A quiet start to empty week at Augusta National for Masters
AUGUSTA, GA. (AP) » Take away a few white scoreboards in their usual places behind the greens, and the green television stands behind the 12th tee and a few other strategic locations, and this is what Augusta National looks like in November.
It looks bigger because hardly anyone is there.
The grandstands are gone. The ropes are missing, replaced by painted lines — dark green, of course — around the tee boxes and greens and marking spots along the fairway to show the few people allowed at the Masters where they can stand.
Instead of Augusta National members and their guests, the course was filled Monday with Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth, all of them playing a practice round on a course that only looked the same.
“We’re used to coming here on Monday already and seeing lots of people,” Francesco Molinari said. “So it looks different already. I don’t know. We’ll have to see how everyone adapts to the differing conditions. It’s hard not to have the fans around, but it’s amazing to have the opportunity to be back here for us as players.”
It was a lost opportunity for Sergio Garcia and Joaquin Niemann, both of whom tested positive for the coronavirus and had to withdraw, another reminder why the Masters moved to November date in the first place.
The COVID-19 pandemic that shut down golf for three months