BOBBY JONES: WIKICOMMONS; GARCIA AND ROSE: BIGSTOCK; WOODS: PHIL ELLSWORTH / ESPN IMAGES |
People were saying it should have been a playoff— that he didn’ t deserve to win. But a rule is a rule and Goalby didn’ t do anything wrong. He played four great rounds and deserved to win. I was excited just to be in there, and then it was like a dark cloud over a sunny day.”
Still, Giles celebrated with his family that night before reality set in all too soon.“ I had 10 days of catching up to do in class,” he said,“ and I wasn’ t exactly a rocket scientist student.”
And so, he and Key drove back to Charlottesville that night. He actually made it to his first class Monday morning, though hardly any classmates or professors even knew what he’ d accomplished.
As always, he’ ll go back to Augusta this April, just as he’ s done every spring since that glorious first visit a half-century ago. Up until last year, as an“ honorary invitee” he’ s often played in the Wednesday par 3 contest. Asked if he’ d ever been paired again with Doug Ford, he had to laugh.
“ Probably wouldn’ t have played,” Vinny Giles said.“ But I heard he got nicer as he got older.”
Leonard Shapiro was the long-time golf writer for The Washington Post and a past president of the Golf Writers Association of America.
|
FUN FACT
The co-creator of the Masters, Bobby Jones, was a lifelong amateur golfer. So it’ s no wonder the season’ s first major pays so much homage to amateurs around the world. Six amateurs are projected to be in the field when the Masters begins April 5. Fifty years after Vinny Giles’ run, who will take low-am honors in 2018?
DOC REDMAN Current U. S. Amateur champion
DOUG GHIM Current U. S. Amateur runner-up
HARRY ELLIS Current British Amateur champion
LIN YUXIN Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion
JOAQUIN NIEMANN Current Latin America Amateur Champion
MATT PARZIALE Current U. S. Mid-Amateur Champion
|
2) The favorites: As of early February, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth were 17-to-2 co-favorites. Johnson’ s back kept him out of last year’ s event, while a tough final-round 75 sunk Spieth.
3) Breakthrough time? Justin Rose is a two-time Masters’ runner-up who lost in a playoff to Garcia last year.
4) Sneaky bets: As of February, you could get Marc Leishman at 45-to-1 odds. Pretty tasty for an accomplished vet itching for a major breakthrough. … A pair of Patricks— Cantlay and Reed— were 70-to-1 picks. … You could do worse than picking Patton Kizzire, who has two wins in 2017-18, at 140-to-1.
5) Because you have to: Tiger Woods was getting 18-to-1 odds at press time. If he plays well at any point leading up to April 5, expect it to go closer to 10-to-1.
|