| McIlroy, egg salad and gnomes…some random thoughts from the Masters  (courtesy: Augusta National Golf Club) The 89th Masters is probably the one that can rival the 2019 edition – when a 43-year-old Tiger Woods so grandly defied age and his brittle body to triumph – in becoming one of the most unforgettable golf tournaments of all time. Here are some random thoughts from Augusta National Golf Club… Like on cigarette packs, the Masters should seriously consider putting a statutory warning on all their teasers and commercials – ‘Watching the Masters could be injurious to your health’. The volatility of the leaderboard, especially over the back nine on Sunday, can give the Sensex a run for its money. Eventual champion Rory McIlroy started the day leading by two and quickly opened it up for the rest of the field by making a double bogey on the treacherous opening hole. The 445-yard, par-4 Tea Olive will forever remain my least favourite on the course, just because of how it denied Jeev Milkha Singh a sure-shot top-15 finish in 2007 when the Indian legend made a quadruple bogey there. But coming back to the point, the back nine tested the strength of your heart and conviction. After 10 holes and as the leaders approached Augusta National’s renowned Amen Corner (the stretch of three pivotal holes from 11 to 13), McIlroy led by five shots over Bryson DeChambeau and Ludvig Aberg, and by seven shots over Justin Rose. Rose then made his charge, picking up three shots on the three Amen Corner holes. When McIlroy made his fourth double bogey of the tournament on the 13th hole, dunking his third shot in the Rae’s Creek that guards the green, the lead was down to one shot within the blink of an eye. As Rose made a bogey on the 17th – after taking an extraordinarily long amount of time reading the four-feet par putt, which is a sure recipe for disaster in my book – McIlroy unleashed two stunning approach shots on the 15th and 17th holes to edge lead by two. That was mitigated by his bogey on the 18th and Rose’s birdie. It makes me think, what is so special about Augusta National Golf Club that it always manages to produce intense drama. One obvious answer would be the mind-numbing pressure that a major championship can generate, but it really is the timeless design skill of Dr Alister MacKenzie, which was accentuated even more by the inputs of Masters founder Bobby Jones, one of the greatest amateurs of all time and a very cerebral person. It's the only course where the players return every year for a major. And yet, it remains a stern test of golf, without making drastic changes every year. An 11-under par winning score is just about right as well. You can make 10 birdies in a round if you get as hot as Rose, and you can also make four double bogeys in a tournament like McIlroy if any of your shots is slightly less than perfect. Moving on, the outpouring of love from the Masters patrons for McIlroy was to be seen to believe . Honestly, I thought DeChambeu’s recent surge in popularity, combined with the fact that he is an American, would balance the support. Clearly, we are all hopeless romantics, and I love that about sport. Tears and pain still mean more to us. Switching to Rose, this is a wonderful stretch of performance in the majors at the age of 44 and one that needs to be rewarded. He battled the elements wonderfully at the Open Championship last year in Royal Troon, and to back it up with another second place at the Masters is brilliant. To the untrained eyes, DeChambeau complaining about his irons the first three days and still moving to second on the leaderboard, may have seemed dramatic. But professional golfers these days are trying to get as close to perfection, and as it showed up on Sunday, he wasn’t exaggerating his issues. Pimento cheese sandwich remains a favourite of the patrons, but egg salad might be winning the popularity contest at the concessions. The Masters Gnomes have become the hottest thing in the merchandising store. Reportedly, it was sold out every day by 9am. And talking about the merchandising store, Sports Business estimated that $70 million of goods was sold during the seven days. We will never know the actual figures, but I think it was close to $100 million. I personally overheard a person saying he spent approximately $18,000 over three trips to the shop. The absence of an Indian player at the Masters is so disappointing. And if the Official World Golf Rankings do not change the way it awards points, it will take something extraordinary to have one there. I am gravitating towards yellow jasmine as my favourite flower at Augusta National. It’s the brightness of the colour. However, I will never change my opinion on my favourite hole at Augusta National. It will always be the short par-3 12th. That a wedge shot of 155 yards can become so beguiling for the world’s finest golfers, just boggles my mind. If there are two places you want to spend a lot of time while watching the action at Augusta National, it is the grandstand behind the 12th hole, and the bank on the left of the 16th. One, you can see the tee shot and the green, unlike any of the par-4s and par-5s, but also because so much drama unfolds in these two holes. | 
