The Masters

The PGA Tour season officially started back in January but the first major tournament of the year begins next week in Augusta, GA. This tournament, of course, is The Masters, "a tradition unlike any other," as CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz will inevitably call it.

Augusta National Golf Club will be hosting the event. Unlike other major championships, The Masters is held at the same course every year. Augusta National is a staid and very conservative club; only recently did it admit its first two women members, Darla Moore and Condoleeza Rice.

The television coverage of the tournament is similarly conservative, with announcers being required to call fans, 'patrons'. Nantz will be fresh off of calling college basketball, but his tone and style at Augusta will be relaxed and restrained. 

The background theme music for The Masters is a simple twinkling piano melody with string accompaniment. Viewers are shown images of majestic towering trees, blooming azaleas, and grass that is far too green.

But for all of the saccharine elements that are involved in the coverage, The Masters is one of, if not the most, exciting golf tournaments to watch. Augusta National teams up with a handful of sponsors every year and is able to all but eliminate advertisements (only four minutes out of every hour is allotted to commercials). This creates a nearly uninterrupted flow of golf.

The rich history of the tournament and the fact that it's played at the same course each year helps add a sense of nostalgia and déjà vu for long-time fans.

Who will forget the epic birdie putt by Jack Nicklaus on the 17th hole in 1986, en route to winning his sixth green jacket at the age of 46? Or the daring iron shot by Phil Mickelson on the 13th hole in 2010? Or the nearly-impossible chip shot by Tiger Woods on 16, in 2005?

There's nearly always drama during the The Masters (the exception maybe being Woods' runaway victory in 1997) and it makes for riveting television. And it's a sign of spring, even if it happens to be a snowy one in Winnipeg this year.