Free Amen Corner by Rick Shefchik Page B

Danny?”
    The face on the screen behind them was framed by thick, wavy gray hair that cascaded to the man’s shoulders. He was clean-shaven and deeply tanned except for the age lines at the corners of his blue eyes, which were alive with merriment, in stark contrast to the logo plastered across the bottom of the screen: Masters Murder?
    â€œOh, I’ve been better,” he said, then added: “I’ve been worse, too.”
    â€œWe’re sure Harmon Ashby’s death came as a shock to you, as it did to all of us,” said the woman anchor, turning to look at the screen.
    â€œHarmon was a great rules official, and a helluva guy,” Milligan said, in a soft southern drawl. “You don’t find many like him at the National. They need all the Harmon Ashbys they can get over there.”
    â€œDo you think he was murdered?”
    â€œDoes a golf ball have dimples?”
    â€œDanny, you live on the outskirts of Augusta,” the male anchor said. “You do some golf broadcasting for TBS, and I know you’re still very familiar with what goes on here at the Masters, even though you haven’t been here for a while. What kind of impact is this going to have on this year’s tournament?”
    â€œHonestly?” Milligan said, with a grimace of distaste. “None, probably. You know how they handle things at the National: If they say it’s not a problem, it’s not a problem. By Thursday, they’ll have Harmon Ashby stuffed and mounted in the clubhouse next to Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, and everything will be back to normal.”
    â€œLet me ask this, then,” the woman anchor said. “What should the impact be?”
    â€œIf I had anything to say about it, there wouldn’t be a Masters this year, or any year, until they open up the club to women,” Milligan said.
    Doggett fingered the remote, tempted to switch to another channel, but something about Milligan’s comments made him pause. He was like Scanlon—a high-profile, big-mouthed critic of the club.
    â€œBut Danny, the National is extremely accommodating to women in every other way except membership,” the female anchor said. “Women can play the course, they can attend the tournament, they can dine in the clubhouse. There have even been women caddies at the Masters, and David Porter says if a woman can qualify, she’s welcome to play in the tournament.”
    â€œIt would be hard to argue that Augusta National is a hostile environment for women,” the male anchor said.
    â€œSure, they’ll kiss their hands and put honey on their grits all week,” Milligan said. “But Sunday night the women will be headed home, and everything will be back to normal: 300 men keeping 3.2 billion women at arm’s length, as though the entire gender has some kind of rash or something.”
    â€œWell, obviously we’re not going to resolve this today,” the female anchor said. “We’d like to thank Danny Milligan for being our guest. Danny, will we be seeing you here sometime this week?”
    â€œNot unless the National’s security has totally broken down,” he said. “I’m about as welcome there as the touring company of ‘Rent.’”
    Fox News had a live shot of a dozen protesters walking on the opposite side of Washington Road from the main gates of the club, carrying signs saying “The Golf Gods Are Angry, Augusta National!” and “no women, no peace.” The police were trying to move them along, while several reporters were trying to get comments from them.
    â€œIt seems abundantly clear to us that Mr. Ashby was silenced for his liberal views,” said a round-faced, bespectacled woman, identified on the screen as Rachel Drucker, the president of the Women’s Organization for Freedom.
    Doggett switched off the TV to think over his options. He wanted to terrorize the Masters, but there was more