Soft Augusta lets the field in, could make a Sunday shoot out

As is the case with every tournament when making my analysis I look at the weather first and as I did this week I saw rain in Augusta for Thursday and Friday, not a lot of wind and warm, ideal for scoring which means the field will be bunched. This is crucial going into this week, and takes away from the top players who like cream, normally rise to the surface.

Mother Nature has dropped nearly a half-inch of rain on Augusta on Monday night and there is a 60-percent chance of thunderstorms, possibly severe, on Thursday and Friday.If the fire is taken out of the vexing greens at Augusta National and soft conditions bring target golf into the equation, the experience guys like Mickelson and some of the other veterans possess could be rendered moot. So much for gaining an edge in those practice rounds leading up to his 1:53 p.m. tee time with Hunter Mahan and Peter Hanson.
"It usually gets magnified at tournament time, meaning the course will get a little bit firmer, faster greens, and will get a little bit firmer and tighter around the greens,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen this week.
“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."

And if the venerable Alister Mackenzie course starts yielding birdies with abandon once play begins on Thursday, Mickelson thinks some of the younger players could be a factor. Who knows? The Masters could have its first rookie winner since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

"A lot is going to depend on how soft the course is, how aggressive you can be," Mickelson said. "I think that if it plays like this, that there won’t be the big mistakes made by any player, any of the young players. I think that it will be a crowded leaderboard, and we’ll see, like I say, a big birdie feast.   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 and the experienced players who position the ball properly and vary their risk/reward shot making, I think they will have an easier time staying on top of the leaderboard."


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com