Augusta, GA (WFAN) -- It is a beautiful Wednesday in Augusta, Georgia with temperatures in the seventies after cooler temps for the practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Spring has arrived. The azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom. And the finest golf tournament in the world gets underway on Thursday.
The par three competition, which has become a tradition on the Wednesday of Masters week, has brought the galleries over to the nine hole, par 27, 1,060 yard course in the afternoon. Tiger Woods did not play in the par three competition. He says it is too much of a distraction. The four-time Masters champion has more serious business to focus on and that is winning his fifth Green Jacket and the first Major in 2008 on his way to his goal of winning the ‘Calendar Slam,’ all four Majors this year – The Masters, the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championships. Jack Nicklaus, winner of six Masters Titles, says that he did not play in the par three competition during the years when he was in contention at The Masters. He says he preferred to get his practice in on Wednesday and did not want to do anything else.
One of the highlights of the par three competition is seeing the three great Ambassadors of the game – Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus -- play together. The three have won a total of 34 Major Championships (Nicklaus with 18, Player with 9 and Palmer with 7 Major Titles). And the legendary triumvirate has won a total of 13 Masters titles (Nicklaus with six, Player with three and Palmer with four Green Jackets).
The main story in Augusta centers around the number one player in the game – Tiger Woods. Can he win the first Major of the year and get off to an excellent start as he hopes to win the Calender Slam? He already has won four straight Majors –the Tiger Slam –after winning the US Open, the British and the PGA Championships in 2000 and the Masters in 2001. Tiger said on Tuesday that ‘I’ve won all four in a row. The majority of my career, I think this is my 12th or 13th season out here and nine of those years I’ve won five or more tournaments, so I just have to win the right four. That’s what it boils down to.” Tiger gets started at 10.45 Thursday morning and will play with 2007 US Open champion Angel Cabrera and Stuart Appleby.
Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson has an afternoon tee time on Thursday. The two-time Masters champ will get started at 1.41pm. When asked about the difficulty of winning all four Majors in one calendar year, he replied “I think that is the most difficult feat in golf. I think it would be pretty cool to see it done. The last tournament or two there would be some incredible pressure. I know that Jack came close a couple of events winning the first two events and I think Palmer won the first two majors in 60 and they both had a good chance at it…”
Mickelson won one event this year so far – the Northern Trust Open. But beyond a second place finish in the FBR Open, and a tie for sixth at the Buick Invitational, his other results have been less than stellar. He says he still feels good with the way he has been hitting the ball but needs to spend time chipping and putting. The short game is normally his strength so if he can get that working for him this week, Phil can be a threat.
So can other winners on the PGA Tour this year – Geoff Ogilvy, K.J. Choi, Ernie Els, Sean O’Hair and Andres Romero. And you can never overlook Vijay Singh, Tim Clark and defending champ Zach Johnson. And maybe one of the fan favorites, Fred Couples, who won The Masters in 1992, has some left. He finished tied for fourth last week at the Houston Open and only two years ago here, he finished tied for third.
Whether Tiger continues to make history or somebody gets in his way, it should be exciting. Let the Games Begin!
