Tourney could be ‘birdie fest’: Mickelson
Rain-softened greens could lessen ‘fear’ of Augusta, says ex-champ
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Players often say they don’t learn a lot from playing Augusta National in the days leading up to The Masters Golf Tournament, because by Thursday, the course-setup committee has engineered a whole new test.
The Subair suction removes all the water from the greens, the surfaces are tighter, the fairway grass is mowed differently.
But with heavy rain Tuesday night and more thunderstorms Wednesday, it appears this isn’t going to be a hard-andfast Masters tournament, at least not at the start.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen this week,” said three-time champion Phil Mickelson, who probably ought to be a co-favourite with Rory Mcilroy and Tiger Woods.
“It seems that some of the planning I have made may go by the wayside. As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of the pins. The greens are soft. I don’t want to say they are slow, but it’s just not the same Augusta. It’s wet around the greens, and there’s no fear of the course. You’ve got to attack it this week.
“Unless something changes, and I know they have Subair and hopefully they will be able to use it, but unless they change it, it’s going to be a birdie fest.”
That’s not to everyone’s taste. The better, more experienced players would prefer to see conditions as hard as possible.
“When the subtleties don’t come out, the experience of playing here in the past is not as important, because you don’t have to fear the greens and you don’t have to know where the ball will end up and you don’t have to fear certain shots because you can get up and down from the edges. Those shots are not as hard,” Mickelson said.
“Therefore, I think there’s a very good chance that a young player, inexperienced, fearless player that attacks this golf course can win if you don’t need to show it the proper respect. If there’s some firmness that comes out and the green speeds get a little bit quicker and get a little bit firmer, I think we will see some of the young players make some mistakes that will cost them the tournament.”
Mickelson knows whereof he speaks.
A ramblin’, gamblin’ man by nature, he has had to learn his lessons the hard way around here.
“The biggest thing I look back on, on my three major wins relative to the times that I’ve come close and have not won, has come down to a strategic change on Hole 15 for me,” he said. “Because I played it in the past as a must birdie, and I have made some epic numbers there that have just shot me right out of the tournament.
“And I look at 15 totally different now. I’ll accept par. ”
Gary Player, who will join Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as honorary starters Thursday, said he recalls a conversation with tournament founder Bobby Jones, when Jones was badly crippled with a degenerative disease that eventually killed him.
“I vividly remember saying to him, ‘Look, Mr. Jones, I just cannot birdie No. 3.’ Because that flag on the left, you’re lucky if you can walk on, never mind hit a ball there,” Player said. Jones looked up at him, and speaking in a very quiet voice, said: “You’re not supposed to birdie it. You’re supposed to par it.”