off the tee but once in play, being aggressive became the choice there with the soft conditions.
Five months from now, the winter grass will be fully grown in, the azaleas will be in bloom and Johnson will have a menu for his champions dinner on Tuesday night.
It will be a more familiar Masters.
November will be a memory.
But a special one.