AUGUSTA — Thursday’s rain delay at the Masters was a godsend. Sure, the first round of the great tournament was thrown all off schedule, likely to be incomplete by day’s end. And the poor elders who traditionally start the event with a ceremonial tee shot — Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson — were kept hanging around for hours like patients in the gerontologist’s waiting room.

But it created a perfect window for gnome-shopping. And what at any Masters could be more important than that?

For reasons unfathomable, the Masters garden gnome has become a lasting sensation since it was introduced in 2016. It is the holy grail of the fan experience. The players have the green jacket. The patrons have a fat, stubby, white-bearded piece of cheap statuary (lists for $49.95).

Getting one is the trick. The lines to get in the huge merchandise building near No. 1 fairway build to Disney-esque lengths as soon as gates open at Augusta National. Early this week, some waits to get in have approached two hours. And everyone immediately rushes the gnomes (limit one per customer), meaning they sell out each day in a flash. There is a strategic scarcity at work here.

Ah, but where some saw the rain delay as a nuisance, I saw an opportunity.

Media types generally can get in before the general public. But normally they are barred from the merchandise area until after the first patrons have started queuing up. The rain delay scrambled everything. So 15 minutes before the rescheduled opening of the gates, I hopefully made my way down to the first tee. And, lo, the guard let me in to be among the first in line when the doors to crass-consumerism heaven opened.

“Don’t get in my way when it opens,” I warned the guy next to me in line, only partially joking. The hunt for the ultimate Masters souvenir takes place in a cruel and competitive jungle.

At 9:30 a.m. sharp, the grand opening. “Where are the gnomes?” I shouted at a worker at the door.

“Hard to your right,” he said, having no doubt answered that question 10,000 times already this week.

And there they were, a stack of 100 or so against the wall, already mobbed by others who had played the rain delay gambit. This year’s version is done up in blue plaid slacks, a blue Masters sweater, striped tie and white Masters bucket hat. He’s carrying his own clubs. I guess gnomes don’t get caddies here.

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