AUGUSTA, Ga. — They called it the Duel in the Sun, Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus paired both Saturday and Sunday, far ahead of the field, only these two with a chance to win The British Open in 1977 at Turnberry Golf Club. Watson clipped the Golden Bear by a stroke that Scottish summer weekend in what was the No. 1 rivalry in golf from 1977-82 when the pair finished 1-2 in four majors—and Watson won all four.
Despite the passing of 40 years since then, Saturday’s feel was familiar, but the stage was much different. This was a duel of old friends Watson (68), Nicklaus (78) and three-time Masters champion Gary Player (82), with grandchildren on their bags on the colorful and welcoming 9-hole Par 3 course during the Masters’ annual Wednesday afternoon celebration.
Watson’s minus-6 won the Par 3 Contest by a stroke over England’s Tommy Fleetwood (age 27). Nicklaus finished tied for second and Player was four strokes back. The cherry on the hot fudge sundae was a hole-in-one by Nicklaus’ grandson, 15-year-old high school golfer G.T. Nicklaus, on No. 9, where caddies often hit. this guy took a couple of practice swings in his white caddy jumpsuit, settled in, swung at it beautifully, finished high, threw the ball up past and right of the flag and watched it come down the hill and die in the hole, the Golden Bear emblem pausing before disappearing as the Nike symbol did on Tiger Woods’ ball at 16 in the 2005 Masters.
Nicklaus started crying. Player was congratulating. Watson was beaming. Major hugfest on the No. 9 tee box. Nicklaus told ESPN immediately after the round that it was his No. 1 moment in golf; think about THAT for a moment…
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WHAT’S FOR DINNER: Nobody reported in with a bad boiler so we suppose the Champions Dinner was a success Tuesday night. Defending champion and full-time Spaniard Sergio Garcia was the host and, as is the custom, chose the menu: Caesar salad (which seems sort of weak for what is basically the opening drive of the meal), a Spanish lobster-rice dish that eats like a soup (still not real impressed) and finally tres leche cake, which means three-milk cake, and now we’re getting somewhere; that’s 295 calories a slice, by the way.
But back to that salad. Garcia said that to pay culinary homage to each country that has produced a Masters champ, the salad would include ingredients famous in each of those countries. That’s a dozen countries counting the United States, which I assume was represented by lettuce.
But what about the other 11? Since there was practice and the Par 3 Contest Wednesday, DW had time to investigate. Of course DW didn’t, but did have time to. Regardless, DW pondered this crazy idea (is it still even a Caesar if it has 12 extra ingredients?) so we could take a shot at what each country likely brought to table, or to the salad. We’ll start with Gary Player, the first international player to win a Masters (1961, because Arnold Palmer played 18 as if were a rib roast and he was a butcher), and end with Adam Scott, an Australian and the most recent international players not named Sergio Garcia to win here.
South Africa/Gary Player: Thousand Curries dressing;
Spain/Seve Ballesteros and Garcia’s hero: What Garcia said. Maybe put some Tres Leche Cake in the salad;
West Germany/Bernhard Langer: Beer;
Scotland/Scotty Lyle: cream of tartan?;
England/Nick Faldo: Sir Yorkshire Pudding;
Wales/Ian Woosnam: Walemeat;
Germany/Bernhard Langer: Frankfurter (interesting that Germany was back to being Germany between the time Langer won his first Masters (1985) and his most recent one (1993);
Fiji/Vijay Singh: Drop in there little pieces of Kokoda, which is Mahi Mahi marinated in lemon juice and then cooked, which actually sounds pretty good. Garcia might have requested this with Spanish rice as an appetizer and skipped the salad;
Canada/Mike Weir: Moose?;
Argentina/Angel Cabrera: Parrillado (BBQ) and chitterlings;
Australia/Adam Scott: Kangaroo-on-a-stick.
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MAY I BUY A LITTLE PECIL PLEASE? This doesn’t mean anything much, but Tuesday in the gift shop, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and either his wife or girlfriend—my Spanish isn’t good enough for me to ask him—followed me inside. The odd thing about that, at least to me, is that he will be the final person to tee off in Thursday’ opening round, after Justin Rose and Dustin Johnson in the final group, around 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Usually you don’t see the pros in the gift shop. (My first thought: “Does he need balls? Did his sponsor not give him enough balls? Did he leave his balls in Spain? Tees?…”) But, as the rest of us do, pro golfers—he’s won six pro tournaments and plays mostly on the European Tour—enjoy swag. And they also enjoy the lure of the Masters Merchandising Shop, which is brand new this year. I’ve heard it called marvelous and spectacular and stunning and gigantic. When I go there, the word that comes to mind is “jam-packed.”
But unless they make it the size of No. 1 fairway, it’s going to always be a bit crowded. What they did between last year and this year was tear down the old press building, which was awfully nice, and the concession building there by the No. 1 fairway (south) entrance and replace it with a new concession building that is the E in efficiency and they built a big, spacious merchandising building that has nearly 400 mannequins inside wearing everything from visors to vests to polos. They’ve got it all in every thing your Masters-loving heart could ever want. So it’s no wonder patrons are in there all the time; I mean, it’s hard to leave just because of the haberdashery spell you are under, surrounded by more golf gear than you could wear in six lifetimes. If you don’t believe me, ask Cabrera-Bello; he and his friend were looking at coffee mugs when I left.
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TODAY IT’S FO REALS: Besides Rory McElroy (Northern Ireland), DW’s darkhorse international favorites are Alex Noren (“Sveden”) and John Rahm (Spain). Unless they ate some of that Garcia Caesar Salad and then forget it.
Business opens at 8:15 Thursday morning when Honorary Starters Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus hit ceremonial shots off the first tee.
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