Storms teeing up soft course
Masters Week broke dark and gloomy as a series of storm fronts rolled over Augusta National Golf Club on Monday and disrupted the first day of the first major of the season.
Mother Nature might not be done playing through.
Bouts of heavy rain, thunder and lightning forced the evacuation of the course about noon ET, as players and spectators quickly sought shelter. The course reopened at 1:45 p.m., only to be closed for the day 45 minutes later during a tornado watch. An hour later, sheets of rain descended on Augusta National, leaving puddles, mini lakes and streams.
The forecast doesn’t look bright. Overnight rains will drop more water on the area before skies clear Tuesday. But thunderstorms are expected to return Wednesday. Once the storm clouds fade, temperatures will fall into the low 60s for Thursday and Friday, with winds reaching a steady 25 mph. Sunshine is forecast for the weekend, with temperatures reaching the mid to upper 70s.
If the forecast holds, the course will play softer, thus longer, and the winds will wreak potential mayhem on almost every shot.
“When you’re playing this course soft, being able to carry the ball and have that length is going to be a bonus,” said Rickie Fowler, who won the Honda Classic in February and tied for third in last weekend’s Shell Houston Open.
Fowler is more concerned, however, about the wind, especially swirling winds.
“Really, every hole out here,” Fowler said when asked which holes are most affected by swirling or high winds. “Sometimes playing around here, when it’s a light breeze and moving around and gusts come up from different areas, that’s when it can get tougher.
“The biggest thing in the wind is just hitting the ball solid. Now, at times, yeah, we’ll have to hit some low, but with it potentially being windy and wet, I think you’re still going to be trying to push it out there off the tees to potentially get some shorter shots in.”
Foul weather is the only thing that can put a damper on the 81st Masters. The story lines are plentiful and captivating as they always are when players arrive at this magical place among the Georgia pines.
“I feel like you think about Augusta and the Masters all year,” Fowler said. “It’s the buildup from January, February and March, that road to getting here. I would say the final month before is where you really kind of start to bear down and focus on trying to get the game really heading in the right direction ... so you come in here with some more confidence.”
No one has more confidence than world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who rolled down Magnolia Lane on Monday on a big-time roll. He has won his last three starts — two of them World Golf Championships events and has plenty of firepower to take down Augusta National and win his first Masters.
Jordan Spieth has nearly won the last three Masters, as runner-up in 2014 and 2016 and winner in 2015 All eyes will be on the young Texas when he gets to the 12th hole Thurs day. It was there in the final round of last year’s Masters where the two time major winner rinsed two balls in Rae’s Creek and squandered a five-shot lead with nine to play.
Spieth isn’t dreading his return to the 12th. Nor is he sweating last week’s missed cut in the Shell Houston Open.
“I think we know — and the other players that are playing next week know — that we strike fear in others next week,” Spieth said after missing the cut. “So that’s our idea, that’s going to be my confidence level goi in, and we’ll step on the first tee ready to play.”
Three-time champion Phil Mick nelson will step on the first tee with chance to become the oldest Master
winner. Jon Rahm will step on the first tee with a chance to become the first since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 to win the Masters in his first trip to Augusta National.
Rahm, who won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego this year, is fast becoming a wiseguy’s pick this week.
And the rookie isn’t lacking in confidence.
“If I didn’t think I could win it, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “Truly, Torrey Pines is not one of the places rookies usually win for the first time, and I was able to do it. Obviously this is different. It’s a major and my first time in Augusta. It’s very, very impressive. I’m going to tee it up believing that I can win, competing to win. I might do it, I might not, but that’s how I do it. ...
“This week everybody feels special at Augusta National. It’s a course that it’s proven that it fits any kind of player. You’ve had right-handers, left-handers, drawers, faders, short hitters win. I do think it suits my game. It certainly suits my eye.”