As the first major of the year, The Masters is the year's earliest test of the state of golf. A birdie-fest win at the tournament-formerly-known-as-the Bob Hope is one thing, but playing well at Augusta is another story entirely, and this year has been loaded full of weighty stories. Luke Donald began the year at the top spot in the world, but a resurgent Rory McIlroy quickly stole that away. Despite the young Ulsterman's finishes of second, first, and third on the PGA Tour early on, Donald was able to take back the number one ranking with a victory at Innisbrook.
Equally impressive has been the play of numerous Americans, veterans and young-guns. Steve Stricker started off the year with a win at Kapalua, and he was followed by a crop of young players including Brandt Snedeker, Kyle Stanley, John Huh, and Hunter Mahan.
Phil Mickelson also picked up an early-season win at Pebble, and most recently Tiger Woods returned to the winner's circle, triumphing at Bay Hill for the seventh time. He'll have to put aside all of he talk about hank Haney's tell-all is he wants to win his fifth green jacket.
Augusta National has a solid front nine, but it's the back nine where the course really shines. Every hole can easily lead to a bogey but each one is also birdie-able, as Charl Schwartzel and others showed us last year. Because of this, going into the back nine on Sunday everyone within shouting distance of the lead is still in the tournament.
The Masters truly starts the golf season. Sure there are plenty of events on the West Coast and the Florida swing, but that week in April with the beautifully manicured fairways at Augusta truly gets the season underway.
In many ways Callaway has always been a pioneer in the golf industry with regards to new technology. They've come up with such "out of the box ideas" as the HEX dimple pattern which is suppose to be more aerodynamic and were among the first to offer the ability to easily change shafts in a driver with the i-Mix line of clubs. Back in 2009, we saw TaylorMade introduce the original R9 driver and the adjustability of that club (mainly the ability to alter the face angle) really took off. Since that time other manufacturers have jumped into this new market but until now Callaway had stayed back. That all changed with the introduction of the RAZR Fit driver.
Hello golf fans and welcome to The Masters edition of Hittin' the Links. Yep, its Masters week again! I think back to where I was this time last year, getting ready to visit Augusta National for the first time. It was a completely unforgettable experience, there is just no other place like it.
