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Sporting Life
Tradition, like at the Masters, is one of the great seductions of sport
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Bridging generations: American player Sam Burns crosses the Hogan Bridge at Augusta National which was dedicated to the legendary golfer Ben Hogan in 1958.
PHOTO: EPA
- The Masters cherishes tradition, banning phones to ensure focus and reverence for the game, contrasting with other sports embracing modernity.
- Augusta National blends reverence and progress, exemplified by its advanced app versus the traditional Champions Dinner and green jacket allure.
- Sport's traditions, though often Western-centric and sometimes flawed (like the Masters' racial history), create lasting legacies and unite generations.
AI generated
The sacred deserves silent contemplation. So you may gaze at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but never through the lens of a phone. It is forbidden. So is standing 15 feet from Rory McIlroy at Augusta National this week, where the pines stand like looming sentries, and taking a silly selfie.
To watch the Masters, as I did in 2025 with my phone locked in the media building, was a privilege. Elsewhere – say tennis’ Australian Open – sport sees itself as a carnival, here it positions itself as a pilgrimage. And so no phones are allowed, no temptation to idly pose, check X, peek at the stock market or send a lying text to a boss about your whereabouts. Your attention belongs to the golf.
