In 1975, Lee Elder broke a barrier and made history: he was the first player of color to play the Masters. In a tournament that is by strict invitation and has very clear rules, Lee Elder earned the right to play in the Masters by winning a tournament on the official PGA Tour calendar. It was a milestone in the history of the tournament and golf in the USA.
46 years passed and Augusta National Golf Club decided to honor Elder by inviting him to hit with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player the inaugural coup. This was in no way a reaction to what is happening in the state of Georgia because the club announced it last November. Minutes before 8, Elder arrived at the 1st tee in a cart, since at 86 his physical condition does not allow him to walk a lot. The Chairman of the club said a few words in tribute to the guest of honor and presented him as if he were going to strike. He stood up, greeted the audience, thanked the applause and sat down again. Back it was the turn of Player and Nicklaus who hit to start the tournament. Rivals on the court and great friends outside of it, the pike to find out who hit him the hardest continues to this day between these two legends.
This is how the 85th edition of the Masters began which in the morning showed us what we expected to see: high scores as a result of very firm and fast greens, with little green color and more brown / gray that marked that firmness, with corridors fairways and with enough wind to complicate the life of the players . In this context the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama and the american Brian harman they signed 69 cards and for a long time I thought they would keep the tip. I went to the books to find out when was the last time that score had finished at the top of the board and I found that it had been in 2007. It was not worth the search because the unexpected happened in the afternoon.
Lee Elder at the Augusta Masters, aged 86. AFP
English Justin rose He withdrew from a tournament 5 weeks ago due to a back problem and has not competed since that day. He had little practice to try to get well physically and came to Augusta with few expectations, basically because he did not know how his game was. The question that the start was not the best and when he reached the 8th tee he was two over par. Her second shot on par 5 came out a little to the left and the spike on the hill of the green accommodated her to leave her three meters from the hole, hit the eagle and from there everything changed. One more success in the 9th, he played in 30 strokes the last 9 holes, where he was the Rose of his best moments, and ended the day leading by 4 strokes. That second shot of the 8 took a meter more to the left, he probably made only par on that hole and today we were talking about another story for the Englishman. It is the fourth time he has led the Masters after 18 holes and has finished second twice, the last when he lost in a tiebreaker against Sergio García in 2017. “That day I had on a sleeve of the green jacket, but I let it slip away,” Rose said in reference to the putt he had to win on the 72nd hole.
The rest of the favorites fought with a difficult court. So much so that the average score on Thursday was 3 strokes higher than that of last Thursday in November. McIlroy (76) looks like a banshee walking the court and you can see that you cannot find a solution to your problems; Bryson De Chambeau (76) could not control the distance with his irons and got into tackle problems, Dustin Johnson (74), defending champion, He did not show much and to top it all he was ugly wrong in 18; Justin Thomas (73) played badly in the first leg and fixed a lot in the last 9 holes, the same as Spieth (71) who invented a triple bogey on the 9th hole, but who hit the 15th with a ball that went overboard and which hit the center of the flag to disappear into the hole.
Justin Rose was in front after the first day. (AP)
So things after the first day of the Masters and the question will be to see if it rains on Friday or not, because if it doesn’t, these greens will continue to be torture for the players. An Englishman leads at Augusta, a position he is familiar with, but the old golf phrase takes on more force than ever: You can’t win the tournament on Thursday, but you can lose it.. Some I think have already said goodbye (Cantlay, Westwood, Kuchar), there are several who are against the wall (Garcia, DeChambeau, McIlroy) and cannot afford the slightest mistake. Rose rules, and while she has a bit more margin, she still has 75% of the way to go. A Masters not to be missed.
.
#Masters #Augusta #emotional #tribute #Lee #Elder #surprise #Englishman #Justin #Rose
source https://pledgetimes.com/masters-of-augusta-from-the-emotional-tribute-to-lee-elder-to-the-surprise-of-the-englishman-justin-rose/
Disqus comments