Leaders of Masters Aren’t Old, They Are Just, uh, Experienced

Old golfer sees funeral procession pass by. Doffs his cap. Playing partner says: “Thoughtful gesture.” Old golfer says: “Yes. We’d have been married 45 years tomorrow.”

Old gag, yeah. Yet that is what the aptly named Masters tournament, in its 54th reincarnation, has somewhat charmingly turned into--an old joke. Golf’s elder belters are getting a real laugh out of this one, because, rather than being put out to pasture, they have been turned loose on a lush green lawn, with fragrant flowers, rolling hills and 18 holes, to show the young punks how the game was meant to be played.

“What was that old Mickey Mantle line?” asked Tom Kite, a mere babe of 40. “ ‘If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself?’ ”

Gary Player, a three-time Masters champion who is the same age as the tournament, checked in Saturday with a masterful 68, which might not be the least bit unusual, except it was the first time Player had broken 70 here since the day he modeled the green jacket in 1978.

“Gerontologists are saying that someday soon people will be living to the age of 130,” Player said, feeling understandably chipper. “I probably won’t be around to see that day, but some of you younger people might.”

He thought it over.

“You might even see it this week,” Player said.

See the day, he meant, when golfers 40 to 60 did not have to be reminded to act their age. See the day when some well-preserved contestant here shoots his age. After all, four senior tour golfers made the Masters’ 36-hole cut, and Raymond Floyd, the leader after three rounds, seems a driven man in his bid to become, at age 47, the oldest ever to win the tournament.

The tone for the week was set on Thursday, when Doug Ford shot the same score as Greg Norman. Ford is 67 years old. He has clubs older than Norman. When Ford started playing, the only time a golfer used graphite was when he kept track of his score with his pencil.

Billy Casper missed the cut by only one stroke. He’s 58. Lee Trevino and George Archer survived the cut. They’re 50. Jack Nicklaus, who became the oldest Masters winner at 46, finds himself very much in the hunt again at 50. Every day has been Old Timers’ Day at Augusta National, where any second we expect to discover that this “John Huston” character on the leader board really is the late, great actor.

Being old ain’t so awful.

“The hole’s the same size. The ball’s the same size,” said Player, who was runnerup to Nicklaus at last week’s senior tour event in Arizona. “It’s the same game for everybody. If you keep yourself in shape, you can start a whole new career at the age of 50. Not many other sports can do that. I saw Jack Nicklaus playing shots better than I’ve ever seen him play, even when he was 25.”

How about length, though? How about the older golfers who can’t hit it as far as they once did?

“Length doesn’t win golf tournaments. Putting wins golf tournaments,” Player said. “Putting has crippled more people than polio.

“A good mind is still the most important thing in golf. A good mind and putting.”

Conditioning cannot be overlooked. Player says he remembers when an old Quonset hut on the Augusta National grounds served mainly to store tractors and rakes. Now, it houses an adequate workout gym. “I see guys in there now with their fat bellies on the bicycles, puffing away,” Player said.

Observed Kite: “The thing is, Gary’s probably in better shape than 98% of the juniors on the tour.”

Living proof that a golfer need not be experienced or aerobicized to play competitive golf continues to be embodied by the 305-pound Chris Patton, a constant reminder that this is not miniature golf. Then again, Nicklaus was no anorexic when he won his first Masters, nor was Casper, nor was Craig Stadler. It should please Patton to know that someday, the official Masters tailor won’t need to custom-make a green jacket in 56-Long.

As for age, keep in mind that only four of the top 31 players on today’s board--Huston, Patton, Spain’s Jose-Maria Olazabal and Northern Ireland’s Ronan Rafferty--are under 30. Four more--Floyd, Nicklaus, Player and Trevino--are 47 or older.

Oh, how Player played, 29 years from the weekend he won his first Masters. As playing partner Larry Nelson was leaving the premises, his first remark was that it was “one of the finest rounds of golf I’ve ever been privileged to witness.” Player’s single-bogey round included a pitching-wedge shot at No. 7 that nestled 15 inches from the cup, and similarly deft iron play, hole after hole.

Good putting, a good mind, a good body . . . these are necessary, sure, but . . .

“One also has to have incentive,” Player said. “Incentive gets people going. That’s why socialism and communism are dying before our very eyes.” Perhaps he could appreciate the need for political change, being a native South African.

Changes on many fronts can occur, provided one sticks around long enough. Maybe the next guy who wins the Masters will look as old as a face on a box of Dutch Masters cigars. Or maybe Gary Player will, indeed, live to be 130. They might have to organize a third Senior tour, for golfers in triple figures.