The Masters: The Golf Tournament I Love To Hate.

April 5th, 2010 by Martine St-Victor





Okay. Hate is a strong word. But I really do love to dislike The Masters Golf Tournament. I’m far from being a golf connoisseur but I’ve always found the Tournament’s history to be quite disturbing – and no, I’m not referring to the terrible color of their winners’ much sought-after blazer.

The Masters are at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Georgia: the Peach, Georgia on Ray Charles’ mind, Georgia, the Southern state so primordial to the Civil Rights’ Movement, The fact Tiger Woods’ much anticipated return to golf happens to be at this week’s Masters Tournament isn’t without its share of irony and defiance.

I’ve said since the beginning of Tiger’s ordeal that its media treatment was drenched in race. I won’t go over it again but take me to lunch and I’ll tell you all about it. So here’s Tiger, making a comeback on a course he’s already dominated 4 times. A course that, in a not so distant past, didn’t admit Black people. Racial slurs have been shouted at Tiger at the Masters (& at other tournaments in the United States) by onlookers.



And of course, there was this Pepto-Bismol sponsored moment after Tiger won his first Masters in 1997:




So for all of that, and because it would shut all of the distracters up (especially journalist Christine Brennan), I’m rooting for Tiger at this year’s Masters. Grrr.

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