NOVEMBER SURPRISE AWAITS AT AUGUSTA

FALL MASTERS SHOULD PRESENT UNIQUE CHALLENGE FOR FIELD

What happens to a tradition unlike any other when it comes in a year unlike any we’ve seen before?

Before the fan mail arrives, I stole that line from the most recent Masters promo. When you watch something 20 times it’s hard not to get it stuck in your head.

But that is indeed the big question at the long-delayed yet much-anticipated Masters, which is set to begin on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. For professional golfers and professional couch potatoes alike, the Masters has always been a spring tradition played on a famed golf course that is somehow both intensely familiar and deeply mysterious.

“The Masters is a tournament where it doesn’t matter if I was 12 years old getting into golf or whether I’m on tour, when it starts I’m on the couch Thursday to Sunday watching it, doesn’t matter who’s in contention or what,” said Nick Taylor, who is making his Masters debut. “I feel like I know a lot about the golf course without ever being there. I’m sure there will be stuff that seems familiar and stuff that seems completely different, but it’s kind of cool that I know every single hole for a tournament I’ve never played.”

With the Masters in November for the first time, there are sure to be surprises for every player teeing it up.

Taylor will be flying the red Maple Leaf this week along with 2003 champion Mike Weir, Adam Hadwin, and Corey Conners. The Canadian foursome plans to play a practice round together on Tuesday.

The entire field of 92 golfers has but a few days to try to understand how the course will play seven months removed from its normal date. One change is the tournament has been reduced by two players after 2017 champion Sergio Garcia and 21-year-old Chilean Joaquin Niemann tested positive for COVID-19.

Unlike other years, the big tests at this year’s Masters begin with a swab up your nose. Another change this year is the end of the 10-shot cut rule.

Since 1962, players within 10 strokes of the leader after two rounds could stick around and play the weekend, regardless of their position on the leaderboard. Beginning this year, the cut has been changed to only allow the low 50 players and ties. This makes sense in 2020 with fewer hours of sunlight, but there has been no hint that the 10-stroke rule will be re-implemented in the future.

Other differences at this year’s Masters can’t be tested in a lab or written in a rule book. They will require trial and error by the world’s best players. In broad terms, Augusta National is expected to sound quiet and play soft this week.

How that will affect the tournament depends on who you ask.

“There’s no doubt the missing galleries is going to be the biggest difference,” said 2013 champion Adam Scott on Monday. “I’ve played two major championships since we’ve come back from this COVID break, and it couldn’t be more different playing major championship golf without the spectators out there and the crowds and the atmosphere, and that is a huge difference.”

Other players such as Taylor believe that the peace and quiet outside of the ropes might help guys keep their wits about them. But with first-timers Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau winning this year at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, Taylor might be on to something.

“You know, walking to that first tee Thursday, the nerves are at an all-time high, and that’s because the eyeballs are on you and it’s the buildup and it’s what’s been created over the years, those roars you talk about,” Scott said. “You know what’s going on. You know if it’s an eagle. You know if it’s a birdie. You know if it’s for Tiger (Woods) or possibly Phil (Mickelson), and that excitement. When it’s going your way and the crowd is on your back, learning to use that as a positive thing to keep going is fantastic.”

As for the course itself, Augusta National always does a scary good job of keeping tournament conditions under wraps until Thursday morning. With near golf godlike powers to control turf conditions, there are surprises waiting for players at Augusta, but even all-powerful green jackets can’t change the season or the weather forecast for plenty of rain.

“It was already most likely going to be a softer test than April, and I think with the scheduled forecast, it will definitely be softer,” Patrick Cantlay said on Monday. “That will be the biggest difference. The grass might be just a little higher and the course may play just a little slower than normal.”

Don’t get Scott started on potential mud balls if the forecasted rain comes.

“Obviously we’re prepared and we’ve played in tough conditions, but a golf course that requires precision like this one does, especially hitting into the greens, if there’s mud on the ball, this is very, very difficult because you lose control of the ball flight,” he said.

So, what to expect at the first ever November Masters? Wait and see.

ROB CARR / GETTY IMAGES Australia's Adam Scott, with Erik van Rooyen of South Africa looking on, has never fired a practice shot for the Masters during the second week of November, but that's 2020. The revered golf major will finally get its time in the sun this year, just with a much later tee time.