The Masters open 2009 Majors

By The Albatross

This is the first complete week of April 2009, and that is the week that accommodates the opening Major of the 2009 season, The Masters, hosted as usual, at the National Course in Augusta, Georgia. The Masters kicked off yesterday, April 9th.

The build up to The Masters is a palpitating and eventful work-up for any of the participating professionals. Remember one has to qualify and get invited to this event.

You do not just enter your name by five pm the Friday before, as they do in many of the other PGA Tour events. It is prestigious just to participate in The Masters; let alone win.

The surest way to claim a place in The Masters is to win the event. The Masters Tournament champion qualifies to participate in the tournaments for life. And you may also remember that the champion gets automatic invitations to the other three majors for the next five years.

The top fifty golfers in the final list of the Official World Golf Rankings for the previous calendar year, together with the top fifty golfers on the Official Word Golf Rankings published in the week preceding The Masters are also normally invited.

There are eighteen published criteria which ensure that the top cream of the world professional golfers grace The Masters Tournament each year.

You may appreciate that there are many interlocutions; with Padraig Harrington, for instance, qualifying as both the current British Open and the USPGA Champion.

And this leaves room for the directors of the Augusta National to invite deserving international players without destabilising the total field of around ninety.

The build up to the 2009 Masters included three unusual and interesting golfers. There was the World Number One golfer, Tiger Woods, who came into the tournament after only three competitions since his reconstructive knee surgery.

He came hot on the heels of his victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitation in which he overhauled a five stroke deficit on the final day to win by a stroke. Then there was Phil Mickelson, the world number two.

He missed out the Arnold Palmer Invitation and was going to use the Shell Houston Open, the week before The Masters, as his launching pad for The Masters.

He missed the cut in Houston; and that was after recording two wins in the current season. But that was just Phil Mickelson being himself. He is capable of big and unpredictable swings in his performance.

He disappointed many of his fans who were hoping that he was finally going to make a real and credible charge at the number one ranking in the world. He had been playing well and he was himself very happy with his game up till something happened in Houston!

The composed and rising star; completely unassuming and playing very steadily, among the big boys, was the 19 year old Northern Irish superstar-in-the-making, Rory McIlroy. He said before the tournament, that his main inspiration in the rise to the top at such an early age was Tiger Woods.

McIlroy says he could ‘probably recount every shot that Tiger hit’ when he won his Masters green jacket, 12 years ago. "It was definitely inspirational to see someone come out and make such a great start to their professional career."

McIlroy muses.

"That’s what I’ve always wanted to do. If I can play well enough this week, I might be able to emulate it." He added that it would be an honour for him to face Woods in the final group on Sunday.

The assumption, at this point being that Woods, the far and away pre-tournament favourite, would be chasing his fifth Green Jacket, and closing in on Jack Nicklaus’ six wins at The Masters.

Woods has himself set his eyes on other and higher sights. His declared goal, this season, is another grand slam. And with that, he would have made his eighteen majors for a tie with the all-time-great, Jack Nicklaus.

And making his debut on the PGA scene was Danny Lee. The South Korean-born, New Zealand 18 year old teenager, who last year eclipsed Tiger Woods as the youngest US Amateur Champion, is expected to turn professional after The Masters.

He is playing in this year Masters, in his own right, as the reigning US Amateur Champion. You may recall that Lee won the Jonnie Walker Classic in Perth in February, this year, but could not accept the winner’s cheque on account of his status as an amateur.

If he had turned professional between winning the US Amateur Championship last year, and The Masters 2009, he would have forfeited his invitation to The Masters.