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The PGA Tour put the finishing touches on its annual West Coast swing Sunday afternoon at captivating Riviera Country Club and headed off to a World Golf Championship event in Mexico City this week before swinging into Florida.
It means the Masters is getting closer.
To many, the golf calendar begins in April when Augusta National takes center stage.
Nothing against the Players Championship, which is a stand-alone celebration of the best players in the world on a course intentionally created to provide golf in theater form. It’s a tremendous event deserving of the attention the PGA Tour gives it, and its move back to March enhanced its already grand stature.
The Masters, though, moves players and fans like nothing else.
Chances are you’ve already seen a commercial or two teasing us about the Masters in April. They’re short, bite-sized moments with just enough eye candy to get golfers jonesing for the first full week in April.
Like the Grand Canyon and sunsets over the ocean, part of it is the sheer beauty of the place that makes it difficult to look away.
And part of it is the time of year, now and when it will be played. It’s winter for most of us and whether it’s wet, dormant fairways the color of a good latte or snow-covered greens waiting for a proper thaw, there’s a stirring in a golfer’s soul when images of the Masters appear.
Maybe it’s the promise of warm sunshine and days without a wind-chill number attached. Maybe it’s like the last hour of a long car ride, knowing you’re almost there. Maybe it’s all the years and all the things we remember from Aprils past, including Sunday a year ago when Tiger Woods won again.
Chances are, it’s all those things and more.
And it’s getting closer every day.
Ron Green Jr.