Sneakin' on at Augusta - Taylor Smith, now a professional golfer, tells of a time some 12 years earlier when he surreptitiously entered the closely guarded Augusta National Golf Course

Golf Digest, April, 1999 by Mike Stachura

Smith has since fallen off the PGA Tour, and was left without a place to play in 1999 when his application for Q school was ruled to have been received 10 minutes late. Coincidence? Was the spirit of Augusta National exacting revenge? Well, Smith isn't too mournful.

"I made a promise to myself after

I played there the last time as a caddie that I'd never set foot out there until I'm playing in the tournament," Smith says. "When I do make it there, I hope they don't vote against letting me play. I hope they understand I was just a kid and excited to be there."

Of course, even if Smith never walks in through the front door, he knows how to crawl his way in from the back.

"That," Smith insists, "was the thrill of my life."