Firm, fast course may deliver a painful week
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Pain.
That’s what players could experience in the 85th playing of the Masters starting Thursday as the field of play among the Georgia Pines is firm, fast and primed to deliver punishment.
“I think every guy who plays professional golf is a little bit of a masochist,” said world No. 6 Xander Schauffele, who has six top-10s in majors the past three years, including a tie for second in the 2019 Masters. “So, I’m here for the torture, and my caddie and I will do our best if it gets really tough.”
It certainly wasn’t threatening when the 2020 Masters was played in the autumn cool of November due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. It was a pleasure, if you will, with soft greens, moist fairways and less penal chipping areas allowing players to shun fear and zero in on targets with heightened aggression.
The result? The scoring was astounding. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson became the first in Masters history to card multiple rounds of 65 or better and shattered the scoring record by becoming the only player to reach and finish at 20 under.
Cameron Smith became the first in the Masters chronicles to shoot all four rounds in the 60s – and lost by five. Smith finished in a tie for second with Masters rookie Sungjae Im.
But the season has changed, and the warmth of spring has produced a fiery layout that will demand precision, accuracy and a soft touch on and around the greens. Johnson said if the course remains firm and fast, “you’re definitely going to have to be a little more careful about where you hit the ball.” Fred Couples, the winner of the 1992 Masters, said the course could play “as difficult as the course has played in a long, long time.”
It certainly will if Mother Nature cooperates. Augusta National has bathed in sunshine for six consecutive days but the forecast shows menacing clouds are en route. The chance of rain and/or thunderstorms stands at 50 percent per day Friday and Saturday. If the storm fronts part or shift away, or if little rain falls, then Augusta National will stand as a hardened, supreme test once again.
“When the greens are firm, the precision, the course management, the angles, the leave where the ball is left, all of this stuff becomes incredibly important in your ability to play this course effectively,” three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson said. “When the greens are soft, it’s irrelevant because you can fly the ball over all the trouble. Angles don’t matter. I plugged a 5-iron last November into the second green. It plugged.”