AUGUSTA, Ga. — I have never understood the appeal of the Yule Log, as it played on TV, until this morning. It’s 8:10 a.m., as I start to type this here in room 405 of the downtown Marriott.
The first group’s players of the first round, starting on No. 10, should have arrived at and been through Amen Corner by now. You know Amen Corner. The approach shot into the par-4 11th and the holing out there; the whole of the par-3 12th; the tee shot on the par-5 13th. Water is in your mind on every one of them, including the putts. You want to see what’s going on. But, per Masters.com, nothing is going on.
My path to Amen Corner. You click on Masters.com. You click Featured Groups. At the top there’s a link, if that’s the correct word, for Amen Corner. Click on that. And that’s when you see golf’s Yule Log, Masters-style: a live shot from a stationary camera situated behind the 12th green.
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There’s not a person in it. Not a golfer, not a caddie, not a course worker. Just a limp soggy yellow flag in the middle of the green. A soggy bunker. Logic tells you that a still Rae’s Creek is getting higher by the second, not that you can see it. There’s no scoring scroll at the bottom, just a single, sad announcement:
AMEN CORNER
First Round—Weather Delay
You fill in the space as you wish.
Here’s Fred, fishing out that water ball on Sunday in ’92, the fans going crazy.
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Here’s Francesco shoving that high-on-the-face 8-iron last year, his last moment as the solo leader.
Here’s Curtis, in ’88, making a 1 there and tossing his ball in the creek.
Rae’s Creek is dark and silver in this live-stream shot. The tee is empty. Soggy divots are coming. You can’t see the pine-bough tee markers, 180 or so yards away. The only sound is falling water, likely on a plastic tarp covering a discreetly placed microphone. Golf’s Yule Log. I’m 20 minutes in.
Sometime, before this day is over, Sandy Lyle, Jimmy Walker and Yuxin Lin will hole out on 12. They were the 7 a.m. group and, had Wednesday been Thursday, they’d be through it by now. But they’re cooling their jets, just like everybody else.
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Yes, it’s frustrating, after this long wait. At least we have this live-stream yule log, and this 8:25 a.m. update: raindrops are now splattered all over the camera’s lens. The flag on the yellow pin is showing occasional signs of life. Something just fell. It might have been an acorn. This Masters in November is different, and off to a different start.
A 9 a.m. room 405 update: The powers apparently have pulled the plug on the live shot from behind 12 green. Now we’re getting beauty shots, backed by orchestral marching music. The sky is lifting. Live golf is coming.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael_Bamberger@Golf.com.