Tiger's 'sons' make their revolution

The Augusta Masters begins with one of its most endearing traditions.

It is still dark when hundreds of fans bundle up around the

from one and a human hallway opens from the clubhouse and the Great Oak.

When the first rays of sun light up the day, three myths parade to the applause of the crowd.

One after another, they walk slowly, as if savoring that moment of glory.

They are called honorary starters, three golfers in charge of giving the symbolic tee shot to the first major of the season.

Gary Player (86 years old), Jack Nicklaus (82) and Tom Watson (72) will put on the glove again this Thursday to start the 86th Masters in history.

A rocky custom, a nod to the past in a sport that has been rejuvenated more than ever.

While Tiger Woods refuses at age 46 to close an era, despite an obvious limp and physical decline, seven twentysomethings compete among the top 10 in the world.

At the end of last month, the American Dustin Johnson (37 years old) left the world top ten.

That Monday, March 21, was recorded in the encyclopedia as the day with the lowest average age among the top 10 of a ranking that was born in 1986: 27.71 years.

And while Johnson has regained that place among the elite, much younger competitors flourish around him.

Scottie Scheffler has needed only 42 days since his first victory on the American circuit to reach the top of the rankings at 25 years old.

He unseated Jon Rahm (27), who is now followed by Collin Morikawa (25) and Viktor Hovland (24).

Patrick Cantlay (30) closes the circle of the top five in the world today, Cameron Smith and Justin Thomas, both 28, precede Johnson, and Rory McIlroy (32) and Xander Schauffele (28) complete the nobility.

In a discipline like golf, which allows you to stretch your competitive streak well into your 40s—Nicklaus achieved his 18th major at 46, the same age Tiger is now—the rejuvenation is considerable.

Today it even bears comparison with tennis, where there are eight 20-somethings in the top 10 (Djokovic resists at 34 and Nadal at 35), while Roger Federer and Serena Williams struggle at 40 to stretch their careers.

"The university preparation of young people is the key," explains José María Olazabal, who at 56 keeps all his passion for the Masters alive, although he himself does not give himself "any option" to make the cut.

The Basque, double winner of the green jacket (1994 and 99), suffers from tendinitis that is treated with corticosteroids and ice, and observes with healthy envy how the training of golfers from their earliest years has entered a new dimension that ends up being reflected in the elite: each time they prepare better since they were teenagers, each time they reach the top earlier.

“It has been the trend for quite some time, it is unstoppable.

Today any young golfer is very prepared physically and mentally, and we will see that his sporting longevity will be greater.

And also, the knowledge they have of the game is much greater than we had.

The interview with Kepa ☺️ pic.twitter.com/Qvlsa2dZ83

— Tracking Jon Rahm (@TrackingRahm) April 6, 2022

Olazabal points to the focus of the revolution.

America's college academy has become a factory for future champions.

From the University of Arizona, for example, Jon Rahm emerged as the number one amateur in the world shot towards the professional circuit.

At the University of Oklahoma (the same one from which Rickie Fowler, Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland left) Eugenio López-Chacarra is now training, a 20-year-old from Madrid who, while studying Finance, is already fourth in the amateur world ranking.

“The youngsters have more desire, we train more and we want to get there.

In the United States there is a lot of competition, a lot of rivalry.

You have to play very well because your teammates are the best in the world”, explains Chacarra from his university campus, where he does not stop signing autographs, after passing through Augusta.

“In my team there are four golfers from the United States and another nine are from abroad.

And they treat us as if we were Madrid or Barça.

Anything we want.

I have a physio, two physical trainers, two golf coaches, a nutritionist, a mental trainer, biomechanics studies, all the technology... everything you can imagine to reach the elite”, adds the young Spanish promise, that next June he plans to make the leap to the professional world.

And behind, training in Spain, comes another gem, Jorge Hao, from Madrid of Chinese parents, who at 15 is European U-16 champion and, like Rahm at that age, Spanish U-18 champion.

two golf coaches, a nutritionist, a mental trainer, biomechanics studies, all the technology... everything you can imagine to reach the elite", adds the young Spanish promise, who next June plans to make the leap to the professional world.

And behind, training in Spain, comes another gem, Jorge Hao, from Madrid of Chinese parents, who at 15 is European U-16 champion and, like Rahm at that age, Spanish U-18 champion.

two golf coaches, a nutritionist, a mental trainer, biomechanics studies, all the technology... everything you can imagine to reach the elite", adds the young Spanish promise, who next June plans to make the leap to the professional world.

And behind, training in Spain, comes another gem, Jorge Hao, from Madrid of Chinese parents, who at 15 is European U-16 champion and, like Rahm at that age, Spanish U-18 champion.

The wealth you are owed

The Masters is usually a land where experience rules and scars count.

Since Arnold Palmer became the first twentysomething to wear the green jacket in 1958, the average age of winners has not dropped.

Tiger Woods struggles to maintain the value of gray hair.

But more and more he is a rare exception (and much more Phil Mickelson, who won the last PGA Championship at the age of 50, an all-time record in the majors).

Today those who rule are precisely the

of Tiger, those golfers who have grown up admiring his exploits and who owe much of his wealth to him for how the Tiger took golf to another planet.

Woods was 21 years old when in 1997, a quarter of a century ago, he played and won his first major, the Augusta Masters.

When on that April 13 he donned the green jacket, Jon Rahm was two years old;

Scheffler, current number one, had 10 months;

Morikawa, two;

Hovland hadn't even been born.

Today it is those children, the children of the revolution, who claim that their time has come.

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