Hello 'Ball'

I was all set to examine a social ill, and I got side tracked by The Masters golf tournament. Mentally I went somewhere to a place that celebrates springtime, where hope abounds like 'harvested hops'. As sure as nature predictably awakens, the game of golf is there to present a linkable memory to another chapter in the passing of time.

This tournament is about returning to a place that doesn't change locale. It is the only major event on the PGA Tour mecca-like in nature. It 'invites' the best golfers from around the world to compete for the 'Green Jacket', the cloak of excellence for the newly-to-be-crowned. And as the tournament unfolds, a myriad of potential stories unfold, prompting fans to project what their ending might be if they were to write the story.

Tiger Woods is toward the back of the pack making the cut; he's got 4 green jackets, never count him out. Zach Johnson, the 'Midwestern' representative of heartland golfers, won't be around to tee it up Saturday. Padraig Harrington, the Irishman who most benefited from Tiger's absence, is striving to make it 3 'majors' in a row if he can pull out a victory here.

Greg Norman, the 54 y.o. Aussie, who made a huge run at the Open Championship last year (British Open, to wit) is a storied wannabe in this tournament and the darling of fans who relate to being so close and folding under pressure. The So. Africans endured a 30 year drought between Gary Player winning in 1978 and Trevor Immelman winning last year. Both played the qualifying rounds, Trevor survived the cut.

Bernhard Langer, the German two time past champion who last won in 1993, can sleep in tomorrow morning. Angel Cabrera is near the top of the leader board (the Argentine who affects a working class appeal that transcends nationality). And I have to remember to mention Mike Weir, a Canadian past champion, who is workmanlike, quiet, unassuming, and a 'little lefty' who is proof that you don't have to be a monster to win at golf.

When the 2009 Masters winner is known on Sunday, another story in sport will have been written. It may be a local hero or it could be a faraway hero to fans in a distant country. All have come abiding by the rules of golf that participants are strictly held to in the quest for a footnote in history. The golfers embrace it, the fans respect the decorum of the game and the heraldry of the tournament, and the beautiful dynamic of the height-of-spring gathering of people: athletes and observers, fans who can't be in Augusta, Georgia, and those who are pulling for the likes of Vijay Singh to repeat and Henrik Stenson to put Sweden on the Masters map, watch.

It is the coming together of people from around the world who understand the many levels of beauty of the game of golf. Nationalistic pride is embraced and accepted without political undertones. You are cheered on because of your skill, your gamesmanship, and ability to handle pressure. If all the foreign heads of state who don't envision peaceful co-existence with the rest of the world could learn about life from observing the aesthetics of The Masters, hope WOULD spring eternal.