AUGUSTA, Georgia — Augusta National is a property, not a governing organization, as pedants will tell you, which is also true of the White House, Downing Street, and the Élysée Palace. Augusta National is golf’s true powerhouse, not only in terms of public perception but also in terms of its capacity to define priorities and influence change. This is why the closest thing our sport has to a State of the Union address occurs on Wednesday of Masters Week, when the club’s current chairman delivers prepared statements to the media before fielding questions on the game’s most important challenges.
The chairman’s prepared remarks are always cautious, noting good acts outside the club’s doors as well as tiny modifications within. Fred Ridley’s remarks were out of the ordinary in that he addressed a contentious issue before the assembled press: the issue of distance.
Ridley’s tone on this matter in his State of the Union speech at the 2020 Masters had bordered on aggressive for a man in his position. Golf, he observed, is “at a fork in the road” and “getting closer to a call to action.” When Augusta National’s chairman suggests that a call to action is impending, it signifies that the call has already been quietly given to those in golf’s power circles who needed to hear it. In this case, that means the USGA and the R&A, whose collaborative Distance Insights project was put on hold due to the pandemic but was recently revived with the announcement of additional research and input in certain areas.
Ridley took up the topic on his own initiative.
“We know that this is a complex issue that will take time to resolve, and we applaud the governing bodies’ degree of deliberation throughout this process,” he said. “We look forward to continued conversations during the summer comment period, as well as further suggestions and, eventually, implementation.”
Ultimately.
Implementation.
When the discourse is done, two words that indicate an expectation of decisive action. That serves as a reminder, in Augusta National’s meticulous nomenclature, that Chairman Ridley is a patient man, but his patience is finite.
“I’m really committed to our founder, co-founder, Bobby Jones, and Dr. MacKenzie’s objectives and design principles,” he said, preaching a gospel preached by all of his predecessors. Many critics believe that the distance modern golf balls travel has compromised the design principles of Jones and MacKenzie, so Ridley’s reiteration of the dogma won’t have gone unnoticed by those in charge of such matters, particularly Mike Whan and Martin Slumbers, both of whom are on-site this week.
The chairman’s (always his) answers to media questions are obsessively scrutinized for meaning, no matter how predictable his planned statements are.
Ridley was asked right away about the elephant in the room at Augusta National, Phil Mickelson. After statements surfaced in which he applauded the Saudi regime’s attempt to build a rival professional tour and casually downplayed its human rights abuses in order to gain power over the PGA Tour, the three-time Masters champion went to ground. Mickelson’s absence sparked speculation that Augusta National had advised him to stay at home, but Ridley refuted this.
“I’d like to clarify that we did not refuse Phil’s invitation. Phil is a three-time Masters Champion and is invited to compete in that category, as well as many others,” he stated.
To some extent, this is correct. Angel Cabrera, who isn’t here, is also a Masters champion. Cabrera is unable to compete due to his imprisonment in Argentina, but his management team, which has previously gotten his Masters invitation, did not receive one this year. Of course, it might have been given to his uninhabited home, but the team wasn’t invited last year either. The Masters have not sought clarification on where it should be sent if it was sent to the wrong address.
Messrs. Mickelson and Cabrera’s situations may have a tangential relationship in the future.
Ridley expressed his support for the present environment when asked how the Masters would react to players who signed with a Saudi-funded breakaway circuit.
“Let me begin by emphasizing that our aim is to always act in the best interests of the game, regardless of the shape it takes. Golf, in my opinion, is in a good situation right now. There is a higher level of participation. “The purses on the professional tours are the largest they’ve ever been,” he claimed, the latter point guaranteed to warm the cockles of Jay Monahan’s heart while delivering yet another Augusta disappointment to Saudi frontman Greg Norman, although on a Wednesday rather than the traditional Sunday.
“We’ve been quite clear in our belief that the world tours have done an excellent job of promoting the game over the years,” he continued. “Aside from that, there’s just so much we don’t know about what might or could happen that I don’t think I could say much more.”
A non-answer on paper. Rowing in behind the existing quo in reality. Ridley was encouraging players considering crossing the Rubicon, “Try me, and you’ll find out,” in the language of schoolyard brawls.
As a result, the two past MIA champions could have a link.
Mickelson elected to skip the 86th Masters Tournament. Cabrera is plainly unable to compete, but it appears that he was not even extended the courtesy of an invitation by a tournament that is known for its courtesies toward past champions. This would set an unusual precedent, with the Masters refusing to invite a previous winner owing to actions deemed incompatible with the tournament’s values.
There may come a time when being a willing puppet for a genocidal regime bent on using golf to whitewash its atrocities will be considered unfit. None of the 91 contestants in the field this week has openly put himself in a position to put Augusta National’s tolerance to the test on that front. There’s a good probability that by the time the 87th Masters Tournament rolls around, someone will have done so. If the Saudi soldier was seeking for an indication that he would still be welcomed at Augusta National, Fred Ridley made sure he didn’t provide it to him.
