exstatic
04-08-2005, 07:53 AM
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- The ashen sky loomed ominously overhead as Billy Casper lumbered slowly up the hill for the final tee shot of a long, long day.
Tilting over carefully, he stuck a tee in the luscious grass and struck the ball straight down the middle of the fairway at Augusta National.
"I always get this thing figured out along around dark," the portly, 73-year-old Casper quipped, managing the slightest of smiles.
Not long after that, it was mercifully over -- the highest-scoring round in Masters history, turned in by a once-great player who just wanted to play 18 more holes at Augusta National.
The numbers on the scorecard added up to 106.
That's right, 106!
This is despicable. Several years back, the chairman of the Masters asked three of the SuperSeniors to give up their automatic exemptions, so that some younger players had a chance to make the field and actually compete. Billy Casper decided that after hip replacement, he wanted his grandchildren to see him play 18 on Augusta, so he decided to apply anyway, after sitting out the previous couple of years. He shot a 14 on one hole, and I thought, "oh, he just had one REAL bad hole", but even if he had shot a 3, he still would have TIED the old record for a high score (95). He hadn't made the cut since 1987.
Augsta needs to set up memory rounds for the aging ex-champs in the week before the tournament, so that they don't have to be humiliated like this in order to relive some memories. He officially got a W-D (withdrawn) because he pocketed his scorecard (intentionally) when he finished his round.
Tilting over carefully, he stuck a tee in the luscious grass and struck the ball straight down the middle of the fairway at Augusta National.
"I always get this thing figured out along around dark," the portly, 73-year-old Casper quipped, managing the slightest of smiles.
Not long after that, it was mercifully over -- the highest-scoring round in Masters history, turned in by a once-great player who just wanted to play 18 more holes at Augusta National.
The numbers on the scorecard added up to 106.
That's right, 106!
This is despicable. Several years back, the chairman of the Masters asked three of the SuperSeniors to give up their automatic exemptions, so that some younger players had a chance to make the field and actually compete. Billy Casper decided that after hip replacement, he wanted his grandchildren to see him play 18 on Augusta, so he decided to apply anyway, after sitting out the previous couple of years. He shot a 14 on one hole, and I thought, "oh, he just had one REAL bad hole", but even if he had shot a 3, he still would have TIED the old record for a high score (95). He hadn't made the cut since 1987.
Augsta needs to set up memory rounds for the aging ex-champs in the week before the tournament, so that they don't have to be humiliated like this in order to relive some memories. He officially got a W-D (withdrawn) because he pocketed his scorecard (intentionally) when he finished his round.