AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods had just birdied the 16th hole at Augusta National. A few hundred yards away, the operators up in the scoreboard looming over the 7th green dropped a large red 3 into the correct slot.
In a normal year, this would have brought cacophonous cheers from the gallery around the scoreboard. This year, though, the clanking of plates and conversation between the operators inside drew only a shushing from a course marshal. There were players preparing to putt, and the quiet talk deep inside the scoreboard was resonating all the way to the green.