If there's one thing to bring it all home that we live in serious and worrying times, it's the absence of the Masters on our television screens this week.
The annual event is the only golf major to be staged at the same course every year, with Augusta National in Georgia an idyllic backdrop to a tournament drenched in tradition.
Normally this week the defending champion would be hosting the champions' dinner. This year it was meant to be Tiger Woods, but he still managed to host a meal in his green jacket with his family.
Masters Champions Dinner quarantine style. Nothing better than being with family. pic.twitter.com/xPK769CWCf
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 7, 2020
For many, the Masters signifies the start of a sporting summer.
Golf is a television sport and many of us grew up glued to it late on a Sunday night in Ireland, with the curtains drawn and presenter Myles Dungan steering the ship.
It was the tournament that Tiger Woods won by 12 shots in 1997 to change golf and change sport.
Today, most of us are working from home if lucky enough to do so.
We are all doing our best and aiming to be responsible during this coronavirus pandemic.
Turning on the television for four days and witnessing Shane Lowry or Rory McIlroy attempting to win the Masters would convey a sense of normality that sadly doesn't exist right now as we think of our loved ones and the front line health workers in the middle of this crisis.
The 2020 Masters may take place between November 12th and 15th. It remains to be seen. It would be great if the public health environment would allow that it could happen.
The official website has been showing re-runs of past tournaments, starting with Jack Nicklaus' magical win at the age of 46 from 1986.
Enjoy a recap of today's final round through the Official 1986 Masters Film. https://t.co/UcdqdrVZ0V #MastersRewind pic.twitter.com/kwY4Bj4s3d
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2020
So what will I miss this week?
- Channeling memories of Seve, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman, Phil in 2004, Tiger's chip
- How annoying the par 3 tournament is
- Tiger Woods in red, flushing those iron shots and hovering around the leader board
- The 'will he or won't he' questions about a Rory McIlroy breakthrough and the career Grand Slam
- Those fast greens, the putts that look like they are on glass
- The potential for Shane Lowry, now a major champion, to contend
- The azaleas in full bloom
- The wall to wall SKY Sports coverage from the first hole on the weekend
- How green everything is
- The tricky par 4 third hole, the start of risk and reward
- Eagles at the 8th, and the ball coming back down the hill at the 9th
- The constant sound of birds, so much so that one questions if music is being piped through a speakers
- Amen Corner, encapsulated at the 12th, where keeping the ball dry on Sunday is half the battle
- Ken on the course
- The approaches on 13 across Rae's Creek
- Bubba, Brooks, Rickie, DJ
- Looking out for the Kerry football jersey in the crowd
- The drama of the tee shot on 16 and the inevitable ballyhoo around a hole in one
- Jim Nantz
- Watching groups without commentary on the red button and noticing now tranquil it is
- Jordan Spieth's Hollywood blockbuster of a golf game
- The uphill approach at 18, often from a white sand bunker
- The bizarre 1950's kitsch of the Butler Cabin ceremony
- Thoughts of Masters merchandise
- Not having been there, and wondering what a pimento cheese sandwich really is, how cheap the food is and what a moon pie tastes like
- Wondering how hilly the place actually is and making renewed promises to oneself to plan a trip
- Wanting your own green jacket by Sunday night, vowing to go and buy one and then realising a fashion police arrest would be imminent
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