The Masters is one of the few events in all of sports that always lives up to its billing and never gets old. This regeneration of itself as a thrilling spectacle every April is part of the magic of Augusta National.
If there are two men who should have (or could have) tired of the place and the tournament by now, CBS Sports broadcasters Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo are those two men. Faldo has played in 22 of them, won three and has called 10 others. This will be Nantz’s 32nd consecutive appearance at Augusta.
Combined, the two have over 60 years of history at this tournament.
And yet, you can still hear the wistfulness in their voices about going back once again to the old nursery. As a three-time champion, Faldo can participate in nearly every event the 2017 golfers participate in including practice rounds and the Par 3 Contest.
“I play with my son Matthew on Sunday (before the tournament),” Faldo recently said. “That’s wonderful to go to the club. We start with the Drive, Chip and Putt. I love to stand on the back balcony of the clubhouse and look out. We have lunch through the week on the back lawn there. I’m gearing up for the Par 3.
“Then we settle down into the rhythm of the broadcast which is fun because it’s so fantastic being able to be there and sit there to see it live.”
Nantz, who has been the host for 30 straight years, noted that Wednesday afternoon after the course closes and the Par 3 Contest heats up -- the calm before the storm -- is a great chance to clear his head.
“I like to go down to Amen Corner,” Nantz said. “It’s a ritual, and I’ve done it for years. I like to go walk 11, 12 and 13. Just kind of look around and have a moment of appreciation that I’ve been given an opportunity to come back and broadcast this tournament that has meant so much to me.
“That’s a point for me to let go of the NCAA Tournament and really mentally look straight ahead with a whole lot of gratitude about time and place.”
There are other moments, too, for Nantz. Both the very beginning and very ending of the actual tournament are times he savors.
“The second thing is that ceremonial first shot,” Nantz said. “I’ve never missed it. I stand off to the side. The gallery is 10 or 20 people deep. It for me as a passionate golfer is an awesome moment. I don’t know of any other sport that has something that is as rich in nostalgia as that. I am a nostalgic guy. I’m sentimental. I don’t apologize for it. It’s in my DNA. That is to me about as sweet a moment as there is in sport.”
Then when it’s all over on Sunday night and Nantz has to hustle from the broadcast tower on No. 18 to Butler Cabin, which is hundreds of yards away.
“It’s never without its own thrills just reminding yourself with our limited commercial breaks during the broadcast, I have to get there quickly,” Nantz said. “It looks like on television probably that it’s right next door, but ... you know it’s not. We’re moving quickly, and we’re moving on to the coronation for some fortunate player whose life is about to change.”
Every year since 2002, it has been a different golfer than the year before. Every year that golfer’s life has been changed either a little or a lot by what transpired during one mystical, crazy week at Augusta National. All of us are forged by our experiences in life, but rarely does one place shape us so much.
