2016 MASTERS: Augusta pristine & primed for good scoring

BY STEVE KEIPERT AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL

AUGUSTA National looks as perfect as always, but it also looks remarkably similar for condition to how it did a year ago when Jordan Spieth tied the tournament scoring record of 18-under-par. Just how long the course stays that way is now the lingering question.

There’s evidence across the course of the recent rainfall in the area and a slight dampness that has removed the fire from the surfaces and could indicate another birdie blitz. Yet there’s a line of thinking that suggests the powers-that-be at Augusta don’t want to see 18-under reached again and might weave their magic to take the current softness and vulnerability out of the ground.

All is in readiness at Augusta ahead of the 2016 Masters.
PHOTO: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Jason Day, who arrived in town last Friday, suspects that could be the case but would still like to see good scoring.

“The course is in great shape,” the World No.1 said. “They are projecting winds on Thursday and Friday and perhaps some rain so we’ll have to keep that in mind. I think 13-under is an average winning score and if they could have it around that it might be perfect – enough to make mistakes and hit good shots to make birdies.”

2013 Champion Adam Scott watched the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta National Golf Club before playing a practice round alongside his father, Phil.
PHOTO: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

It’s a fickle time of year here for weather. Mid-spring can bring heat, cold, wind, rain – the lot. However, the club famously has the knack of allowing the flowers to bloom on cue and the surfaces just how they like them thanks to the sub-air system below the ground that controls moisture levels. The club’s mindset on the matter will be interesting to observe as the week unfolds.

At this point in the week all eyes are on the skies and the likely weather for Masters week. After a mild winter and a period of rainfall in eastern Georgia, the forecast is mostly promising. Thursday’s opening round might include some rain but the rest of the week looks to be dry with top temperatures between 19 and 25 degrees.

The five-strong Australian contingent is largely already present. Marc Leishman completed a full 18 holes on Sunday, Adam Scott played alongside his father Phil in what is now a tradition and Day has logged several laps of the course. Cameron Smith is en route from the Houston Open while Steven Bowditch rounds out the Down Under brigade.

Ninety players will contest the Masters this year, the first time it’s been that small a number since 1998. Fewer players qualified via winning PGA Tour events this time, which partially explains the dip. Missing are the injured Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, plus the Korean military-serving Sang-Moon Bae. In the field are doting parents Danny Willett and Kevin Streelman, who both indicated they would skip the Masters if their pregnant wives gave birth during the tournament. Fortunately, both did so healthily over the weekend.

SEEN & HEARD

Before the players take centre stage, Sunday is the day for the annual Drive, Chip and Putt Championship finals. Eighty kids descended on the course this morning with four male and four female winners crowned across age groups ranging from 7 to 15.

Mia Raines, aged 11, celebrates after holing a putt during the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship. PHOTO: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Sunday at Augusta National is also the final opportunity for members to play before the course becomes the exclusive domain of the competitors. Some members play together, others with Masters participants. Walking off the 9th green at the conclusion of their round, Webb Simpson thanked the member he played alongside and tells him it’s a nice tradition to start his Masters week and that they should pair up again next year.

Watching the members tackle their own course illustrates the way mere mortals tackle Augusta National rather than the elite players we’re used to following. The members own some ‘agricultural’ actions and need to find a different strategy to beat the course. On the difficult 11th hole for instance, the member accompanying Marc Leishman fired a wood towards the green from long range, using the two huge mounds short and right of the green to feed the ball onto the green. Save for a shot threaded between the pines on the right side of that hole, that’s a shot we’re not like to see from tomorrow onwards.

Among the tasks the grounds staff undertake on Sunday is to paint the lines marking the crosswalks before the masses of patrons flows in the gates from Monday. Two of the man given the responsibility buzz across the course efficiently, knocking over the job in only a few hours. And what colour’s the paint? Dark green, of course.