Masters: Everything is better at Augusta National, even an eclipse

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The last time so many people stared up at the sky during the Masters was in 2010. That’s when someone hired a plane to tug signs taunting Tiger Woods for his extramarital antics.

“Sex addict? Yeah. Right. Sure. Me too!” read one.

“Tiger, did you mean Bootyism?” read another.

Augusta National wasn’t too keen on this, even if laughing at Woods’ personal foibles were basically America’s favorite sport at the time. Then-chairman Billy Payne even publicly scolded his “egregious” conduct.

Regardless, the FAA quickly grounded the plane pending “repairs.” Neither it nor any other aerial advertising was seen again at this tournament. (Tiger shot a 68 that day anyway.)

The membership of AGNC wield considerable influence but even if desired it couldn’t prohibit the moon from passing in front of the sun Monday causing a partial eclipse over these palatial grounds.

As such, the focus from about 3 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. wasn’t solely on golfers practicing. Instead plenty of people stared into the light wearing official Masters Tournament filters. This place may outlaw cellphones, but it can’t stop celestial entertainment.

Well, maybe. Since only 76.1 percent of the sun was covered, this was only mildly exciting.

“Unbelievable, riveting, life changing, life altering,” joked Kyle Duke of Charleston, South Carolina.

The grounds here looked like they were in an Instagram filter rather than the dark. Everyone seemed to agree the eclipse was OK, but it was mainly about where they got to watch the eclipse, namely this famous golf course. Everything is better at Augusta National.

“This is a completely unique day,” said Bob Duke, Kyle’s father. After scoring some badges for Monday’s practice round, the two Dukes took off work and basked in all of it.

“First off, I am at Augusta National with my son,” Bob said. “Number two, there are no cellphones. And Number three, there was an eclipse. That’s a wonderfully unique day.”

An eclipse hadn’t hit the Masters since 1940, when 90 percent of the sun was covered during the tournament’s final round. Things grew dark, but not enough to halt play. Jimmy Demaret won by four strokes.

Monday was a practice round, so even the vaunted “Path of Totality” would only matter so much.

Brian Harman said he set up his round early in the day so he could “watch the end of the world at Augusta National, right?”

Yahoo Sports is reporting that the world did not, in fact, end.

Monday at Augusta National is always pretty casual, mainly lots of patrons just happy to be here. As such, the focus was on the course as much as the sport. Most people ignored the eclipse, or just briefly looked up at it and then got onto better things.

There was more fun to be had drinking beers, enjoying a pimento cheese sandwich or comparing shopping hauls from the merch tent.

Or, this being SEC country, talking about college football. At least that was the case for Brent Carter (Alabama fan), Pete Wilson (Tennessee fan) and Jason Wiley (Georgia fan) who were already in mid-October form as they hung out along the first fairway.

“The eclipse was really cool,” Wiley, the Bulldog fan from Dalton, Georgia, said. “But not as cool as winning back to back national championships.”