Already facing an existential threat of bulked-up automatons blasting over time-honoured hazards, the Royal and Ancient game found itself on the back foot. The last thing it needed was for the power hitting of Bryson De Chambeau, who had blitzed and gouged his way to the US Open title the previous September, to reduce its most hallowed contours to pitch and putt irrelevance.
It may seem trite to say so, but quite a few multi-denominational prayers were answered around Amen Corner two Sundays ago.
Back in February, when the gruesome details of Tiger Woods’ car crash emerged, golf in general, and the upcoming US Masters in particular, flinched. Unaccustomed to being collateral damage, Augusta National, host of the game’s fabled showpiece, feared that, without its stricken superstar, there might not be a story to match the blooms of its azaleas.
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