Augusta National: where they don't do wrong

Simon Lewis, Augusta National
JUDGING by the thousands of fans, sorry, patrons, streaming through the Augusta National gates this Wednesday morning as they have done on every practice day this week, there are either a lot of unemployed folk in Middle America with plenty of time on their hands or things are going just swell where the Masters is concerned, thank you very much.
A very slow shuffle through the tournament's golf shop as people pile baskets high with merchandise and memorabilia confirms the more likely scenario – that the Masters appears to be recession-proof.
The best events in sport are, when managed well. A Champions League final is full to capacity each year, there is never an empty seat at the Super Bowl and the Masters continues to be the gold standard in golf tournaments.
Golf in general may be having considerable problems in the present economic climate, just ask your club's secretary or superintendant about it and be prepared for a lengthy list of woes, but here at Augusta National there is no sign of any struggle.
And that's because they do things right at this tournament. That comes from the top down, where the boss, chairman Billy Payne, has helped to bring the buzz back to the Masters after a period of Tiger-proofing the course turned the tournament into a bit of a grind.
The revered course remains “the most intimidating” in professional golf, according to Padraig Harrington but connoisseurs have detected a subtle softening of the set-up since Payne took over and the increase in birdies and eagles has brought back the cheers that many observers had thought were weakening.
The hard holes are still hard and maybe the easier holes are just that little bit easier but everybody's happy and that's what happens when things are being done right.
There is just one gripe though, and it came on Tuesday from defending champion Phil Mickelson, who had observed that one of the 61 trees that line the famous Magnolia Lane that approaches the Augusta National clubhouse had been blown down in the strong winds that knocked out power for several hours in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“I was surprised, you know, that it wasn't replaced in the first half hour,” Mickelson joked. “I don't understand what happened. I think Chairman Payne must have been sleeping.”

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/iGx5Rz_d17w/post.aspx

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