PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

If you are a golf fan, one of the best tournaments to watch all year is the Masters at Augusta National, the iconic course in Georgia.

That’s true for me – both because I am a golf fan, as well as because I love the experience of seeing Masters golf amid the azaleas and other colorful flowers in Georgia, not to mention on one of the greatest golf courses in the world.

Sunday, I was glued to the TV for hours!

Watching the Masters again brought back great memories of 2015. My daughter and I attended the tournament that year, being there for the practice round and par 3 tournament on Wednesday, and the first round on Thursday.

Then we hurried back West to watch the last two rounds on TV.

A great experience for father and daughter! A memory for a lifetime!

With all that is being written and will be written about this Masters, why do I feel a need to add my views to the mix?

Good question. Perhaps one reason is that I have nothing else to do in retirement, plus at the bottom of this post, you’ll see a few perceptions that are unlikely to be written about elsewhere.

Any casual reader will know that a tournament result occurred Sunday that benefits golf in many ways. First and foremosts, in what is being called one of the greatest comebacks in all of sports, Tiger Woods won his fifth green jacket, the emblem of the winner.

It was 22 years after his first win at the Masters and 14 years after his fourth win. The achievement also sparked talk about whether Woods ever could reach 18 major tournament wins, which would equal Jack Nicklaus’ record. This was Woods’ 15^th major, and occurred after a variety of physical and emotional difficulties that raised questions about whether Woods would ever play golf again, much less win.

The benefits? Apart from the personal benefits for Woods, whose family was on hand to witness his feat, the gate was up for Sunday with Woods in the mix for all 18 holes. Results are not in yet, but count on the TV viewing rates to be up, as well.

After the great results of the tournament, here are a few other perceptions, which, indicate, again, that I have too much time on my hands in retirement:

• One of my favorite golfers, Phil Mickelson, adopted a new tactic on the course – chewing gum, presumably to provide just a little diversion from the tough playing task ahead.
• Woods, too, was shown chewing gum, which, in his post-tournament press conference, he attributed to the need to do something on the course other than want to eat. Okay?
• And, in what for me represents another reason to like Australia golfer and former Masters champion Adam Scott, he wore pleated golf pants this year. In conversations with the two arbiters of clothing style in my life – wife, Nancy, and daughter, Lissy – I tried to suggest that, because of Scott, I could now wear pleated plants, too.

They would have none of it, believing pleated pants only verify one’s old age.

My response? Yes, I am old. So pleated pants here I come.