Like no other

College basketball has ended, the NFL draft is still over a week away, the NHL playoffs haven’t started, and the NBA regular season just ended. What in the world does a sports fan watch right now? Do not suggest baseball at any level, because I do not have the attention span to follow 162 games, nor can I follow the rigorous NCAA baseball schedule. That leaves me with one option, and if you’re going to twist my arm about it, I guess I’ll suck it up and watch.

I really don’t need much persuasion to watch The Masters every year. It’s probably the most accessible sporting event at any level, in my eyes, and you’d be hard-pressed to argue that one. It has its own app where you can watch various angles and parts of the course, or you can watch the regular broadcast or even just the featured groups. You can determine if you want to follow the whole leaderboard, a select few (like those you gambled on), or a combination of the two. If you’re like me, you put Tiger Woods in your selected group, hoping that he has one more in the bag.

Tiger’s 2019 Masters was a thing of beauty. I lived in Texas at the time and had just gotten home from visiting family in Ohio for a few weeks. My daughter was seven months old, almost eight. Because of inclement weather, Tiger’s group teed off super early on that Sunday, and since I was in Texas, which is an hour behind, I was up at 6 a.m. that day, preparing myself for another run by the Big Cat.

That preparation was simple. It was getting my daughter out of her bassinet so she wouldn’t cry and wake up everyone else. I made myself some breakfast, her a bottle, and fed the dogs. I sat there, nearly uninterrupted, watching Tiger play his way to another Masters victory on my little laptop screen, quietly yelling at every good shot he made, making sure to keep everyone asleep.

I remember every detail of that day vividly because it’s probably my most favorite golf moment, and it’s surely up there for my favorite sporting moment. We saw Tiger’s downfall on a national stage. Nobody thought he’d come back to win another Masters. But wearing his signature Sunday red, he did. And shocked the world.

Ever since that one, I have placed a small wager on him to win another. The car accidents and surgeries since haven’t dissuaded me enough until this year, but that’s only because he didn’t play, regardless of what his April Fool’s post on X said. Maybe it’s the kid in me, but I just had an unwavering support for the best golfer of all time to add yet another green jacket to his repertoire.

This year was different, though. It didn’t have the pizzazz I’m used to. I didn’t care much for the azaleas or the stories of the cheap food. I didn’t throw $10 on Jon Rahm so I could sweat a bet as I drove a U-Haul truck through Kansas (true story, that’s what happened for the 2023 Masters as I moved here). I didn’t place my usual $5 on Rory McIlroy to finally complete his career grand slam. And I’m kicking myself on that last one.

I watched Thursday’s coverage while I worked. Yes, while I wrote about some of your ballplayers, I had the Masters coverage on, hoping that I could get into it. I couldn’t, though.

It just doesn’t feel the same for me anymore. I don’t know that it’s just because Tiger isn’t playing this year. I don’t know if it’s because of the LIV versus PGA drama. I just don’t know. I watched one round, off and on, and didn’t seek any more information on it.

I obviously saw what happened and thought Rory once again blew his opportunity at another major, continuing his drought and keeping that illustrious green jacket out of his hands once more. “Rory can’t win the big one” has gotten really fun to say. I don’t dislike Rory, but the storyline of majors beating him for over a decade was a lot of fun. The same way that I will cheer when the Chiefs go back into obscurity after their dominance, a la the New England Patriots.

I guess I’m happy that McIlroy won, but I’m more upset with myself that I didn’t watch a lot of really fun golf this weekend. I tried, but I just found many other things I’d rather do instead, like binge-watch TV shows with my daughter. I’m sure I’ll find my knack for golf once more, and I’ll tune into the other majors this season, although I have far less interest this year than seasons prior.