Augusta
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Scottie Scheffler (-10) gave no chance to surprise and fulfilled the script that marked from the second day of the Masters. He was determined to win the green jacket and with his constant and confident play he was going to get it. Yesterday he started with three strokes of rent on Cam Smith (-5), which he managed to overcome Rory McIlroy (-7). It was a success marked by an unexpected double bogey on the 18th, but which endorsed him as number one in the world.
Until then it was a strange last round at the National, with Tiger in red, sharing a match with Jon Rahm, but finishing the tour just as the main game was taking to the field. The absence of pressure on them made them enjoy a most talkative round, with anecdotes and confidences along the way.
The public showed their love for Tiger (+13) and their admiration for the titanic effort he was making, which was appreciated as the holes progressed. The Californian did not hide the signs of pain or his limp, which was rewarded with an endless ovation in the clubhouse, when he entered leaning on his son Charlie.
For Rahm (+4) the painful lesson of this edition is that Augusta is devilishly difficult with wind and very long due to the rain of the first days. At least she was glad to finish with your lowest lap of the week (69) and having returned to the red.
Sergio Garcia (+3) also had an optimistic close, with a round under par (71) and recovering the good feelings that had left him in recent tournaments.
The Caddy Tradition
Augusta is not Wimbledon, but it is not far behind in terms of its taste for traditions and the color white. As in the All England Club, the tennis players they must wear white clothes, in the National it is the caddies who must stick to that tonality. And not in a partial or hidden way, but stuffed into a suit that matches them all during the week and allows uniformity to be a constant in the Masters.
Since the norm was established in the 50s that the attendees should all be with the same model, this has been one of the classic rules of the tournament. And the protagonists do not mind following them once a year. “I like it a lot, because it’s something different and it makes you feel like you’re in a special tournament,” says Glenn Murray, Sergio Garcia’s assistant for two decades. «I have only missed one edition since 1996 and I missed her a lot. The atmosphere we have here in the caddy area is great and, furthermore, you know that every day you will have your clothes ready and clean”, jokes the South African.
The routine for them is simple and does not change from year to year. “We arrive at the work area and pick up our credential, which together with the bracelet we have allows us to enter various areas,” explains Emilio Pereira, who accompanies José Mari Olazábal. “In principle you can move around the field with that pass, but since we always have to go dressed in white and with the cap on, in the end we usually stay in our area.” And it’s an ideal environment for them, as well-paid, skilled workers of the 21st century, a far cry from the bag-carriers who carried the sticks in the first 46 years of the Masters. Back then they were always the same black professionals those that were assigned to the participants in the Masters. Until forty springs ago everyone was allowed to bring their fellow sufferer. «For me, Jon is like a brother; we work together every week of the year and it would be very strange for me to leave it in the first big of the year, ”says Adam Hayes, Rahm’s squire.
Precisely because of this personal relationship there are many players who choose to spend time together here as well, regardless of the restrictions of the different areas typical of an event of this magnitude. «The close relationship with the players and other caddies is in the food area, which is not very big, but where many golfers come who prefer to be with us. As it is the only point where you get together, we had a good time there, “concludes Pereira.
As for the daily dynamics, the most veterans have more than assumed it. «When you arrive in Augusta you register in the caddy area, they give you a couple of documents to sign about the internal rules that you have to comply with and then they give you the course book, the cap, you try on the jumpsuit to see the size and from there they prepare it for you every day”, explains Pello Iguarán, who has already won the British Open with Francesco Molinari. “Then you have to return everything and you can only take the book and the green cap,” concludes the Basque, although Murray has a special memory. «When you win they let you take the monkey; I have mine from Sergio from 2017 », he smiles proudly.
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