IT is Masters Sunday and the tension is mounting, the nerves are jangling, the mouth is getting drier and the stomach is churning.
Yes, the golf writers get themselves into a desperate fankle as the season's first Major edges to a conclusion. It is even worse for the players, of course.
That Green Jacket is hanging on a peg and waiting to be slipped on by somebody. It will all be done and dusted tonight. For those in the hunt at the sharp end of the leaderboard, the night before the final round is one of excitement, anticipation, trepidation and reflection.
"It's a bit like being in a dentist's waiting room," reflected Sandy Lyle, the celebrated Scot who claimed golf's most cherished piece of cloth back in 1988. "You don't know if it's going to be painful or painless. All you are looking to do is get off to a nice start and not find yourself losing the plot early on."
Lyle didn't lose the plot early on when he began the final round of the 1988 Masters at the head of the pack. That would come later when a damaging excursion into Rae's Creek led to a potentially disastrous double-bogey on the 12th. Lyle stood firm, though, and birdied the 16th before launching his famous 7-iron from the bunker on the last, rolling in the title-winning birdie putt and conjuring that jig of joy on the green that resembled a father taking to the dance floor at his daughter's 18th birthday party.
Keep calm and carry on is Lyle's mantra when the going gets tough. "The Masters is something every player wants to win but you've got to try to control your emotions when that opportunity arises," the former Open champion said. "And I always slept pretty well. I mean, playing golf is not a life or death thing, after all."
The best players thrive in the heat of the battle and keep their heads when those around them are losing theirs. Jack Nicklaus, the 75-year-old whose glittering haul of 18 Majors included six Masters titles, simply revelled in this cut-and-thrust."I never thought about it when I was coming down the stretch," said Nicklaus, who won his last Green Jacket at the age of 46. "If you're not confident and you're not prepared, you won't be ready to do it. If you are happy with what you are doing, then you don't have a chance to get nervous or worry or even think about it. You just play and that's what I always did."
In this unpredictable game of fluctuating fortunes, you never know what is round the next dog leg. Adam Scott was in touching distance of the Green Jacket in 2011 with a closing 67 but magic was happening elsewhere on the course. Charl Schwartzel birdied his final four holes and edged out Scott, and his fellow Australian Jason Day, by two shots. Two years later, Scott would finally be crowned the master when he beat Angel Cabrera in a play-off.
"You just try to stay calm, get to sleep and do the stuff you've done for the other three days," said Scott as he mulled over the night before the closing round. "You hope everything falls into place and you get that bit of winner's luck. In 2013, I knew what I was getting myself into but it's never easy teeing up on the first in any tournament when you're in contention."
Every player has their own way of dealing with the Saturday night fever. "Last year I turned off the TV, turned off the phones and tried to just focus on what I needed to do," said Bubba Watson, the reigning Masters champion who also won in 2012. "I tour with my son so we think about toys and cars and not about golf. I focus on everything else that's not golf. For me I didn't think about putting the Green Jacket on again. It's about calming your mind and not thinking about what could happen and what that jacket means. It's tough to find things to do that gets you focused on something else other than golf."
Come Masters Sunday, though, the focus is all on the golf.
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