Augusta National has Sunday unlike any other at Masters
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Mark O’Meara is reminded every year how meaningful it was to win the Masters.
O’Meara was on the practice green Sunday at Augusta National, 25 years removed from his birdie-birdie finish to win his first major. Now he is 66 and plays the PGA Tour Champions only occasionally. But he remains part of Masters week.
And he has company, young and old.
Also on the putting green was Bernhard Langer. They were with a half-dozen kids barely into their teens, preparing for the Drive, Chip and Putt Finals.
There was little to suggest the first major of the year had arrived.
“It never gets old,” O’Meara said. “I feel blessed. I feel privileged. I don’t play the tournament anymore, but I still come and enjoy what the Masters Tournament is all about.”
Ultimately, it’s about a green jacket that gets presented in seven days.
What makes this Sunday so unusual is the stage for the Masters is just a private club. Augusta National started the Drive, Chip and Putt in 2014. Five years later, it added the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Rose Zhang won the fourth edition Saturday in a playoff. She was under the oak tree by the clubhouse the next day and one kid exclaimed, “There’s Rose Zhang!”
An hour earlier, former Masters champion Jordan Spieth teed off for a practice round with his brother, Steve, who played basketball at Brown. It wasn’t until midafternoon that Tiger Woods arrived, the five-time champion and star of the show even in a year divided by Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
Woods visited briefly on the range with Masters chairman Fred Ridley before heading onto the golf course, as quiet as the course will be all week.
Spieth, O’Meara and defending champion Scottie Scheffler were among Masters champions who handed out awards to the various age divisions for boys and girls who won the driving, chipping and putting competitions, plus the overall winners.
All this was taking place as Masters champions Gary Player, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam and Fred Couples headed to the putting green and then the first tee.
It was a trip back in time, and even O’Meara felt that way.
O’Meara soon was headed to the first tee for a practice round. He will be around all week, with a few corporate dinners toward the back end.
Playing the course on eve of Masters week felt like a treat for a 66-year-old. The highlight of the week is Tuesday for the dinner.
“The only people in the room are guys who have won,” he said. “I’m a small part of it. But to be part of that is amazing.”