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Best to embrace Arnie, Jack and the whole experience

GOLF: US MASTERS FIRST ROUND: PHILIP REID talks to Ross Fisher, whose last win on tour came in the Irish Open, about the wonder…

Fri Apr 08 2011 - 01:00

GOLF: US MASTERS FIRST ROUND: PHILIP REIDtalks to Ross Fisher, whose last win on tour came in the Irish Open, about the wonder of playing in the Masters at Augusta

THE DISTRACTION on the first tee either had to be embraced, or ignored. The second option, however, wasn’t a realistic one. Ross Fisher couldn’t close his eyes and shut his ears to the fact that two of golf’s legends – Arnie and Jack – were on the tee in their roles as honorary starters.

The two greats are part of Augusta’s folklore, with bronze plaques – Palmer’s on a drinking fountain behind the 16th tee, Nicklaus’s on a different fountain between the 16th and 17th holes – attesting to their esteemed contributions to the tournament.

So, what was Fisher to do? Embrace it all, of course. And the Englishman, whose last win on tour came in the Irish Open at Killarney last season, and in the first group off the tee along with Sean O’Hair and Jonathan Byrd, decided it would be better to soak it all in and use the energy from the acclaim hoisted onto Palmer and Nicklaus. It worked, as Fisher opened his quest for a maiden major with a nicely constructed 68, four under, which looked set to be even better only for him to drop a shot at the 17th.

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Starting out, Fisher had three layers of clothing on to keep out the morning chill. “You never want to see that tee-time 7.45am – but, then, you’re the first guys out on the course and you get the best of the greens. Obviously, it was a special treat for the three of us to see two legends like Arnie and Jack get it under way. That was pretty special, to be there and to witness that.”

Indeed, Fisher and O’Hair had a bit of banter about the distances which Nicklaus and Palmer managed to hit their token tee-shots off the first. “Sean thought that Arnie actually knocked it past him, so, yeah, it was fun to see those two guys.”

The fun and games didn’t last for long though, as Fisher was put on the clock around the turn. The first indication that they were falling behind time came on the eighth, and then an official approached him.

“So you have always got that in the back of your mind thinking that, am I not allowed to have two looks at this putt because you’re not sure how quick or how slow you’re allowed to play. But obviously being the first group it’s our job to set the pace and unfortunately we were a little bit behind to start off it, but I think we got around in good time (in the end),” said Fisher.

Two years ago, Fisher opened with a 69 that promised more. “That’s obviously a long time ago but, obviously, I had memories of that coming in. I remember bridieing 16 to get to six-under and looking around to see my name up in lights on the leaderboard. Unfortunately, I kind of choked (then) – so it was nice to hand on this year. Any time you can go around this course in under 70. But at the same time I walked off a little bit disappointed as I felt like I played nicely.”