“I’ll never forget.
When you walk down on
property there and hole No. 1
is there and the scoreboard, and
we kind of made our way down
to 10 and Tiger and Mark were
the first guys we saw. So that
was kind of my first memory
of Augusta.”
–Kevin O’Connell
ABOVE: North Carolina native Kevin O’Connell won
the U.S. Mid-Amateur in September, earning him
spots in this year’s Masters and U.S. Open.
RIGHT: All eyes will still be on Tiger, whose last top-
10 Masters finish came in 2013.
ing about the change to March, “Luckily,
it’s still the same golf course, still the
same look, but you just make that adjust-
ment as far as wind direction goes.”
The last March winner of The Players
was Canadian Stephen Ames, who cruised
to a six-stroke victory in 2006. He fol-
lowed that up less than a month later with
a T-11 finish at Augusta National.
So what to expect when the world’s best
convene at The Masters less than a month
later? Here’s a quick look at the storylines.
A NEW NO. 5
Historically the fifth-toughest hole at
Augusta, “Magnolia” has been length-
vsga.org
ened to 495 yards
thanks to a new tee
complex. The par-4
hole played as the
sixth toughest in
last year’s event at
4.16 strokes, yield-
ing just 26 birdies
against 64 bogeys
and four double bogeys.
Magnolia is a gentle dog-
leg left with bunkers guard-
ing the left side of the fairway. Per
the Masters media guide, the carry over
those bunkers is now 313 yards, giving
players a tougher decision regarding club
choice when hitting their tee shots.
TIGER WATCH
Tig er fatigue? Hardly. If anything,
Woods’ return to the game has made
him more popular than ever. Witness
the horde following him up the 18th
fairway at East Lake
in last year’s Tour
Championship.
Still finding his way
after back surgery,
Woods tied for 32nd
last year in his first
Augusta appearance
since 2015. His last top
10 came in 2013, a T4
capping a run of eight top
10s in nine years. Undoubted-
ly, he’ll be the talk of the tournament
come April, no matter his form.
MID-AMATEUR DREAMS
One of the best developments in recent
years is the exemption that goes to
the previous year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur
champion. Massachusetts firefighter
Matt Parziale was the representative in
2018. In 2019, North Carolina’s Kevin
O’Connell gets the nod. If his name
M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 19 | V I R G I N I A G O L F E R
23