Running out of time
Can Woods, Mickelson contend once more at Augusta?
Golf’s first two majors of this reshaped 2020 season flowed with a fresh, compelling vibe. Collin Morikawa won a captivating PGA Championship at Harding Park and then Bryson DeChambeau bludgeoned Winged Foot in taking the U. S. Open.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson — remember them? — made barely a ripple in either event. Let’s face it: They’re not really a factor anymore at most regular PGA Tour events, let alone major championships.
There’s one caveat, though. Woods and Mickelson remain a threat at Augusta National, where this week’s Masters will unfold against the uncommon backdrop of autumn in the Deep South.
Augusta historically brings out the best in the game’s best players. Jack Nicklaus won there six times, including once at age 46. Woods has won there five times, including last year’s stirring triumph at 43. Mickelson has won there three times, including his longawaited first major title in 2004.
Experience matters at Augusta National, especially around its diabolically slick, sloped greens. There’s a reason no firsttime Masters participant has won the tournament since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
Another enormous advantage: hitting tee shots into distant frontiers and approach shots high into the Georgia sky. These skills will become even more vital this week, given a forecast of frequent rain.
That favors players who carry the ball a long way off the tee ( and thus won’t be punished as
much by wet fairways). Players such as DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka … and, yes, Woods and Mickelson.
This will test their triumphant history on the storied course, because both players are struggling mightily. Woods’ tie for 37th in the PGA at Harding Park is his best finish in six starts since the tour resumed play in June. He missed the cut at the U. S. Open in September.
Mickelson, similarly, has showed his age ( 50) since the restart, with only one top20 finish in 10 appearances on the “big tour” ( he won twice on the PGA Tour Champions, for 50andolder players). He tied 71st at Harding and, like Woods, missed the cut at Winged Foot.
Put another way: The window is closing quickly on the two best golfers of the past 25 years. Just listen to Arron Oberholser, who grew up in the Bay Area, played on tour for several years and now works as a
Golf Channel analyst.
“There are only a few courses where Tiger can win majors, and in my opinion, Augusta National is slowly but surely moving off that list,” Oberholser said in a phone interview. “I think Augusta is off the list for Phil. He’s going to have to have the week of his life.
“He still has plenty of pop, but you can’t play Augusta from the pine straw for 72 holes. … It’s going to come down to execution, not nostalgia or anything warm and fuzzy.”
Even so, Woods and Mickelson tend to execute shots more reliably at the Masters than in other tournaments. They know where to miss. They know how putts break. They know how to handle Augusta’s deafening roars.
Oh, wait. No spectators, because of the coronavirus pandemic, means no roars — and that could help the new generation of young, fearless players eager to earn a green jacket.
Morikawa is strikingly poised, for example, but the absence of fans probably helped him down the stretch in the PGA. His clutch, finalround tee shot on No. 16, and subsequent eagle putt, would have been more daunting with thousands of spectators lining the fairway and circling the green.
Or consider the U. S. Open. You think New York fans might have heckled DeChambeau about his abrupt transformation into golf’s Incredible Hulk? Remember, they counted Sergio Garcia’s preshot waggles ( in Spanish) during the 2002 U. S. Open.
And now this year’s strange silence will engulf Augusta National.
“I think the fan at home, who has watched the Masters on television for years, is going to be weirded out when someone makes eagle at 13 and doesn’t hear roars,” Oberholser said.
Other thoughts ahead of the Masters: 1 DeChambeau: He hit short irons into all the par5s during recent practice rounds at Augusta National, and he needed only a pitching wedge for his second shot Monday on No. 11 ( a 505yard par4). So, yes, his power is breathtaking.
Still, his enthusiasm in figuratively flexing his muscles on social media — hey, look how far I hit it! — is amateurish. He must make putts to win, and his putting statistics at the past three Masters are terrible. 1 McIlroy: More than six years have passed since McIlroy last won a major ( 2014 PGA Championship). But he’s still only 31, and he still needs the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. He’s too good not to make it happen at some point. 1 Koepka: His flurry of major wins in recent years notwithstanding, Koepka has sailed below the radar a bit in 2020 because of a knee injury. He also shot 6565 over the weekend at the Houston Open. He’s back, in other words. 1 Encore on deck: The Masters typically launches the heart of golf season. This time, it leads into the quiet stretch of late November and December. But the next major on tap … is the 2021 Masters in April.