Danny Lee and Ryo Ishikawa have more than a few things in common. They are both teenagers, they have otherworldly golf games, and they both are Masters rookies.
In addition, they are quick to confess to fair amounts of anxiety as they get ready for the tournament to start.
“I am having really bad nerves at the moment,” says Lee, who didn’t seem to have any sense of that condition when he won the 2008 U.S. Amateur and then captured the 2009 Johnny Walker Classic on the European PGA Tour . “Seriously. I played with all the crowds yesterday, and I wasn’t swinging properly. I have never seen such big crowds. Even afterwards, I am still nervous, and I am trying to relax myself.”
The 18-year-old Lee, who was born in South Korea and moved to New Zealand with his
parents a decade ago, headed right to the practice range after his round, and ended up being one of the last players to leave. “I wasn’t really working on my swing,” he says. “I was just trying to hit the ball straight. Finally, it worked out, so I left.”
Seventeen-year-old Ishikawa admits he was having similar problems, even though he has been playing on the Japan Golf Tour, winning a tournament there in 2008 and collecting six additional, top-five finishes. So much so that he decided not to play a practice round Tuesday.
“As I played in front of the huge crowds (Monday), I got a little bit nervous,” he says. “My swing was kind of messed up afterwards, so I just wanted to spend some time by myself practicing my swing.”
Sagely, Ishikawa realizes that things in that regard will likely get worse. “I know that I was really nervous yesterday, and I know that I will be even more nervous in the real tournament,” he says.
But as shaky as those youngsters sound in some regards, they will likely revert to the great games that got them to Augusta when they step to the first tee on Thursday. Not so much that they can realistically count on competing for the championship. But perhaps good enough to get themselves invited back next year – and to make their next visit to Augusta National much less nerve-wracking.
