17 year old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa has received a special international invitation to play in the 2009 Masters. He will be the youngest participant in 57 years.
__________________ Hitting the Ball is the easiest part of the game-hitting it effectively is the most difficult. Why trust instinct when there is a science."1-G.
It seems that every tournament is reacting to the set up at last years US Open which gave such excitement and drama.
The sooner the Masters brings in a tournament ball the better.
__________________ The student senses his teacher’s steadfast belief and quiet resolve: “This is doable. It is doable by you. The pathway is there. All you need is determination and time.” And together, they make it happen.
17 year old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa has received a special international invitation to play in the 2009 Masters. He will be the youngest participant in 57 years.
Colin Montgomery was widely criticized last year for his remarks concerning certain Asian players who received special invitations to The Masters while he did not. Obviously, Mr. Montgomery failed to qualify via the conventional qualifying criteria, and for whatever the reason, the tournament committee chose not to extend him a special invitation.
Nevertheless, it is a fact that The Masters is extremely popular in Asia, e.g., Korea and Japan, and that their television networks pay substantial sums to the Augusta National Golf Club for broadcast rights. The tournament remains the sole province of the Club, so the membership can do anything they want to with it . . . or nothing at all. In other words, if they choose to add a little local color for the benefit of the foreign TV folks and their viewers, it is their privilege to do so.
Whether or not that dynamic is in the mix is anybody’s guess. Colin Montgomery certainly thought so. Then again, it’s not his tournament.
Monty never expressed any hint of a problem with the system until his world ranking fell so far that he wasn't an automatic entry anymore!
__________________ The student senses his teacher’s steadfast belief and quiet resolve: “This is doable. It is doable by you. The pathway is there. All you need is determination and time.” And together, they make it happen.
Yes the Masters has become quite the international mix over the years and I think that this has contributed to its ever growing popularity throughout the world. Well that and the unbelievable scenery. The ANGC does what it wants and answers to no one!
__________________ Hitting the Ball is the easiest part of the game-hitting it effectively is the most difficult. Why trust instinct when there is a science."1-G.
The Masters is only second to The Open Championship in understanding its global appeal. The USGA has never been able to fully extend its Open to a global audience. If AUgusta National opened up a few tickets to global purchase they would probably exceed R&A in reaching out to a truly global audience.
As a non-American I always find it kind of funny when the Major Leauge winner, Super Bowl winner or NBA winner is pronounced World Champion. What teams from other countries did they beat?
__________________ Hitting the Ball is the easiest part of the game-hitting it effectively is the most difficult. Why trust instinct when there is a science."1-G.
B. J. Hathaway, G.S.E.B., M.C.I.
Hybrid Mode
