Frozen in time, Masters conjures a golf heaven

By Larry Fine AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Golfers glide along as if walking on air and the crowd is polite and smiling at Augusta National Golf Club, where time stands still like a Norman Rockwell study of bygone days when the Masters rolls around. "The Masters is a monument to everything great in golf," Jack Nicklaus, winner of a record six Masters, said of the tournament co-founded by legendary Georgia golfer Bobby Jones. Fans, or patrons as they are known at Augusta, lucky enough to have secured tickets, or held them through the decades or had them willed down to them, feel part of a civilized family outing staged on a grand scale. Former CBS sports president Neal Pilson, who negotiated 19 of the one-year deals that has kept the Masters on the U.S. TV network from 1956 to the present day, calls it "the most unique event in American sports." Green is the color of the Masters, from the paper cups for soft drinks and beer, to the plastic wrapping of the sandwiches, to the jackets worn by members of the exclusive club and draped over the shoulders of the latest champion.

Continue reading...