Associated Press
 Monday, April 2
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Now this is the way to spend the first Monday in April.

Tom Scherrer drove down Magnolia Lane, found his locker on the first floor of the clubhouse and set out for a practice round as about 30,000 spectators basked in the beauty of springtime at Augusta National.

 Tom Scherrer
Tom Scherrer follows his shot on 15 during practice at the Augusta National Golf Club on Monday.
Scherrer is among 18 players making their Masters debuts this week, although none of the other rookies ever turned down an invitation to the tournament.

And none of the others felt the same sense of relief about finally making it.

Eight years ago, Scherrer qualified for The Masters as the runner-up in the 1992 U.S. Amateur and was faced with a career decision that could have haunted him.

Stick to his plan and turn pro? Or remain an amateur for eight more months and play in The Masters?

The day after Justin Leonard trounced him in the finals at Muirfield Village, Scherrer turned pro and had no regrets – until the week of The Masters rolled around.

Leonard and the other three amateurs stayed in the famed Crow's Nest atop the Augusta National clubhouse and had dinner with men in green jackets. Scherrer was staying in a grungy hotel and paying for range balls.

"I remember being in Shreveport, La., trying to Monday qualify for a Nike Tour event the week of The Masters," Scherrer said. "And I was like, 'What the hell am I doing here?' "

Whatever doubts he might have had eventually were put to rest.

Scherrer won the Kemper Open last year and finished 35th on the PGA Tour money list, which qualified him for his first Masters.

"If I never had made it, I would have regretted it," Scherrer said. "In 30 years if I didn't make it, then I might have been like, 'Geez, if I could only go back.' I'm glad I'm finally getting to go."

The Masters has a long history with amateurs. Augusta National traditionally invites the U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up, British Amateur champion and winners of the U.S. Public Links Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Scherrer wasn't the first to turn down an invitation. David Berganio won the 1993 U.S. Mid-Amateur and gave up his spot in The Masters to turn pro, although he previously had played in the 1992 Masters.

James Driscoll was in a similar situation after losing to Jeff Quinney in 38 holes in the U.S. Amateur last year at Baltusrol. Like Scherrer, his plan was to turn pro the next day. All summer long, he had told his friends that whatever happened in the U.S. Amateur would have no bearing on his decision.

"As soon as I won my semifinal match, I knew I was going to stay an amateur," Driscoll said. "Obviously, it's a goal of mine to be good enough to play in all the majors, sooner rather than later. But there's something about playing The Masters as an amateur that's more special than playing as a pro.

"And if I end up never getting back there, I'd be kicking myself the rest of my life."

Scherrer only had to kick himself for eight years.

He left North Carolina after his junior season and was going to play a full amateur schedule through the summer before turning pro. Then came Muirfield.

"It never even occurred to me I could win the U.S. Amateur and all this stuff could happen to me," said Scherrer, who was raised in upstate New York and was captain of his championship hockey team in high school. "I would play, turn pro, go to Tour school ... and then I had a great week."

Bad timing has always followed Scherrer.

He played on the 1991 Walker Cup, six years after The Masters stopped extending invitation to the Walker Cup team. He reached the semifinals of the 1990 U.S. Amateur, the year after The Masters changed the criteria to invite only the finalists.

"If I was a little older, I could have played in two Masters," Scherrer said. "When I do get in, I turn pro and miss it anyway."

If nothing else, Scherrer wanted to get the invitation to the 1993 Masters, even though he could not play as a pro. It never arrived.

Scherrer moved to Florida to get ready for Q-School, but spent five of the next six years on the Nike Tour.

He finally broke through last year, his third full year on the PGA Tour, with the Kemper Open victory and a runner-up finish in Tucson. He wasn't even aware that his money-list placing put him in The Masters field.

"It never hit me until the end of the year," he said. "Someone said, 'Hey, top 40 gets you in.' I remember calling my parents in November and saying, 'I did it. We're going.' "

The invitation, a mere formality, arrived in January. Scherrer thought it was a wedding announcement until he opened it up and saw the gold trim and the introduction that said, "The Board of Governors at Augusta National ..."

Suddenly, eight years didn't seem like such an eternity.

"It was neat," he said. "I'm going to frame it."

That can wait. On Monday, Scherrer was busy. He was at Augusta National, getting his game ready to play in The Masters. And he didn't even have to buy his own range balls.




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