The Masters: Why it’ll always be my favourite Major

Whisper it quietly, but my love for golf did not start with an iconic British links venue like St Andrews, nor did it begin with me delightfully hacking my way around a Sheffield municipal to register a score of +37.

It all began with views of a place I thought only accessible through a TV screen, a course that looked so perfect it surely couldn’t be real.

A place where the sun always shone, where the water glistened, where the flowers were always in bloom, where the sand was perfectly white and the grass was so green it looked artificial.

The year was 2002 and I had just turned 10. The setting was Augusta National and the man of the moment was Tiger Woods.

I was barely old enough to appreciate what was being played out on the TV screen which my dad had been glued to all weekend, but when I was sent to bed on that Sunday evening, I switched on the tiny portable in my room and covertly watched Woods make history and win back-to-back Masters tournaments. 

I was terrified that my mum would catch me staying up late on a school night and captivated by sporting history in equal measure.
I am quite prepared to adamantly argue that nothing beats the Masters That tournament set the tone for my complete inability to tear myself away from the TV on Masters Sunday every year.

Even last year when I was due to catch a train to Manchester Airport at 1.40am and really should have got some sleep to avoid ruining the first day of a holiday, I found myself watching Adam Scott’s play-off win into the early hours of the morning, trying to naively convince myself that I could sleep on the plane.

Although many purists will say that The Open Championship is the best Major, I am quite prepared to adamantly argue that nothing beats the Masters. 

It is one of very few sporting events that almost never fails to entertain, excite or provide drama.

We spend weeks building up to the tournament, but for me that build up never overhypes or overestimates the action when the weekend arrives.

Above everything else, the Masters reminds me of staying up late on the second Sunday in April to watch history being made.

I look forward to doing exactly that this weekend.

For more on the Masters click HERE