• Familiar places, familiar faces

  • By Wright Thompson | April 7, 2011 8:05:13 AM PDT

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A security guard inside the clubhouse just told me this story: One year, Fuzzy Zoeller bummed a cigarette from her. It was a Newport, and he gave her some grief about smoking menthols. But the next day, he came and found her, a gift in hand: two cartons of Newports. That's something about Augusta that doesn't come through on television. The same people work the same spots, year after year. Relationships form. One of the security guards at the media center grew a mustache this year, a new look, and he smiled when I pointed it out. Life for sports writers, and for golfers, is so transient. New hotels. New cars. Where is the elevator? Where is the headlights switch? Is it east or west to the airport? But here, little ever changes. Martha will be sitting at the counter in the media center, and Gelester will be guarding the door. And Fuzzy Zoeller remembers the lady who bummed him a smoke, and he remembers her brand.


Tags:Golf

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