I’ve always been a believer in life that we must have something to look forward to. Trips abroad, a round of golf, a new restaurant reservation, any type of little carrot to have on the horizon is a very healthy dynamic. Knowing you’re going to the Masters is one of the better things to have on the horizon whether it’s your first or fiftieth trip. As a media member it’s almost unsettling to cover the Masters. Any media member who acts as if Masters week is a regular business trip is being dishonest. The relationship that Augusta National has had with the working media goes back to Grantland Rice and O.B. Keeler and their relationship with the club and the co–founder, Bobby Jones. The care and treatment of the media everywhere is very nice, but Augusta is a ridiculous week. The Press building is the platinum standard of press facilities regardless of sport anywhere in the world. The interview room is a state-of-the-art room that is equipped with mics at every workstation and the food service is outstanding.
After interviewing Ben Crenshaw from our studio in Charlotte on Monday morning I got in my car and headed south on I-77. I’m a sports talk radio listener having been in that end of the business for many years, and I have my own rotation depending on the time of the day it is and I settled in for two-plus hours of Dan Patrick, Inside the Ropes on the PGA Tour radio network, a tiny dose, real tiny of Skip and Shannon. They will lead, follow and end with Lakers talk in April, July or January. Today was no exception except for a healthy discussion on the women’s national championship game between LSU and Iowa. I heard more discussion of women’s basketball, or one particular act at the end of the game, than any discussion in our lifetimes. I recorded an interview with Adam Gold, in Raleigh, North Carolina and like everyone he was curious about the LIV dynamic this week. I also spoke with Taylor Zarzour, a lead host and defacto boss of the PGA Tour radio network who has cultivated a very good working relationship with Augusta National since they earned the rights to the radio broadcast several years ago. I will be hosting this week on SiriusXM from 10 AM to 2 PM EST starting Thursday.
By the time I rolled into Augusta it was noon and I made my way immediately to our return home for the week in West Lake village. Being the first to arrive it gave me first pick of the rooms and I could have done what Michael Collins did at the 2010 Players championship and claimed the master bedroom. Being a good teammate, I passed, deferring to Taylor who runs the channel. However, I did take the one downstairs bedroom with its own bathroom. I know how to play a rental house while respecting authority and being mildly selfish simultaneously. After getting a pickup from Ralph, it was off to ANGC.
Below are my quick hits from a Monday afternoon at the Masters.
- The radio set up this week is a series of five rooms in the press building with ample workspace in one room, three separate broadcast rooms with multiple monitors and a master command room for the producers and engineers. If you add the individual broadcast locations, the radio presentation is wildly impressive.
- I immediately sat in on Jason Day’s presser and he fielded a number of questions on his resurgence. He made it clear that the depth at the top is deeper that it was when he ascended to number 1 in the world seven years ago.
- I sat quickly between pressers for a bowl of New England clam chowder and a caesar salad with grilled shrimp. My waiter, Jake, had a half Sprite half coke zero mixed for me which was his version of a ginger ale. Not really close but not awful.
- I asked the first question of Jordan Spieth in his presser and wanted to know the difference between his instincts at the Masters and the Open championship and he said the only level lies he gets here are his 18 tee shots and it’s about reading lies.
- I finally sat in the Cam Smith presser, the only LIV player on the pre-tournament press conference schedule. He was peppered with LIV questions and handled them with affable charm. My takeaway is that he loves the money he received but misses some tournaments and admitted the depth of the fields is weaker than the PGA Tour. He also had no clue about the suggestion made by Greg Norman that all LIV players will be on 18 to celebrate if a LIV player wins the Masters.
- Running into a lot of old friends is a treat and I am simply not out at tournaments the way I once was while working for Golf Channel. So seeing Damon Hack, my old TV partner was the treat of the day for me. Damon is one of the finest people I know and laughing about many things is always a joy for me when I get to see him. The number of people who said hello while we were standing outside of the clubhouse was appreciated and there are still many folks who assume I’m still at Golf Channel as evidenced by the consistent refrain of, “Love the show”. No need to tell them that I’ve been gone for more than two years.
- Said hello to a few players standing around the practice putting green including Keith Mitchell who has become one of the best dressed men in the game. He looked good in navy from head to toe. It’s too warm for cashmere so I deduced his sweater was a cotton and silk combo crewneck.
- It was also good to say hello to the drivers of “The Fried Egg” Brendan Porath and Andy Johnson. A shining example of smart conversation building an audience.
- I left the property around 4 PM with Taylor Zarzour in his rental car and talked about our experiences playing Augusta National. I’ve only had one round and Taylor has had four rounds including a round of 73 last year with his buddy Eric Church.
- Best dressed media member on Monday was Todd Lewis of Golf Channel. Todd likes pastels and he went with a soft pink suit. Not an easy look to pull off but Todd wears bold colors and he had ZERO competition on Monday. A pink suit is a rare sight. He nailed it.
- Tuesday will be a huge day of pressers including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods and I will sit in on all of them and report on them tomorrow plus I’ll get my first look at the new 13th tee.