Well, after all the build-up, the salivating and the general hullabaloo, the Masters has birled by for another year.
There were roars for Rory, shrieks for Spieth and a fanfare for Fowler but the eventual winner, Patrick Reed, was almost greeted with the kind of modest, coughing, awkward reception this scribe is afforded when shuffling into the office with my semmit poking out of the fly zip. Let’s have a re-cap . . .
LIKE IT OR LUMP IT, REED IS THE CHAMPION
Have a scroll through a web search at the reactions to Patrick Reed’s green-jacket glory and you’ll see plenty of hysterical headlines stating that he is the most “hated champion in Masters history”.
Read more: Not quite St Patrick but Reed enjoys Masters day in the sun
I don’t know about you, but seeing the word “hated” in relation to people hitting a dimpled ba’ around seems wholly delirious. But that’s the judgemental, holier-than-thou modern world for you; a world in which many clearly live on mist-shrouded plinths of untainted morality from where they can deliver sermons of goading piety.
Reed has been accused of cheating, there have been tales of stealing and there is a complex family history. He is not lacking in cockiness and contentious comments either. He is certainly no saint, but golf is hardly full of angelic figures. The sight of the rogue that is Reed slipping on the blazer was somewhat at odds with the pristine, manicured image Augusta likes to portray.
Of course, a club with a history of racism and sexism can hardly be held aloft as a squeaky-clean paragon of virtue. It wasn’t that long ago that the then chairman of Augusta National, Billy Payne, was delivering a withering, pontifical assessment of Tiger Woods’ “egregious” behaviour amid the revelations of his extra-curricular activities.
Last week, Woods was welcomed back with bended-knee exaltation. His past had been forgotten.
Reed may lack widespread support but he deserves respect for the way he stood firm when plenty were hoping he would falter.
BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE BUT DON’T WRITE OFF RORY
By all accounts, Rory McIlroy’s final-day slither was the biggest deflation since the British Balloon and Airship Club ran out of propane cylinders at its anniversary fete.
From the moment he missed that short eagle putt on the second, the writing was on the wall. On the eve of Masters Sunday, McIlroy looked like a champion in waiting. The wait for the career grand slam goes on, though.
“I can’t let this derail me or get me down,” he said in the sombre aftermath of a debris-strewn round.
Read more: Not quite St Patrick but Reed enjoys Masters day in the sun
There was a sore one for McIlroy. Let’s face it, many – including the man himself – expected the former world No.1 to be the one to ride the momentum and surge to Masters glory. That it ended with the kind of whimper you’d get when a puppy stubs its paw on the hearth was almost as chastening as his mighty closing-day collapse in 2011.
In this game, of course, redemption is never far away. McIlroy has had his back against the wall many times and has burst out fighting again. The doubters and cynics will be out in force . . . but they are there to be silenced.
NO SHADES OF GREY IN WORLD OF WOODS
It’s a funny old game. Barely six months ago, Tiger Woods was glumly suggesting that he may never play golf again. On Sunday, he was fielding questions about how disappointed he must have been by his share of 32nd at the Masters after a closing 69 in just the sixth event of his comeback.
Read more: Not quite St Patrick but Reed enjoys Masters day in the sun
When it comes to analysing Tiger, there’s not much level-headed middle ground. The wild expectations of mouth-frothing onlookers are not necessarily matched by a more accepting Woods these days. Amid a gaggle of young golfers he essentially helped create – all four majors are now held by US players aged 27 or under – there is probably more admiration than intimidation.
Whether it’s simply an X-factor or a wow factor, there are glimpses that Woods, now back in the world’s top 100 for the first time in three years, can still be a factor as 2018 marches on.
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