Augusta Diary: The drums didn't roll, and there was no fanfare of trumpets, but magic hung in the air on Saturday and the crowd's appreciation created its own music.
Jack Nicklaus rolled the ball into the old tin cup on the ninth green - his last putt in the Masters, a tournament that quintessentially defined his glorious career - and turned to his son, Jackie, who had acted as caddie.
The Golden Bear handed his glove and his club to his son. "I don't want to see these on eBay. I think I'll keep that for my own museum," said Nicklaus, who won six of his record 18 majors at Augusta.
Of course, there were tears, especially among the Nicklaus clan, and from the Bear himself. "You know, this is not a celebrity walk-around. This is a golf tournament, it's a major golf championship . . . you should be competitive. My time has passed," said Nicklaus, who still has the British Open at St Andrews on his itinerary.
Nicklaus would have wanted to finish on the 18th, not the ninth. But it didn't matter either that he failed with his birdie attempt, which would have had the crowd around the green in raptures. He's given enough memories to Augusta, countless records for today's players to chase.
Couples in hot streak
Fred Couples extended his streak of making the Masters cut to 21.
It ties him with the great Tom Watson for second-longest run in the history of the tournament behind only Gary Player, who set the record of 23 in a row.
Cash the big difference
Nowhere is the difference between past and present in golf more evident than in the prize-money on the US Tour. This year's Masters has a purse of $7 million - placing it behind the Players Championship ($8m), NEC Invitational ($7.5m), American Express Championship ($7.5m), Accenture Matchplay ($7.5m) and British Open ($7.4m) - with $1.26 million for the winner.
Yet, it is titles - not money - that mainly matter to the players. Purses on the US Tour have jumped from a total of $96 million in 1999 to this year's $252 million. To underline the change, Jack Nicklaus won five times in 1975 and got $298,149; Tiger Woods won five times in 2003 and earned $6.6m.
Player still a player
Gary Player has no intention of giving up on the Masters. The three-time champion has said he will return three more times; that would put the South African at 51 appearances, one more than Arnold Palmer. Player made his last cut in 1998 and has missed the cut in 16 of his last 22 visits here.
