AUGUSTA, Ga. — There’s a huge star at the Masters, not playing but instead on the sidelines.
MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is a credentialed photographer covering the golf tournament at Augusta, Georgia.
ESPN shared a photo of Griffey behind a huge lens, captioning the image, “The Kid behind the camera.”
His photos have been shared on Getty Images.
He shot the honorary starter ceremony Thursday and part of the Par 3 contest on Wednesday.
Griffey is familiar with the course, having played it a few years ago, but never in the tournament.
The former Seattle Mariners great said, “I am not going to go to a Masters until I play it and now I have the opportunity to shoot it. It’s been unbelievable and wild,”
Griffey retired from the major leagues in 2010 and became a photographer in 2015.
He said that he picked up a camera because of his kids.
“It was actually the only way I could see my kids,” adding, “I understand what he (his father) felt like coming to watch me play.”
But, like his father before him, he had the added issue of being a star baseball player. Because of whom he was, Griffey Jr. said people would distract him from watching his kids’ games.
“My daughter literally stopped dribbling a basketball and just looked at me when she was five. I was like okay, I’ve got to pay more attention to what’s going on. I figured no one’s messing with the photographer, well let me pick it up, let me try it,” he said.
The Masters isn’t the first time he’s been documenting a sporting event.
He’s been shooting MLB, MLS, NFL and IndyCar races.
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