Tee it Up . . . Payne has Tiger by the Tail

The Masters started today in Augusta and with it a return of two great champions, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer for the honorary first tee shots.  We are off for a great weekend of chasing that little white ball around the hallowed grounds that is Augusta National Golf Club.

Yesterday before the competition started and the hoopla of a returning Tiger Woods there was the usual press conference from the Masters chairman but it was not the normal talk with little meaning as Billy Payne did the right and necessary thing for all of those who love the game, the traditions, and keep The Masters what it is.

For all his brilliance and leadership as the man in charge of the Masters, it is unlikely Billy Payne will ever do anything as masterful, as blunt and certainly as necessary as what he did Wednesday afternoon on the eve of the 74th edition of The Masters.

In what was a stunning and rare departure for a Masters chairman, he not only admonished one of the players in the field for naughty behavior, the one he publicly chastised was Tiger Woods, the world's top player.  Little more than 24 hours before Woods returned to competition after a five-month absence, Payne did what no other person would do or dare to do: He turned Woods over his knee and flogged him on the rear for treating his marriage like a casting couch.

Then he hugged him and welcomed him back to the Masters.

It was textbook tough love, the type a parent would administer.  But it was something that needed to be done, something needed to be said.  And nobody in the world of golf had done it.  Until now.

Amen Corner to that.

"It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here; it is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and, more importantly, our kids and our grandkids," Payne said near the end of his opening remarks in the chairman's annual State of the Masters address. "Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children."

Then, after saying that Woods' future "will never again be measured only by his performance against par; but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change," Payne turned again and graciously welcomed his four-time champion back to the Masters.

"I hope he can come to understand that life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who bring joy to the lives of other people. We at Augusta hope and pray that our great champion will begin his new life here in a positive, hopeful and constructive manner, but this time, with a significant difference from the past."

We will see how the week plays out and if the weather holds for a terrific tournament but after the first day it is a nice mix of young and old, past champions and many want to be’s.

Good luck to everyone . . . may the traditions and Honor continues to prevail over the rolling hills and the lush fauna of Augusta National.

Ice