Tide's Michael Thompson Misses Cut at Masters
4/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 11, 2008
AUGUSTA, GA. - University of Alabama senior golfer Michael Thompson has spent the past seven days in Augusta, Ga., competing as one of three invited amateurs at the 2008 Masters Tournament. The Tucson, Arizona native drove from Tuscaloosa to Augusta on Friday, April 4 to begin the journey of a lifetime and his first steps into a world he hopes to re-enter come June or July when he turns pro. (He plans to play as an amateur at the U.S. Open in June).
His trip to Augusta came compliments of his runner-up finish last August at the 2007 United States Amateur. Joined by family, who rented a house in Augusta for the week, his Alabama coach Jay Seawell, some of his Alabama golf teammates, his former Tulane golf coach Tom Shaw who was his caddy this week at Augusta National, and many of his friends, old and new, Thompson has created memory after memory each day, from the moment he first turned into the driveway at Augusta National for his first practice on the course this winter. On Sunday he moved into the sport of golf's most famous overnight accommodations, the Crow's Nest on the third floor of the Augusta National Clubhouse. On Monday night he and Drew Weaver and Trip Kuehne were the guests of honor at the traditional Amateur's Dinner. On Tuesday he played a practice round of golf with two-time Masters Champion Phil Mickelson. On Wednesday three of golf's all-time greatest, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player all came to shake his hand on the first tee and then Thompson, paired with two-time Masters Champion Ben Crenshaw, proceeded to go out and shoot 2-under par to finish T-4th in the Par 3 Contest.
Then came Thursday and the moment of a lifetime for a golfer, his first official round at The Masters. Paired with Crenshaw again, he out-shot the champion and finished the round at 1-over par and among a T-33rd, the best day for any of the amateurs and a better day than most of the field of professionals shot.
On Friday, the cut day, Thompson held strong to near the end, making birdie on his first two holes. In all the round would include the two birdies, eight pars and eight bogeys, the biggest of those bogeys coming at No. 15, a par 5. He was, at the time, 3-over and in contention to make the cut which was 4-over. He was on the green at 15 ready to putt, and the ball moved. He immediately stepped back and assessed himself a one-stroke penalty, calling in rules officials on the green. He bogeyed that hole and the next two but, in his final swing, birdied No. 18 to finish the round with a 78, a score that placed him 6-over for the 36 holes and in a tie at 71st in the standings.
Each night, no matter how many balls he hit that day, how many interviews he's done and how many social obligations he's met with the tournament hosts, officials, family and friends, Thompson has returned to his room at the Crow's Nest each night and called "home" to Tuscaloosa to report on the his experience that day. This will be his final report this week from Augusta, though he still has some major golf events in his immediate horizon. He will head back to the State of Georgia on Wednesday with his Alabama teammates who will compete for the 2008 Southeastern Conference Championship at Sea Island, Ga., April 18-20, and in mid-May Alabama, ranked No. 1 in the nation in collegiate golf, will begin its national championship quest at one of the three NCAA Regionals.
Let's go ahead and talk about it first: hole 15. Did the world see the Eagle Scout in you on that one? "Yeah. That's probably part of it. It's just something unfortunate that happened. But it's something that you've got to deal with. I had put my club down. I had completely addressed the ball and as soon as I put my putter down, the ball moved. And according to the rules, that's a one-stroke penalty and you try to replace the ball and you replay the shot. So that's what I did and I didn't make the putt. I was looking at about eight feet for birdie and ended up having eight feet for par. And I missed it and made bogey."
The TV announcers said no one may have ever even noticed it but you immediately spoke up. If you had to do it all over again, would you still penalize yourself? "Oh absolutely. Every time. There's no doubt. No question. It's the rules of golf. You don't break the rules of golf. Especially in a setting like this it can always comes back to haunt you and, if not from someone else, it will always haunt you personally and I would rather live with me giving myself a penalty than I would with me cheating."
How would you assess your overall play today? "I had a lot of really good shots today. I feel like I probably played 14 holes really good and then the other four I played just really bad. And some holes I got bad breaks, other holes I just didn't make the right decision. That's kind of the way golf is. You can't always be perfect all the time. Just look at Justin Rose today. He shot 68 yesterday and then he shot 78 today. It's the nature of the game. I didn't play my best today, I can tell you that. But I learned a lot from these last two days that will help me get better in the future."
Do you have a favorite hole at Augusta National now? "Number one. I play a fade naturally, so it just sets up to my eye really well. And it's just a great starting hole."
You've been eating at the locker room every day. What sort of food do the world's greatest golfers eat at Augusta National and who have you been dining with? "I had quite a few meals with Jerry Kelly actually. I had a meal with Steve Lowery. I had a meal with Brandt Snedeker, Hunter Mahan--some guys that I played with (referring to Snedeker and Mahan)--I've seen everybody in there from Adam Scott to Miguel Angel Jimenez, I've seen all of those guys in there. What they've been serving for breakfast is usually an omelet, sausage and bacon, some biscuits and gravy, and then oatmeal and they have all kinds of fruit. For lunch they usually serve some sort of tenderloin or turkey that they cut it off and serve it to you. It's really very, very nice. Potato salad, chicken salad. There are cold cuts so you can make sandwiches. There's some sort of soup every lunch and usually cookies or something like that. And we can also order whatever we want."
Any dish or food there you're going to miss? "I am going to miss having breakfast made for me every morning. As a college student, I don't normally eat a whole lot of breakfast. I'll miss that."
Have you met or spotted any celebrities? "Tonight (Friday) at the USGA party, I saw Tom Brokaw. That was kind of cool."
How many text messages, voice mails, emails, and phone calls have you been getting this week? "It's the most phone usage I've had. Probably more than the last year combined just in this week."
Every day has had its own highlight. What was today's? "That would probably be my birdie on one and also I two-putted 18 from the back of the green. I played about 20 to 25 feet of slope, of break. And it was just a great putt. I don't know if you saw it on TV or not? So that putt was really cool. I said to the crowd behind me before I putted, `This is going to be fun."
What was the best moment of this entire week? "Best moments I would say would be the Amateur Dinner. That was the best time that I had. That was really great to be there at a dinner that was for me and the other amateurs. Meeting all those people that everybody in the whole world would love to meet. Sitting next to the chairman of the R&A (Royal and Ancient), trading stories with him. In really good company. That was probably my most favorite moment."
How would you sum up this whole experience? "Incredible. It probably won't hit me for another couple of weeks of how important and how huge this is. But I know that this is something that very few people get to do as an amateur. And I'm excited that I was able to do it. I'm sorry I didn't play better, but I know I will be back, and I'm looking forward to that moment as well."
Players Mentioned
