A Player's Dream

Augusta, Georgia

I saw history today. I saw a 73-year old shoot 78 at Augusta National in the Masters. I saw Gary Player make his first birdie in his last Masters. It gave me the shivers. I know, it doesn't take much for me to have the hair on my arms stand up but this was something special. Sporting his Masters green instead of the traditional all black, Player stiffed a wedge from 75 yards to six feet on number two and then proceeded to roll in a down hill curler. It was fitting for a guy playing in his last Masters. Gary Player is playing in his 52nd Masters, hard for anyone to believe. He wasn't the only story today, former Masters champion Sandy Lyle can still flat out move it. The 51-year old bombed drives and showed us a sleek short game on his way to a ho-hum even par 72. We also can't forget about the big story of this year's Masters. Greg Norman fired a two under par 70 today, after earning a trip to Augusta as of result of his impressive performance in last year's British Open. It was shades of the 90's. " I've always been connected to the gallery", he said. "I played my way back into the golf tourney".

I will hit a milestone this month when I turn 50. This trip was a great prelude. I haven't played in 52 Masters. I don't bomb drives. I'm not connected to the gallery. This week I got a good glimpse of what heaven is like, and I think I like it.