If there is one phrase that I think best captures modern life it’s “Hype and disappointment”. Everything is promoted now as “the best”, “the greatest” or “new and improved”–but when you buy it, see it, or hear it, your reaction is “meh”.
And that is why I’m reluctant to get to pumped up about the start of this year’s Master’s Tournament. Everything you see on Golf Channel, ESPN and the myriad of sports-related web content is promoting this as “THE MOST ANTICIPATED MASTERS EVER!!!!” The “most anticipated” hype is coming from the fact that not only are the top-rated players in the world all coming in with recent wins and good form–but old-timer Phil Mickelson has won a tournament already this year and–perhaps most importantly–Tiger Wood is healthy and is also looking like the Tiger Woods of old.
The talking heads are building up the possibility of a mega-shootout between the old guard and the young guns with the possibility of multiple lead changes and birdies and eagles coming from everywhere on the back nine as America tunes in in 4K high definition and goes nuts on social media. “We will be talking about this tournament for generations” we are told–because it can’t help but be one of the greatest ever.
But like I said about the modern hype machine, that never seems to turn out as great as we expect. Rain on Saturday at Augusta followed by unseasonably cool weather on Sunday may result in an endless parade of pars on the weekend. Conditions like that in 2007 brought us a win by Zach Johnson–who has proven to be a very good player (winning the British Open in brutal conditions in 2015)–but someone that nobody was predicting to capture a green jacket before things got started.
The “greatest ever” tends to be more organic–and more surprising. The 1986 Masters–widely considered to be THE “greatest ever” had no pre-tournament hype about 46-year old Jack Nicklaus coming out of nowhere to shoot lights out on the back nine on Sunday while all of the best players in the world crumbled around him down the stretch. It was that total unexpectedness that made Jack’s run even more special.
So unlike the guys on TV who have been agonizing all week over which high-powered superstar is going to emerge from some wild shootout as the winner, I’m going for the “not living up to expectations” route and taking a solid–but not spectacular–player for my pick to don the green jacket: lefty, Brian Harmon. No, his win won’t make it the “greatest Masters ever”–but it will fit in with the way things are going nowadays.
