Lost in the Woods

I love to watch a major golf tournament on TV. This year's Masters Tournament was one of the best I've ever seen.

Did I say seen? As hard as I watched I never did see the guy playing alongside Tiger Woods. There was an occasional glimpse of a man in a light blue shirt walking, usually alone, in front of or behind Tiger as they moved down the fairway.

I never saw him tee off, take another shot or try to make a putt. The CBS eye was on the Tiger all day, when it wasn't on the other golfers making a serious run at the championship. I felt sorry for this young man and wanted to know who he was.

I'm sure his family wanted to see him on TV, too, if only to know he was all right. The NYTimes didn't have the final pairings so I went to the Masters web site and finally found the identity of the player laboring in TV obscurity because he was paired with Tiger Woods.

The player was Martin Laird, 29, of Scotland, who finished at three under par, well back of the winner, Charl Schwarztel, of South Africa who made a rousing closing rally to win at minus 14.

I welcomed the intense TV coverage on Tiger because his brilliant front nine put him in contention, adding suspense and drama to the tournament. But it seems only fair that his playing partner should be acknowledged at some point during the day.

For all his TV time and wonderful effort Tiger finished at a gallant 10-under, four shots off the pace. I'm sure he gave the traditional gentleman’s handshake to Laird at the end but we didn't see that either.

On balance, the TV coverage of the final round of this year's Masters was excellent.

Except for the Mystery of the Invisible Man.