Born: 14 February, 1926 in Augusta, Georgia. Died: 27 April, 2008, in Augusta, aged 82.
"FORE, please. Tiger Woods now driving." You may never have heard the name Phil Harison, but if you are a golf fan you will undoubtedly have seen him send ou
t the players at the US Masters in Augusta with the same understated introduction.
Unless you were there in person, you will not have seen him send out Sam Snead to eventual victory in 1949, before the era of televised coverage, or Ben Hogan on his way to success in 1951.
With his club member's green blazer, striped club tie and usually a well-worn yellow hat, Philetus Sawyer Harison began handing the players their plain white scorecards and calling them on to the first tee in 1948, the year Claude Harmon won the coveted green jacket.
He did so until last year's event, despite a serious car accident a few months earlier, with the same authoritative but simple phrase, firmly voiced but never shouted, to the traditionalists of Augusta who would hardly dare cough when he opened his mouth. "Fore, please. Zach Johnson now driving," he announced last year, introducing the young man who eventually won.
Tall, dapper, the typical southern gentleman with a deep-fried Gone With The Wind drawl to match, Harison believed that less was more. No microphone, no raised voice, no references to past victories or a player's nationality. The same introduction for four-times Masters champion Arnold Palmer, his lifelong friend, as for a rookie. Or, in the words of one US sportswriter: "No string quartet playing in the background."
Recognising their nerves, Harison would not dream of joking with, even talking to, players, including those he had known for decades, unless they spoke to him first. One who did enjoy a joke with him was 1971 winner Charles Coody, who noticed that the club would "sneak the first tee back a yard or two each year. I asked him: 'Hey, Phil, have you moved this tee box back or the clubhouse forward?' It became a joke between us."
Harison was often described as "the pulse" of the Masters, and of the town (Augusta) itself. He was also its official timekeeper for all those years. The club trusted his wristwatch more than any of those new-fangled digital gadgets.
He was also a more-than-useful golfer, one of his great claims to fame being that he hit one hole-in-one while playing Jack Nicklaus and another against the US president at the time, Dwight Eisenhower.
After the great Nicklaus hit his shot within a couple of feet of the pin at Augusta's par three 12th, he reputedly turned to his partner and said: "Beat that, Phil." And Phil did – straight in the hole. The first time he played Ben Hogan, the great man gave him a four-shot start. Harison beat him. When they played the next day, Hogan gave him no shots.
When he died of lung cancer aged 82, Harison was one of only two people who had attended every Masters since the tournament's inception in 1934, when he was an eight-year-old schoolboy.
He was born in an old house (since demolished) behind the first green and used to ride his motorcycle around the course and fish in its ponds in the days before the groundsmen were quite so fussy.
His grandfather, William Henry Harison jnr, a doctor, was one of the men who brought golf to Augusta in 1895. Phil became a member of Augusta National when he was 21, already good enough to have played a few rounds with the legendary amateur Bobby Jones, who retired before the Masters began but was a co-creator of Augusta National.
Although his role at the Masters – official starter and pairings committee chairman – brought him international attention every April, Harison was best-known in his hometown as a stalwart of the local community. Even while still working in the insurance business, he was active in St Paul's Episcopal Church, where he served terms as senior warden and treasurer.
Following the example of his grandfather, who was renowned for treating poor citizens for free, he took a particular interest in hospitals and served as treasurer and chairman of the local (Richmond County) hospital authority, and co-administrator of Augusta's University Hospital.
When his son Campbell was left a quadriplegic after a car crash in 1988, Harison led a campaign to provide affordable and easily accessible accommodation for the disabled. He raised nearly $1.4 million to establish an area now known as Harison Heights, and a further, similar sum which went to other projects.
Harison's wife of 50 years, Grace, died last year. He is survived by sons Campbell and Phil jnr, daughter Eleanor and five grandchildren.
PHIL DAVISON
The full article contains 815 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
