Saturday, May 11, 2013

Have you spotted a Player in person?



By Will Brown

A perfect day for golf was the perfect time to catch one of Jacksonville’s longstanding sporting traditions — The Players Championship.

The 40-minute wait in traffic outside of TPC Sawgrass was eventually worth it. As we walked in at the Fred Couples gate near the 15th tee a wayward sea turtle was nestled on the pine straw between a walkway and a culvert. As people, myself included, snapped pictures of one of the few things we were allowed to catch on camera the turtle struggled with the heat and the pine straw.

It was nearly 3 p.m. and temperatures were hovering around 80 degrees — not sweltering, but plenty hot enough.

The first group at No. 15 tee featured former Players winner Tim Clark and two others. Unbeknownst to us, a pair of former major championship winners was in the group after Clark’s.

Standing adjacent to the fairway at the 15th I snapped a few pictures and waited for the drives to come our way. The wait did not last long. Two-time major winner Angel Cabrera’s drive arrived from the spotless sky before landing less than 15 feet away from us.


My wife and I made a decision to follow Cabrera, Louis Oosthuizen and Derek Ernst for the next three holes, with the hopes of catching the famous 17th hole at TPC.


It was on the 16th fairway were I was introduced to the tournament’s Cell Phone Task Force, a group of people in white bibs who confiscated camera phones if people attempted to shoot pictures of the players. Interestingly enough this task force did not confiscate one man’s phone after it rang moments before Cabrera’s group teed off at No. 18.


Ernst struggled throughout the three holes we watched, Cabrera showed some of the form that led him to a playoff at The Masters this year. Meanwhile, Oosthuizen fell apart, bogeying the 17th hole, hitting his tee shot into the water at No. 18 and producing a quadruple bogey at the No. 18. It turns out Cabrera and Oosthuizen made the cut by a single shot.

It was easier to follow groups because a steward was kind enough to provide a copy of his program. In addition to a pairings, there was other information about the players, the tournament and the permanent bathrooms. (In the past, if nature called someone was reduced to using a Porta-Potty.)

The scenic clubhouse was in the distance, but it was a 400 yard walk neither of us wanted to make. Instead, my wife and I found a perch behind the island hole and watched the players at The Players.

Over the next hour eight groups came to the most raucous hole in golf.  Those watching the 10th toughest hole Friday were a combination of wealth (one nearby family had Hal Steinbrenner as a guest in their home); drinking buddies (a bet was made before every golfer teed off); college students and a lot of different people.

One Jacksonville television station facetiously asked whether anyone in Jacksonville went to work Friday, because a record 36,000 people attended Friday’s session.

Bubba Watson was just a few groups away, but we took a chance to go walk around and see other groups. The gamble paid off when we arrived off the edge of the 14th green to find Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy and Steve Stricker all within striking distance of the leaders.

McIlroy dapped up a young boy on the walk to the 15th tee. As much as the boy tried to hide his jubilation, a smile eventually crept out.

Moments later, when Scott’s drive whistled to the center of the fairway, one man, who clearly had a few beers, yelled “That’s an iron Mr. Scott. Surf’s up. Surf’s Up!” much to the amusement of the gallery.


Two hours after Cabrera’s drive nearly interrupted a conversation at No. 15, we made the decision to keep our heads on a swivel. Unfortunately, two fellas from NBC Sports did not. As they chatted inside the ropes, Striker’s drive came within 24 inches of hitting both of them. (Stricker’s ball wound up in the fringe. He, and his playing partners, made par at the 507-yard hole.)

Despite my run-in with the Cell Phone Task Force I clandestinely snapped a picture of the McIlroy, Scott and Stricker pairing at No. 17. Besides, after not seeing Tiger, or Bubba, I needed some photographic proof that I spent a weekday afternoon on the golf course.

After illegally photographing three Top 10 golfers it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to put the picture on Twitter along with the hashtag TheseGuysAreGood, but I did it anyway.

Even the golfers who were not household names made ridiculously difficult golf shots look easy. Watching how long and straight the world’s best could hit a golf ball made me understand the PGA Tour’s slogan was more than a marketing ploy, it was fact.

I woke up Friday morning wanting to see Tiger Woods. That didn’t happen. But, it will eventually. My first experience at The Players was exciting enough that I look forward to catching Tiger on the prowl again.

at
Labels: , , , , , , ,