Sunday at the Masters

Masters week has long been my favorite week of the year. With spring finally showing its beautiful face, the sun is shinning, the windows are open, and Masters coverage is on the tele 24/7. With the rain clouds clearing out, moving back in, and clearing out again, the office is abuzz with predictions, Tiger vs. The Field arguments, and Masters pools being filled out. People start talking about how much they love Shingo Katayama’s hats and how beautiful Jeev Milkha Singh’s swing is. Um, kidding.

Thanks in part to my strong sense of entitlement and the who’s who of the Robinson family connections, I was lucky enough to attend the final round of the 2009 Masters. The friend who attended the Sunday round with me has chosen to remain anonymous and will henceforth be referred to as “Bill.”

Here are some highlights from Sunday at the Masters.

WHERE WE SAT: 10th green. It was also a short walk to the 11th, 15th, 18th, and 8th tee boxes and the 14th and 17th greens (see below). After Tiger and Phil played the 10th, Bill and I moved our chairs behind the 18th tee box. Once Tiger and Phil left the course, we walked over to 16th green just in time to see Kenny Perry’s near ace and Angel Cabrera’s slippery 15-foot birdie putt.

UNSPOKEN RULE: Once you put your chair down, it will not be touched.

SPOKEN RULE: There is no running at Augusta National!!!!

SWEETEST HAIR: Tie. Bubba Watson and Aaron Baddeley.

BIZARRE MOMENT: With Tiger and Phil on the 17th green, some lunatic ducks under the ropes, dives into a bunker and starts doing snow angels. I am not lying. He was in there for 45 seconds before anyone had any idea what to do. He was then escorted to the Richmond County jail.

CHOKER OF THE DAY: Kenny Perry. He just needed to play 17 and 18 one over par.

TIP: Make sure you sit somewhere with a view of one of the scoreboards. The only downfall of attending the Masters is that you don’t get to see all the action going on around the course, like you would from your couch. Luckily for us, there was a giant scoreboard positioned on the left side of the 10th green so that we were able to keep up with what was going on with the leaders and we knew if anyone was making a Sunday charge. Whenever Bill and I heard a distant crowd cheer from across the course, we knew something big was happening, and a few seconds later it popped up on the scoreboard in front of us. Every time a new (lower) red number was posted next to Tiger or Phil, the crowd around us shrieked and cheered in pure ecstasy. It was pretty exciting to be a part of the action.

UNEXPECTED SURPRISE (for first timers): The food at the Masters is CHEAP. Bill and I each had a sandwich, chips, a snack, and a drink (with collector’s cups) for $10.50. Import beers were $3 with a collector’s cup. You might pay $2,500 for a Sunday ticket, but you won’t have to dip into your kid’s college fund for lunch.

A FEW THOUGHTS: Sergio is shorter than I expected. Rory Sabatini is a complete douche bag. I was 2 feet from Padraig Harrington. The two main differences between pros and amateurs are consistency and trajectory. Those guys hit the ball super high. There was no rough at the Masters this year. If I am luckily enough to go back another year, I am going to put my chair near the 13th green and spend a lot of time over at Amen Corner.

SPORKS: If Tiger or Phil had comeback to win, or if Kenny Perry had played the last two holes at +1, it would have been a 5 Spork day. Alas, my Sunday at the Masters gets...