John Boyne
The Masters is a great celebration of spring and golf. What does the tournament mean to the game of golf?
The Masters may not be the oldest of the 4 recognized Majors but it has an importance to golf that has grown steadily as year on year the arrival of Spring brings the golfing world out of winter and into a blaze of colour at Augusta National. The invitation to the best golfers in the world, of their era, produces classic golf on a familiar golf course that we spectators believe we know inside out. It is brilliant.
Tiger Woods is conspicuous by his absence this year at the Masters. Do you see him come back and win the four majors he needs to emulate Jack Nicklaus. After all the great man himself won his 18th as a 46 year old at Augusta.
Unfortunately I do not believe even the great Tiger Woods can recover fully from his back surgery to be able to compete in the major championships against the younger and stronger golfers now at the top of world rankings. This obviously means that the 18 majors that the legendary Jack Nicklaus won will not be equalled let alone beaten.
Have you been following Anirban Lahiri’s progress as a golfer? And if you are, how exciting is it to see Asian golfers make big strides in the game?
Yes I have been watching the incredible rise of Anirban Lahiri over the last three years and it has been thrilling to view his rise into the top 50 golfers in the world. I was fortunate to follow some of his golf at last years Open here on the Old Course St Andrews. The trailblazing of Arjun Atwal on the PGA Tour and Jeev Milkha Singh on the European Tour has showed Indian golfers that they can compete with the world’s best and more like Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia can follow in their footsteps.
The Masters is clearly wide open this year. The young guns are obviously playing well, but also past champions like Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen are all in the reckoning too. Who is on your radar for this week?
I have placed a few pounds on Louis Oosthuizen to win. He has such a gorgeous swing, is currently playing well and If he remains fit he has the ability to win. Do not discount the seasoned Englishman Justin Rose tied 2nd last year and has not been outside the top 25 at The Masters over the last 6 years.
What is it about golf that enthuses such a global audience?
It is a relatively simple game that all can play. All that is needed is a patch of open ground, a club, a ball and a degree of enthusiasm. It is also good fun to watch our heroes fluff and dunk a shot. We can do that as well!
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