AUGUSTA -- John Sandor arrived at Augusta National about 7 a.m. Monday to man his post monitoring the gallery at the 13th hole. The first question he received was from a woman who wanted to know if Tiger Woods was playing.
Told he wasn't, the woman next asked Sandor to point out the tree.
"Since then, it's all been about the tree," Sandor said.
The roughly 35-foot pine tree that played a role in Phil Mickelson's recent Masters championship was a topic of discussion on Monday. Like celebrity gawkers spotting a starlet, fans pointed and marveled at the tree that Mickelson had to avoid to secure his third green jacket, risking everything with a 6-iron from 200 yards off the pine straw over Rae's Creek and onto the green.
"You know, it looks different than it does on TV," Mike Griebe, a Masters first-timer from Maryland, said of Mickelson's shot. "It looks harder."
Like Gene Sarazen's double eagle in 1935 and Larry Mize's chip-in in 1987, Mickelson's shot has become part of Masters legend. Mickelson said in February he would give the 6-iron to the club to put on display.
"It's certainly folklore now," Sandor said.
On Monday, Sandor was as much tour guide as he was gallery guard. In between pointing out the spot dozens of times, Sandor shared his recollection of Mickelson's shot, having stood yards away from it.
"His caddy tried to get him to lay up," he told a group of fans lined up at the rope.
So many fans asked Sandor and other guards where the spot was that Sandor marked it with a branch. Later, he plucked a pink surveying flag from a nearby TV stand and planted it on the spot, a colorful monument to golf history.
"See the pink flag?" a man told his wife. "That's where that famous shot was."
Fans snapped pictures of the tree. About 20 yards away, Jose Negron of South Burlington, Vt., assumed a left-handed stance in line with the spot and the green as his wife Kim snapped pictures.
Looking at Mickelson's line to the green, fans gaped at the narrow slit through which he fit his shot.
"I think that's it right there," said a man in a pink shirt and plaid shorts. "How did he do it?"
When Robert Karlsson walked towards the pines bordering the right side of the fairway to take a practice shot, a fan yelled out, "Hit Phil's shot!" Later, the gallery showed its approval when Jason Bohn walked over to the tree and paid homage, gripping his club in a left-handed stance.
Sandor figured that Mickelson would visit the spot during the practice round and try to re-create his shot, which would presumably send the gallery into delirium.
Said Sandor, "It'll probably go in the ditch."
About the Author
