Having progressed through a public relations degree forever searching for a backdoor route into sports journalism, it came as a shock when I attempted to login into the Almanac and I couldn’t remember my username nor my password.
Has it been that long? How have I coped for the last 18 months without this avenue to force my opinions down the throats of others? And where has my devoted readership been if they haven’t been knocking down the door screaming for more?
All jokes aside, there have been times in recent months where I have found myself staring at words on my PC screen thinking to myself ‘that doesn’t look like’. Words that I could once type with my eyes closed; that I could pull out multiple synonyms for in the blink of an eye. My mind, as it tends to do, connected my predicament to that of one of the members of my favorite yellow cartoon family; the Simpsons. To the uninitiated, Lisa is unable to solve a brain teaser and proceeds to be convinced by one of the more senile members of the Simpson family that all Simpsons lose their intelligence with age. In an attempt to stave off my own ‘Sculley’ gene, the time has come to revive my love of the written word.
And what better way to start than to look back on the sporting event that brought me so much joy that it could only be topped by a St.Kilda premiership. Adam Scott’s win at the US Masters, the first ever by an Australian, banished 77 years worth of demons at Augusta. Time and time again we Aussies have been sent on an emotional rollercoaster in the comfort of our lounge rooms watching our golfers falter in their respective bids to claim the sport’s holy grail.
Jason Day looked set to add his name to that unenviable list as he blew a two-stroke lead on the back nine on the final day. But Scott, who has had his psychological strength brought into question following a late fade-out at last year’s British Open, came up big on 18 and again on the second playoff hole.
Sport has a knack of producing moments that make you smile uncontrollably; that putt on 18 has rocketed to the top of my list. When Adam Scott holed his long birdie putt on 18 the scenes in my lounge room could only be described as euphoric. Regardless of the pressure involved in making the winning putt on the second playoff hole, when I look back on the 2013 Masters I will remember that putt, and equally I will remember just how close it came to being the most painful loss of all.
Poor Angel Cabrera; if he was an Aussie, today would have been declared a national day of mourning. His putt on 17 looked in for all money but changed direction at the last moment. His chip on the first playoff hole burnt the edge of the cup and let’s not forget just how close he came to rendering what proved to be the winning putt as just another chance to prolong the playoff. Angel was brave; he was humble; he was everything this great game desires its players to be.
At the end of the day, the win for Adam was simply meant to be. Forever he has been touted as our next global superstar, and now that he has torn down king kong from the back of this great nation his standing alongside Greg Norman and Peter Thompson is now confirmed.
Nick – it was a superb moment made better by the way both the winner and the loser carried themselves after the event. Sport and golf were the winners.
Scott was magnificent. I doubted him. Did he have the ticker? Well he showed he had more than enough of that. The last putt was the putt of a champion.
This is right up there with Cadel Evans and Cathy Freeman.
Nick
Scott was magnificent, but I also think there’s a lot to take from Cabrera. He handled the play off and loss with a lot of dignity.
The networks would have loved it over there. With Tiger’s DQ issue and being out of the running, they either had a first time Aussie winner, good looking rooster and nice bloke to boot against an ex Masters winner with a ranking in the 200s and his son as caddy, so either way, they had a story. Cabrera was good in defeat, Scott brilliant in victory.
Welcome back Nick
Sean
Watching the round unfold you couldn’t help but think yet another Green Jacket was slipping away. Cabrera looked unflappable until 13, Scotty couldn’t buy a putt and Day just couldn’t finish off his round. (Which was a tragedy in itself for a man that looked so focused and looked to be enjoying the occasion so much until 16.)
I watched the back nine again last night, and it has been recorded on IQ to be relived time and time again. There is a photo doing the rounds taken from behind Scotty wearing the Green Jacket, rain teaming down yet he is glistening due to the collective flash of the dozens of cameras focused on him. Captures the moment more beautifully than you could ever imagine.
Nick, well written.
I woke up the local drug dealers when Scott sunk his birdie on the 72nd hole. It was the putt Norman should’ve sunk in 87. I too have questioned Scott, but he just hung in there on Sunday and as he said, stayed in the moment. Unlike Day, who got ahead of himself after birdie on 15. Leishman did Warrnambool proud. Hopefully both of these guys will have their turn. And what a character Cabrera is. Like you and every other Australian golf fan, I’ve spent my Aprils praying for success at Augusta, however, I found Cabrera intriguing. He’s a street fighter.
One of the most intriguing (or should that be frustrating) things about Cabrera was his reactions following his approach shots. Despite personally not speaking a word of Spanish, I found the way he reacted to a number of shots extremely misleading. There is a lot to like about many of the internationals in world golf, as opposed to the majority of Americans and Europeans.