Tranquility base here.
The Mercedes Championships easily is the most relaxed event in golf. It’s hard to get too stressed out in this setting. Even if you hit a bad shot, a peek at the dazzling views has an instant calming effect.
Yet there was one quick way to jolt the players’ minds out of paradise over the weekend: Just ask them about the Masters tournament in April.
Their serene looks vanish immediately. They know, everyone knows, that just beyond the sun-drenched mountains, a typhoon looms.
“Oh, Hootie Johnson,” said Nick Price, referring in animated anguish to the Masters chairman. “He’s made a lot of our lives very uncomfortable.”
Jeff Sluman didn’t escape the Masters question during his time off. He was asked repeatedly about Martha Burk and the National Council of Women’s Organizations’ push to break Augusta National’s all-male membership.
“Everyone wants to talk about it,” Sluman said.
Everyone, it seems, but the players.
They all would like this controversy to just disappear. They would love if fans were asking them about the changes to Augusta’s fifth hole.
The Masters is a sacred event to these players, and Augusta National is hallowed ground. They can’t stand to see it desecrated by the furor that only figures to intensify as the tournament nears.
“I hope it all goes smoothly that week as far as this whole travesty is concerned,” said PGA Championship winner Rich Beem.
“I’m not saying either side is right. But, c’mon, Hootie is not going to budge and Martha is not going to back down. Why don’t we just leave it alone?”
That seems almost as likely as Johnson writing a book on how to respond to a letter from a women’s organization. Not only will the issue remain front and center, it already is having a big impact. Charles Howell III, an Augusta native, lamented how it is affecting his hometown.
“I know my brother’s girlfriend works for the largest caterer in Augusta, and they have had a whole lot of orders canceled,” Howell said. “The impact goes well beyond the golf to hurting the city and the economy. A lot of people depend on the income through the Masters. I think that’s the sad part of it, that those people are getting hurt.”
So, Howell was asked, whose fault is it? Like most players, he was taking the Tiger Woods approach and playing both sides of the issue. This isn’t a bunch known for taking stands on controversial issues. They would much prefer to work on their 7-irons.
“Whether it is right or wrong, Augusta National is a private club,” Howell said. “But yet, this is 2003. You know, you’d like to see a woman member out there.”
It is hard to say exactly where the players fall as a group on the debate. It is safe to say the split is fairly even.
There are some like Ernie Els, who believe the affair is getting too much attention. Of course, Els grew up in South Africa, which had more pressing discrimination issues than a woman joining a private club.
“I just feel there are more important issues in the world right now than getting particular members into a certain club,” Els said. “It’s a non-issue.”
Price, though, represents the faction that believes Augusta brought the problem on itself.
“They’re a private club, and they can do whatever they want,” Price said. “But they do have a public event there. They make money from having us there. They’re 10 years behind the times. They should have had a lady member in there 10 years ago.”
Sluman said he feels Augusta will eventually bring in a woman member, which he says “would be right.” But when?
It definitely won’t happen in time for this year’s tournament. Sluman knows the longer the controversy goes on, the more potential damage it does to the game.
“That’s a question best left unanswered until we find out what happens,” Sluman said.
Sluman did have one prediction.
“When it’s all said and done, some colleges are going to be using this as a case study, just like Enron,” Sluman said.
Part of the study will be the players’ reaction to the controversy. They just want to focus on golf.
But the reality is, until April and perhaps beyond, the only place the players will be able to escape the Augusta mess is when they are between the ropes.
