Seve Ballesteros Courtesy: BBC

Lost in the noise and the rush to glory on Sunday at the Masters were the fallen, those who had failed to make the cut or had completely lost their way over the final 18 holes.

There were many big names who failed to make the cut. Chief among them were past Masters champions.

An interesting perspective on past heroes at Augusta comes from Mark Reason in Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

His story dealt with the struggles of the "over-the-hill gang". And probably at the top of that list was Severiano Ballesteros.

Seve was once upon a time an absolute wizard around the greens, fashioning shots that no one had ever seen before. Phil Mickelson is very much a modern Seve in that sense.

But whenever we speak of the Spaniard now, it is always in the past tense. He turned 50 on Monday but his game turned 100 some years ago. He WAS a great player; he WAS a great putter; he WAS a great manufacturer of trick shots.

Now, Seve is just done. And it's sad to see.

On Thursday of last week, the two time Masters champion, the man who had defeated Augusta twice in three years, and whose other top finishes were ties for second and third and sole fourth and fifth places, all in a span of nine years, opened with an 86.

He followed that on Friday with an 80. Gary Player is 22 years older and his two rounds were 83 and 77.

Player is a three time winner of the Green Jacket.

Reason's story calls up the old heroes and wonders why we long for those old guys to come charging over the horizon again to snatch the emerald cloth as Jack did in 1986.

His list of past heroes turned into also-rans is sobering. Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw, Larry Mize and Ray Floyd are names with "MC" beside them. Fuzzy Zoeller and Sandy Lyle made the cut. Fuzzy finished dead last, Lyle 43rd.

Why do they do it? Why do they try and tackle a course that has been made far longer than any of them can manage and was made even more terrifying by the winds and cold temperatures?

Because they want to win it? No. They know they can't win the Masters again, not in its current configuration and length.

I wager it's because they simply want to be part of one of the greatest golf tournaments there will ever be.

So it's surprising to me when Mark Reason quotes Arnold Palmer. Palmer was asked what he thought about Player in his 50th Masters.

Palmer replied, "Who gives a s***t? If you can't win, it doesn't matter".

Mark Reason allows The Walrus the final word and I quote in full:

"Someone asked Stadler if he was surprised at the struggles of the big names. He looked more surprised at the question and muttered that he couldn't care less. And with that he waddled off, a fat fifty-something with a preposterous moustache and an old-timer's mumble. That's my sort of hero."

You have to say one thing about the old heroes. They sure have character.