Bubba wept.
Again.
Last year, Watson, the emotional Masters champion broke down after he tapped out a short par putt on No. 10 green to win his first major championship and again when he stood on the victor’s podium to be fitted with his green jacket.
On Tuesday, Watson picked up where he left off when a reporter asked him, what was the most interesting thing he did in his green jacket after last year’s victory?
Watson revealed that the only thing he did was swaddle his newborn adopted son, Caleb, in the jacket after returning home to Florida. Otherwise, he said, it was stowed away in his closet “out of respect and honor for Augusta National.”
Watson had to stop in mid-sentence and sobbed for nearly a full minute. Finally, swigging from a water bottle he was able to regain his composure.
“Thanks for bringing this up,” Watson quipped, still wiping away tears. “That was the only thing I did with it. Wrapped up Caleb. … I didn’t do any of the funny antics I would normally do.”
Rivalry or not? The professional golf community would like us to think that there's a fierce rivalry between Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. But nothing could be further from the truth, in McIlroy's mind anyway.
“No, not at all,” said McIlroy, who currently is ranked No. 2 in the world. “I don’t see myself as a rival to Tiger or anyone for that fact. Tiger’s obviously been on tour 12 more years than me, or something like that. When you speak of rivals, you tend to think rivals have had similar success. He’s got 77 PGA Tour wins. I’ve got six. He’s won 14 majors. I’ve won two. If I saw myself as I rival to Tiger I really wouldn’t be doing him much justice.”
However, Woods said he does consider McIlroy one of his rivals.
“Over the course of my career I’ve had a few,” he said. “Certainly Rory is this generation. I’ve had Phil (Mickelson) and Vijay (Singh) and Ernie (Els) and David (Duval) for a number of years. Now Rory is the leading (rival) of this younger generation. So, yes, definitely.”
Perhaps, but McIlroy and Woods are on similar career paths. Just 24 years old, McIlroy is playing in his fifth Masters tournament. He won four PGA Tour events last season, including the PGA Championship, to claim player-of-the-year honors in 2012. McIlroy spent 32 weeks as the world’s No. 1 ranked player until Woods overtook him with his victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.
McIlroy, whose best Masters finish was 15th in 2011, tied Woods for 40th last year. So he’s trying a different strategy this year.
“I’m going to try to hit the fat parts of the fairway because I’m hitting my irons so well,” he said. “At the end of the day, what’s the difference in hitting approach with an 8-iron or a 6-iron. Hopefully I’ll make less mistakes.”
Tee times: Woods will begin his search for his fifth Masters title at 10:45 a.m. Thursday. He will pair with Luke Donald and Scott Piercy.
Watson, last year’s champ, will tee off at 10:34 a.m., one group ahead of Woods. He will play with Ian Poulter and Steven Fox.
Other than being long hitters, Woods and Watson may have another advantage because rain is supposed to move in Thursday morning, possibly making the course even more difficult for those who will play later in the day.
Phil Mickelson (1:30 p.m.), a three-time winner, and McIlroy (1:41 p.m.), another favorite, may not have that advantage.
In the Father Time pairing, 61-year-old Ben Crenshaw, a two-time champ, will tee off with 19-year-old Italian professional Matteo Manassero and 14-year-old Chinese amateur Tianlang Guan, who will become the youngest player in Masters history when the group tees off at 12:24 p.m.
Other tee times of interest:
8:11 a.m. — Larry Mize, formerly of Georgia Tech and a previous Masters champ, and Russell Henley, a former Georgia standout, will tee off with Brian Gay.
10:23 a.m. — Stewart Cink, formerly of Tech, will tee off with Nicholas Colsaerts and Thaworn Wiratchant.
1:52 p.m. — Former Tech golfer Matt Kuchar, winner of the WGC Match Play, will tee off with Jason Dufner and Bill Haas.
Thursday’s round will start with Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus hitting the ceremonial tee shots.
Ticket prices: If you don't have a ticket or badge for the Masters be prepared to pay.
One ticket to Wednesday’s practice round is going for a minimum of $1,275 on the website stubhub.com as of Tuesday afternoon.
Badges for Thursday’s first round start at $3,345 on the website, with Friday’s second round starting at $3,150, Saturday’s third round at $2,450 and Sunday’s final round at $2,925.
Be advised that there is a 2,700-foot boundary around Augusta National in which tickets can’t be re-sold. Augusta National prohibits the re-sale of tickets. Undercover sheriff’s officers arrested more than three dozen people last year for buying or selling too close to the course, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Etc.: The 14-year-old Chinese amateur in this year's Masters field will go by Tianlang Guan this week. His name may be reversed as Guan Tianlang by some news services, in keeping with the tradition of some Asian cultures that put the family name before the given name. … Brandt Snedeker said he feels 100-percent healthy after dealing with a strained intercostal muscle near his ribcage.
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