BOB WEST ON GOLF: Masters memories, Tiger’s win motivate Landry

Published 3:20 pm Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Sitting in a hotel room at Hilton Head on Monday afternoon, Andrew Landry sort of wished he could climb into a time machine and turn the clock back to eight days earlier. It was the only thing he could think of to counter a classic case of first-timer post-Augusta depression.

Not only had the Port Neches-Groves ex played in his first Masters, made the cut and finished even par, he’d witnessed childhood hero Tiger Woods’ historic victory. He’d also savored the thrill of sharing the par-3 tournament with his young son and wife, and hit the first tee shot of the 83rd Masters.

“The entire experience was pretty awesome,” Landry said. “Just to play in it was special, but to be out there watching the leaderboard on Sunday to see if Tiger could make more history was cool beyond belief. It is something I will remember for the rest of my life.”

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As one of the “Tiger Babies” populating the PGA Tour, Landry was almost as excited on Sunday as if he’d been in contention. Because he started the final day on the back nine, he’d wound around to the far side of the course when all hell started breaking loose.

“I was on the seventh hole when [Franceso] Molinari and [Tony] Finau hit the ball in the water on 12 to sort of open the door for Tiger,” he said.

“Then, within a couple of minutes, Brooks Koepka sank an eagle putt, Patrick Cantlay made eagle at 15 to take the lead and Justin Thomas made a hole in one at 16.

“It was just so cool to hear all the eruptions one after another from a couple of fairways over. I have never experienced anything like that. It was so loud. But it was nothing like the roars when Tiger started making his move. You hear that roar, you know he made birdie or something really good happened.”

Landry makes no bones about being an unabashed Tiger fan. He was predicting
last summer that Tiger would win again and would win majors again. The bold prediction vindicated, he insists it’s just a matter of time before Woods passes Sam Snead for most PGA Tour wins (82) and Jack Nicklaus for most majors (18).

“It’s going to happen, probably sooner than people think,” he said. “He’s got three more majors this year. I can’t say he’ll win then all, but I bet he will be in contention in every one of them. I also predict he’ll eventually top Nicklaus by winning at the Masters. His game and mind are perfect for Augusta.”

Landry, since he missed the cut the week before the Masters at the Valero Open, even got an up close and personal exposure to Woods’ quick-wit and ability to twist the knife on the Sunday of tournament week.

“I saw him hit a chip and gigged him a little bit about it,” said Landry. “He looked over at me and said, “I thought you were supposed to be in San Antonio today defending your Valero championship.”

As far as his own Masters performance, Landry felt he acquitted himself reasonably well with rounds of 72-73-73-70 for 288. Three out of four days he rolled in five birdies. Two double bogeys on par 5s — 13 and 15 – took their toll, as did too many failures to get up and down around the greens.

Bottom line, he tied for 46th, pocketed $39,950 and came to the realization that he desperately wants to work his way back into the Masters.

“It’s the tournament I dreamed about winning as a kid,” he said. “Now that I have played in it, I want that more than ever. Honestly, the course sets up pretty well for me. I certainly learned some things about how to play it that will help me next time.

“One thing that hurt me was how soft the fairways were. I couldn’t carry some of the hills the big hitters could. I was hitting into the hill and my ball would roll about five feet. The bombers could fly the hill and their ball would take off rolling. I had too many shots into greens with 5 and 6 irons.”

Landry said he surprised himself by not being extra nervous when it came time to hit the first tee shot of the tournament. He’d watched from the putting green when Gary Player and Nicklaus struck the ceremonial opening drives. Then it was his turn to be announced and play away.

“It’s really weird,” he said. “I honestly did not feel the pressure I expected. I hit a beautiful shot right down the middle. Then I got really nervous over my second shot and first putt. I wound up making bogey.”

Flash forward a week and Landry is gearing up to play the RBC Heritage on Harbour Town Links, a shorter, tighter Pete Dye layout that is among his tour favorites. By Thursday, he expects to have worked through that post Masters depression and play well.

However, if there is anybody reading who owns a time machine, he’d like to hear from you.
CHIP SHOTS

The Monday Senior 50 Plus 2 ball at Babe Zaharias saw the team of Don MacNeil, John Jessen, Bob Barnes and Bob West win the front with minus-2. On the back, the foursome of Benny Sharpe, Ronnie LaSalle, Gary Fontenot and Jerry Watson placed first with minus-4. …

In the Friday Senior 2 ball at Zaharias, the team of Keith Mullins, Sharpe, Gerald Huebel and Larry Reece won the front with minus-5. Minus-3 won the back for the foursome of Tom LeTourneau, Gene Jones, Brad Royer and Pete Reobroi. …

The Wednesday DogFight at Zaharias was won with 17 points by the team of James Shipley, MacNeil, Ron Mistrot and Dwayne Benoit. Second with 16 points was the team of Cricket Owen, Calvin Landry, Bob Barnes and Keith Marshall.

Closest to the pin winners were MacNeil (No. 2, No. 7), Joe Gongora (No. 12) and John Leblanc (No. 15). …

Golf news should be emailed to rdwest@usa.net.