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Familiar faces fall out of field
Posted: Saturday April 05, 2003 10:10 PM
Updated: Sunday April 06, 2003 1:45 AM
By David Westin
The Augusta Chronicle
The 2003 Masters Tournament is in a state of transition.
It's not just because three-time winner Sam Snead, a participant from 1937 to 1983 and an honorary starter from 1984 to 2002, passed away in late May.
It's because of the sheer number of former stars and crowd favorites who didn't qualify this year, starting with Greg Norman, a three-time runner-up at Augusta National Golf Club.
Other popular players missing are John Daly, Mark Calcavecchia, Paul Azinger and Jesper Parnevik.
The tournament did receive a late jolt of charisma when four-time champion Arnold Palmer decided to play in his 49th consecutive Masters.
The announcement came less than two weeks before the Masters, and it caught most observers by surprise. Palmer, 73, had announced his retirement from the tournament after the 2002 Masters.
"He's obviously past his prime, but not his popularity," Brad Faxon said.
Daly, Calcavecchia, Azinger and Parnevik are in their late 30s to early 40s, and are still active on the PGA Tour. They could play in future Masters.
The fact is, they aren't here this year, and that has created a "star power" outage.
"You see my generation moving out and all the younger kids are moving in," said 42-year-old Kenny Perry, who is playing in his sixth Masters. "It's funny how time changes. It all changes out here. We're definitely in that phase to where we've got a lot of bright young kids that are coming up and playing great golf. They're taking the place of the veterans."
Charles Howell, a 23-year-old Augusta native, is one of those new, fresh faces. Howell, who made his Masters debut in 2002, attended the tournament as a fan in 1987. That was the year Azinger and Calcavecchia made their first appearances in the Masters.
"You have some great players that aren't going to be there," Howell said.
Four of the missing players had become permanent fixtures at Augusta National. Norman had played in 22 consecutive Masters, Azinger and Calcavecchia in 15 consecutive, and Parnevik in six consecutive. Daly played in nine Masters, starting in 1992. He missed the 1999 and 2001 tournaments.
"You'll miss those guys that have been there for so long - Norman and Zinger and so on," Larry Mize said.
Once the tournament starts and the focus is on the leaders, the stars of the past might not be missed as much as feared.
"It's still the best players trying to win the tournament and you really focus on that," Davis Love III said.
"It's still going to be Augusta," Mize said. "You're still going to have the best players in the world there. It's still going to be a great field."
"It's Augusta - it's not who's there," Scott Hoch said. "Augusta is the key word there, not who's playing."
That's one point on which longtime Masters patrons might beg to differ.
Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851.
Copyright 2003 The Augusta Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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