MASTERS DIGEST:TIGER Woods had a front seat for Pádraig Harrington's latest career as a stand-up comic when the awards were handed out at the Golf Writers' Association of America dinner in Augusta on Wednesday night.
Having accepted the Jim Murray Award for co-operation for 2009 between a player and the media, following in the footsteps of among others Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, the Dubliner’s comic act included a joke about Woods meeting singer Stevie Wonder at a golf event in Los Angeles.
“How’s the music, Stevie?” wondered Tiger. “Good . . . but aren’t you going to ask me about my golf?” “You play golf?”
“Yep, off scratch . . . tell you what, why don’t we have a game. Million dollars? “But how do you play?” asked a curious Tiger.
“Well, you know I have such musical pitch and tone, I send a guy down the fairway and he whistles and I know where to hit the ball. On the greens, he hums and I can tell from the pitch how hard I have to hit the putt.”
“Okay,” said Tiger, “when do you want to play?”
“Any night this week,” said Stevie.
Clark breaks with tradition in using yellow ball
TIM Clark produced a first for the Masters, using a psychedelic yellow Srixon golf ball which he believes gives better definition when hitting bunker shots. The South African started using the ball two months ago at the Accenture Matchplay but was unsure whether to tee it up here before deciding there was no harm breaking with tradition. “It’s the same ball, just a different colour,” he said.
Langer constant in midst of change
IT’S not time to be sentimental when you’re a 50-something seeking to defy history and win a green jacket.
But, in this 25th anniversary of his win in 1985, Bernhard Langer showed more than a glimpse of his old self with a round that reached three-under at one point before he eventually signed for a 71.
In the German’s eye, things have changed hugely since that victory. “I’ve changed tons, but the course has changed a lot more,” he observed.
“We used to have no rough here, and the course was much wider and much shorter. It’s a different course now.
“The greens are kind of the same but everything else has changed dramatically.”
One thing hasn’t changed, his determination to contend.
“I’ve got to play at the top of my game. I’ve got to drive it well, got to hit good irons, very good irons, to give myself a few chances, and then I’ve got to chip and putt well.”
