I walked up to the 18th green Friday at Augusta National Golf Club wondering what was going to happen next. Already mesmerized by the beauty of the course, I could not believe how much better the azaleas looked in person, and how HDTV doesn't do the never-ending mounds and elevation changes in the fairways justice. Or the underrated greens. I would challenge anyone to find a 30-foot putt on that course that doesn't have at least three different breaks.
What was to follow was an experience of a lifetime. I watched as Gary Player walked up the 18th fairway with a smile on his face and tears began show in his eyes. Looking around at my fellow golf fans, the realization of how special this moment was could be seen on all faces.
The applause was already pretty loud for Player, as his playing partners let him walk up by himself. When he took off his hat and waved his hand to the crowd he got a famous Masters roar.
And then an eruption followed , as if Tiger Woods had just made an eagle to win the tournament, when he arrived at the green and got down on one knee to soak it all in.
Experiencing the end of a Masters career for a legend, one of golfs "big three," a three-time Masters champion, was irreplaceable, and everyone on the 18th green at that moment could not stop cheering.
Stephen Ames, who birdied the 18th on Friday for an impressive 68, and is best known for his nine and eight loss to Tiger Woods a few years ago at the Accenture Matchplay Championship, had tears as he came up the fairway alongside Player.
Sitting in the front row on the 18th green Saturday, I watched as Shingo Katayama's approach shot flew towards me.
His ball landed under the chair of the tournament official sitting in front of me.
The rules official came over and ordered all the scorers and photographers to move. I was able to stay in my seat. His ball could not have been more than five feet from me.
As he walked up, wearing his trademarked cowboy hat that always makes me chuckle, he mumbled some Japanese to his caddy, probably something along the lines of how to attempt his shot.
His ball had a blade of grass sticking up behind it and was on a downhill lie with no green to work with.
The result was a chunk and the ball not making it to the green, a shot amateurs see every so often in majors and made me think, 'I can do that.'
Although being close enough to Katayama that I could have grabbed his club was neat, the experience I had the previous evening could not be topped.
Arriving Friday at Augusta National, a day earlier than I expected, I was doubting it was possible for it to live up to the hype. Augusta National -- words that speak for themselves and justifiably so. What you read about the place is true, no exaggerations.
This opportunity to go to the Masters could not be topped by anything, even if I had to turn down a $1,000 offer by my editor for my ticket.
I have been to two U.S. Opens, the most recent being at Oakmont (Angel Cabrera should consider getting me tickets to every major).
Let me just say, a U.S. Open does not even begin to compare to the Masters. We parked for free 100 feet from the gate, and probably spent a total of $20 on concessions.
That is only taking into account the material brilliance of the tournament, the fabled members of Augusta National have this tournament down to a science. My uncle described the place as a "slice of heaven" and my response was to that was, "maybe everyone can play this course in heaven."
Eric Book is a freshman majoring in journalism and is a Collegian women's gymnastics and men's tennis writer. His e-mail address is ejb262@psu.edu.
