AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tony Finau was to the correct of the eleventh inexperienced at Augusta Nationwide attempting to chip to an imaginary entrance pin, a troublesome shot when it issues. This was the primary full day of apply Monday on the Masters, and it wasn’t any simpler.
The primary try rolled throughout the inexperienced and off the placing floor. So did the second.
It was like that all around the famed course, the place the azaleas blooms are on their final leg and turf is agency below a blazing solar, save for a couple of minutes through the photo voltaic eclipse.
The situations — at all times pristine, as a result of all the things is at Augusta Nationwide — is nearly as good as gamers can bear in mind. There’s rain within the forecast for the opening spherical, however in any other case gamers are confronted with what could possibly be the 2 “F” phrases that tackle completely different meanings to completely different video games — agency and quick.
“The course may be very agency,” Xander Schauffele mentioned. “It is most likely a few of the greatest form I’ve seen in earlier years, to be trustworthy. I don’t know the way the climate has been, however it’s a disgrace that it would rain sooner or later this week as a result of it’s trying like a extremely exhausting, actually agency.
“I used to be hitting 5-irons that had been coming into par 5s that had been bouncing, tomahawking over the inexperienced,” he mentioned. “And I used to be like, ‘That is fairly cool.’ It has been some time.”
Tiger Woods was first out when the course opened at 8 a.m. enjoying 9 holes with Will Zalatoris. A number of of them stopped in mid-afternoon to don particular photo voltaic sun shades — Masters inexperienced with the well-known emblem, certain to be a souvenir — for a take a look at the eclipse.
“Get to observe the top of the world at Augusta Nationwide, proper?” British Open champion Brian Harman mentioned with a smile.
That is the beginning of the key championship season, and the anticipation has been larger than ever, primarily due to the sector. It is the primary time gamers from Saudi-funded LIV Golf are competing in opposition to those that stayed on PGA Tour. There’s extra curiosity than animosity, evident by Schauffele planning a apply spherical with Dustin Johnson.
There wasn’t a ton of planning that went into this.
“It is Dustin,” Schauffele mentioned. “I noticed him and … fairly on the fly.”
Johnson, among the many first batch of gamers who defected to LIV, set the 72-hole document at 268 within the 2020 Masters in situations as comfortable as any as a result of it was performed in November when the match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If the course is enjoying exhausting and quick, it is tougher,” Hideki Matsuyama mentioned, who received the 12 months after Johnson. “Profitable rating is often increased. When it is moist, it will probably go to twenty below. I like each, but when goes to twenty below, my possibilities get slimmer. So I would love a more durable setup the place it performs drier, sooner and exhausting.”
Amongst gamers who selected to not play was Akshay Bhatia, for good cause. The Valero Texas Open was his fourth week in a row enjoying, after which his work was prolonged when he received in a playoff to qualify for the ultimate spot within the Masters.
Bhatia’s left shoulder got here out of its socket celebrating a playoff-forcing birdie putt on the ultimate gap. He taped it up in time to hit wedge to the 18th on the primary additional gap. After which he headed straight for Augusta and arrived about 1:30 a.m. Monday. Even for a 22-year-old, that is rather a lot to soak up.
“There’s nonetheless rather a lot to study this week,” Bhatia mentioned. “Simply registering, getting the lay of the land. I’m going to speak to my psychologist this afternoon — he’s flying in tonight — and we’ll have a great recreation plan, some objectives, and form of get the ball rolling tomorrow.”
Bhatia is a real Masters rookie, one in every of 17 gamers (together with 4 amateurs) who’re competing at Augusta Nationwide for the primary time.
Nick Taylor is not a rookie. He simply seems like one. His solely earlier Masters was in 2020, when no patrons had been allowed on the course due to the pandemic. The Par 3 Event was canceled as a result of it is primarily leisure for the spectators they usually weren’t there.
Taylor even skipped his ball throughout the pond on the par-3 sixteenth, one other Masters custom that took a hiatus with out followers in 2020.
“That is primarily my first true expertise,” Taylor mentioned. “Simply having patrons out and stuff, that’s one thing I’ve not skilled. Even the locker room is a distinct spot now than it was after I was right here, so I’m getting the lay of the land because the day goes.”
He could not assist however discover how a lot firmer it was from that November match in 2020. That is going to be the actual take a look at on the Masters, relying on what the opening spherical holds.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
