Steve Wilson On His Augusta Experience

((HT: WLOX-TV/David Elliott))

His improbable journey captured the imagination of everyone in South Mississippi and golf fans around the world. Steve Wilson, an amateur golfer from Ocean Springs, played in this year's Masters at famed Augusta National.

"I've got a ton of good memories," Wilson told WLOX.

Steve is back home on the coast after shooting a 79 and a 75 in the first two rounds of The Masters. It was a steady showing, but not good enough to make the cut.

The gas station owner doesn't plan to pick up his clubs for a few days, but soon he'll be preparing to recapture the magic of big time golf.

"I'm exempt until the final stages of the U.S. Open, and then I have to prepare for the U.S. Amateur."

The U.S. Open begins June 18th and the U.S. Amateur gets underway August 23rd.

Steve Wilson was able to live a dream and all of us were able to be part of it.

Here's Elliott and Wilson catching up in Ocean Springs...

Wilson caught up with the Biloxi Sun Herald's Tommy Snell about the experience as well...

An Amateur In Augusta: Day Two

No, Steve Wilson didn't make the cut at the tournament this week in Augusta, Georgia.

He shot better- a second-round 75, but he stil thought his overall gasme was a "C"

But who's going to tell him about his two rounds...?
Everyone who runs in to him between now and the time he leaves...
Not a bad story to tell, and not a bad question to have to answer...

Tommy Snell covered Wilson for the Biloxi Sun-Herald. His story is below...

Steve Wilson couldn’t get anything going for 14 holes, but a 4-iron that grazed Masters history secured a two-putt birdie, the first of three closing birdies on the last four holes in his second round. Had that shot found the bottom of the cup instead of tickling the lip of the razor-sharp hole, Steve Wilson would have joined Gene Sarazen, the only player to make a double-eagle in the Masters.

“I found a little something, and it just kinda clicked,” said Wilson.

Clicked indeed. On 17 and 18, two of the toughest finishing holes in golf, Wilson knocked it to 2 feet and 9 feet respectively, proof that the Mississippi amateur has the game to play with the Green Coats. With disappointment butting into an otherwise affable smile, Wilson talked about his desire to play the weekend, “I’d like to stick around and get two more rounds in.”
The pressure of Masters golf never let up, according to Wilson.

“There is pressure in every shot out there," he said. “The pressure of a tournament like this is worth at least two or three shots.”
Gary Martin, Wilson’s business partner, longtime friend, fellow competitor and 36-hole caddy, admitted that his man “got a little irritated” at one point in the round, but he encouraged him to enjoy the last few holes. Maybe that was the backspin that sucked birdies out of Augusta’s treacherous greens, a concentrated salvo that birdied three of the last four holes in the 2009 Masters.

A bit irritated at his play that was self-described as a “C,” Wilson gave himself a swift kick,

“I get irritated all the time. Sometimes at Gary because he can’t hear,” Wilson joked. “I hit some suspect shots, but I hit some really good shots. Overall, I didn’t have the good stuff.”

His fans disagreed. “That second guy [Wilson], that was a phenomenal shot,” said a spectator behind 12 as Wilson’s shot finished 8 feet from the hole. Wilson had just watched Poulter hit it in the water on 12, and he still hit a fabulous shot while fickle winds swirled on the world’s most famous par-3.

“That’s the amateur who owns a gas station,” was the buzz around Augusta National. As Wilson sent drives past his playing partners for two days, the best fans in golf recognized his ability to massacre a golf ball, even in the Georgia pressure cooker.

In the end, three-putts sent the seven-time Coast Open champion back to Gautier to make po-boys for his customers and friends, but nobody will question his ability to play golf.

“No doubt this is great experience,” he said, “and I’m sure that I will learn from this.”
The world learned as well, as a inch to the left or a foot farther might have meant a weekend stay in Augusta, Georgia.

Wilson will head back home, but he’ll put a head cover on memories of an “unbelievable” few days hobnobbing with CEOs and answering questions for the slew of press that wanted to know more about the “gas station owner” in Gautier.

Jeff Lawson has WLOX's coverage from Augusta...

If the embed is still wonky check it out in black...
Or here... it's more stuff... with AJ Giardina and Lawson...

An Amateur's First Augusta: Round One

Sunkist Country Club was the epicenter of Steve Wilson's world...
As the scorecard at Sunkist says: "There comes a time at one man's life..."

Here's the team coverage from WDAM-TV...
Who cares if he shot a 79... he's living every guy's dream that hasn't won the "Lethal Lottery" from the media tent...
Enjoy...it's quick highlights from Chad Campbell and stuff...

WLOX-TV's wall-to-wall coverage from Wilson's Sunkist Country Club is in black...

An Amateur's First Augusta...

((HT: WDAM-TV/AJC))

Steve Wilson is a 39-year-old that runs BP convenience stores in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He regained his amateur status in 2005 and ended up winning the Mid-Amateur tournament in Milwaukee.

That got him an automatic invitation to that tournament going on in Augusta, Georgia this week. His 9-year-old son, Gavan, caddied for him in the Par-3 tournament Wednesday afternoon ((both pictured, thanks AJC)).

Thankfully, Wilson did not win the Par-3 so he still has a chance to win the blazer that goes with being the lowest scorer over the week.

Tim Clark aced himself out of that by taking the Par-3 crown.

The AJC's Jeff Schultz tracked down Wilson for a cool piece...

The funniest quote from Wilson when he talked to Schultz:
“I’m having a hard time getting comfortable here,” Wilson admitted Wednesday after a practice round. “I kind of feel like somebody’s ugly cousin at the ball.”

The Biloxi Sun Herald newspaper plans wall-to-wall coverage...
Wilson tees off at 11:29 with Ian Poulter and Tom Watson...
WDAM-TV has the story from Augusta.
FOSG Heather Cook tells the tale at the 3:00 mark...
((If the link's busted below, work to it in black...))