How was your Masters opening round? Squishy? Yeah, I've been getting a lot of that response...
The Schedule - We'll get to the fun stuff in just a bit, but it's worth a moment to ensure that everyone is aware of the coverage changes. Yesterday's 3-hour weather event has jammed them up pretty good, with many players left on the golf course as the light disappeared.
First, a minor digression, but the biggest news is the radically-improved weather outlook:
The weather for the Masters at Augusta National had looked dire for most of the week in early forecasts, but now it looks as if the only tournament day that will be greatly affected is Thursday’s opening round.
Which means that we can reliably forecast the schedule looking forward. It also offers hope that the course will dry out and firm up over the succeeding days... This one was never likely to offer the desired #firmandfast conditions, but yesterday's dart practice wasn't to everyone's taste.
The first order of business is to ensure that you're aware that you should turn on your TV upon arising:
Full-field, traditional coverage of the first round of @TheMasters continues LIVE tomorrow (Friday) at 7:30am ET on ESPN. #themasters #golf
— Jeremy Schilling (@jschil) November 12, 2020
And why wouldn't they? And one assumes that they'll do the same on Saturday morning, when the second round will be completed. One assumes that's a slam-dunk for ESPN, because among those finishing those second rounds will be Mr. Woods and Mr. DeChambeau...
But time-shifters beware, this possibility is under discussion, which sounds a tad too LPGA-ish for my taste, and one presumes will not please the Lords of Augusta:
SBJ scoop this afternoon: the conclusion of the final round of #themasters on Sunday *could* be broadcast on ABC, if weather or a playoff extended the acton beyond 4pm, when CBS will transition to NFL coverage. Unlikely, but an interesting possibility.https://t.co/idcbA12q3x
— David Rumsey (@_DavidRumsey) November 12, 2020
Are you out of your cotton-picking minds? You're going to have folks rushing home to catch the last bit of the broadcast without knowing where to find it?
For those in the New York area, CBS would be cutting away from the hallowed grounds of Augusta National to carry the Buffalo Bills - Arizona Cardinals game. What's wrong with this picture?
What's It All About, Alfie? - Before we get to player specifics, how did it look, taste and feel? Alan Shipnuck had quite the fine day, sharing the experience of grizzled Augusta vets:
Thursday evening, as the sun was dipping behind a smattering of clouds and bathing Augusta National in a glorious twilight glow, Amy Mickelson stopped dead in her tracks on the hill behind the 9th green. “Can we just take a moment to admire this?” she said, mostly to herself. “I’m kind of having a moment here.”Even if you’ve been coming to Augusta for three decades, as Amy has to cheer for her hubby Phil, there was something extraordinary about the opening day of this Masters unlike any other. A thunderstorm early Thursday morning pushed back tee times nearly three hours, forcing many competitors to play until dark, which accounted for the unusually evocative light late in the round, of which former Augusta Chronicle scribe Scott Michaux said, “The last 45 minutes of play was perhaps the most idyllic I’ve ever seen at Augusta.”
But the rest of the day had an unreal quality, too. It was so quiet you could literally hear an acorn drop. With no gallery ropes — and no gallery — the lucky few folks on the grounds could eavesdrop on every green and tee box. It felt voyeuristic. On the par-5 2nd hole, Abe Ancer went for the green after a perfect drive but wound up making a messy bogey out of the front-right bunker. On the next tee box his caddie, Dale Vallely, offered a fact-based pep talk: “It was the right risk-reward choice. That was a good spot to be in two, but it was unlucky that ball [on the third shot] took a big hop forward…”On the 3rd tee, Mickelson (Phil, not Amy) uncorked a massive block-slice and as his ball sailed toward parts unknown, he broke the awkward silence by muttering softly what everyone was thinking: “Wow.”
This is something I've been enjoying since the reboot, but of course this isn't your run-of-the-mill Tour stop:
Cameramen and marshals were repeatedly (but gently) shooed out of sightlines by the players or, more often, caddies; in a teeming crowd they would have blended in, but against an empty landscape a lone human can be distracting. Augusta native Charles Howell expressed a particular appreciation for the clean, uncluttered look of the course, which also translated gloriously to the telecast. “Listen, this is Augusta National — there are no bad days out here, and without the grandstands, without all that, people can see and appreciate it,” Howell said. “There’s different angles and different layouts and different ways you can play a hole now. Yeah, there are no bad days here.”
This Golf Digest feature uses photos to show the difference. This one captures the flora deficit for sure:
And these two of No. 16 the absence of the
“Fairways are easier to hit, obviously, because they are soft,” said Xander Schauffele, who shot a five-under 67 on Thursday. “And then the greens are kind of tricky. A good number are going right at the pin. It’s pretty hard to short-side yourself, even out here at Augusta, which is kind of strange to say.
“So a lot of it felt wrong, in all honesty.”
Yeah, that was my reaction, as well. Balls were starting on lines that experienced Masters viewers instinctively gasp at, only to stick where they landed. Some things are just wrong...
(File this under weird-but-true: Augusta National had long, wet rough. Stu Francis, the USGA president, was walking through the long, wet rough on Thursday as he followed the Woods group. If you call the rough here the “first cut” you must be the proud owner of a club dictionary. Woods calls it the rough. He calls his green jacket a coat. He calls the pitcher’s mound at Dodger stadium “the bump.” If you follow his lead on these matters, it will serve you well. Really, if Augusta National is going to go down this we-actually-have-rough road, they should probably give the players a “courtesy cut,” a pretentious term of the biz to describe the narrow path of short grass that takes a player through the rough from tee to fairway.)
Fred Ridley has been talking a good game about core Mackenzie-Jones design tenets, but long rough and tree-lined holes are about as far from that lofty goal as one can retreat. Geoff had these thoughts:
Given the time of year, Augusta National was never going to be agronomically perfect for the rescheduled Masters. So we’ll gladly look past the thin rye grass and the weak tee turf given the tricky window for laying down rye seed and uncertainty this event would be played.
But in the grand scheme, the clunky rough (a.k.a. second cut) grown is obviously higher this year and no matter the height, contradicts the well-stated philosophy of Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie, the tall stuff looks so shallow and unnecessary on a masterfully-designed course highlighted by width and certainly never embellished by artificial tall grass.
The rough looks curb-like while giving off a grow-in look that is unbecoming of a masterpiece.
It was as strange, and about as good, as any round Tiger Woods has played in any major championship.
You can shoot a first-round 68 on mechanics alone, but Tiger didn’t, even though his mechanics, for the first time all year, were excellent.
Yes, of course: Mechanics were the starting point, as they always are, for every golfer in every round. Woods, like the other 91 contestants, was playing a long, soft golf course, and he played it conventionally. He drove, for the most part, long-enough and in play. He hit irons pin-high and watched them come to a screeching halt on the mushy-for-a-day Augusta National greens. He putted solidly on a day you could putt boldly. He played few shots, approach or greenside, out of the long, wet rough.
That first sentence is nonsense on stilts, as we've seen the man run away from the field more than once in majors. I'm unsure what purpose is served by Mike's hyperbole...
Mind you, it was plenty good. He looked very much under control, and I even liked the way he was walking as compared to Winged Foot and the ZoZo. Bob Harig had this take:
But Thursday brought him back to familiar ground, and perhaps he willed himself to a good scorewithout the supporters who typically carry him. Sure, his buddy Peyton Manning was there. So was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. As Augusta National members, they were among the few allowed to attend.
Woods went the entire round without a bogey, a first for him on opening day at the Masters and the first time in any major round since the 2009 PGA Championship -- a span of 105 rounds.
I'm always a little cynical about golf courses and events bringing players out of their funks, just ask Mr. Spieth about his Thursday. But it may be the warmth as much as anything, but he still needs that back to cooperate for three more days, including a long Saturday.
The bogey-free aspect to the round might be the most interesting bit, as he hasn't done that in quite a bit. I though he left a few out there with his putter, over-playing the break frequently. But having him in the mix certainly tees up the weekend for us all.
Kraken, Released - I actually think it was a very useful day for the beat, but let's see how folks are reacting. First, this idea of breaking Augusta National is a bit silly, not that Bryson himself hasn't embraced it:
We got our first look at Bryson DeChambeau’s ‘break the course’ game plan. Did it work?
There was a singular question on everybody’s minds this week, and at times, it felt as though it would consume the tournament itself: Will Bryson DeChambeau break Augusta National?
Augusta National is the primary point of reference for so many golf fans, because it’s one of the few courses that fans know every inch of. Golfers know what it means to take the Bubba line on 13. They know how difficult the chip is from long of the 15th green. And where the Sunday pin is on 16.
The idea that one golfer could prompt a revolution that could eventually lead to the demise of the most iconic course in the country was a sad and terrifying prospect for golf fans.
That's because this isn't about just the one golfer. he's just the latest, with more guaranteed to follow...
Luke (Kerr-Dineen) goes through Bryson's day, where Beast Mode worked and where it didn't. Here's a prime example of the former:
3. Carry fairway bunkers on the 5th hole
Did it work?
Unequivocally, yes.
Bryson hammered his driver 347 yards on his intended line, over both the bunkers that supposedly are the hole’s primary defense. He didn’t hit the best second shot, but he almost holed his bunker shot. Speaking to GOLF.com after his round, Bryson said this was the best drive of the day.
“My drive on 5th was pretty diabolical,” he said. “Best shot of the day, no doubt.”
All I remember is that the announcers were speculating as to whether he could carry those bunkers on the left, whereupon he did so by some 30-35 yards. Diabolical.
This account of his travails on No. 13 is worth your time if you didn't catch it, as it could have been far worse. Also worthy is this from Joel Beall:
Masters 2020: The Bryson Reckoning did not come to Augusta National. Or did it?
The way I look at it, Bryson could not have played much worse, yet shot 70. He showed an ability on Nos. 5 and 9 to overpower the place, which to me makes him extremely dangerous for this week, but especially for April.
I enjoyed Larry Mize's performance as much as the next guy, though this header is a bit overly euphoric:
How a 62-year-old is in the hunt at the 2020 Masters
I bring up the 1987 Champions just to share this amusing bit from Shack:
The 1987 champion has made three made cuts in the last six years and opened strong again with a 2-under 70. Given the talk of Bryson DeChambeau’s aggressive approach to the course, the disparity in driving distances could not be ignored. After round one DeChambeau’s 334.6 had Mize’s 247.4 by 87 yards.
Heh! Ain't that just golf
Exit Strategy - The Tour Confidential panel is doing over-night one-query confabs, and this was their Thursday offering:
Thursday of this November Masters is in the books. Round one continues Friday, as storms delayed the start by about three hours. When play did begin, Paul Casey grabbed the lead with a 7-under 65, Tiger Woods tied his best-ever opening round at Augusta, a host of players went low, Bryson DeChambeau started high and finished low, and Sandy Lyle wore suspenders. What stands out to you as the biggest surprise of day one?
Sean Zak: Tiger Woods is the biggest surprise. Bogey free. Smooth. Calm. No worries. Sixty-eight after nine months of no-good competitive golf? That’s surprising.
Strange to say, but Tiger playing well is a legitimate surprise. What about Tiger defending?
Luke Kerr-Dineen: The relative lack of long hitters at the very top of the leaderboard. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not only short hitters occupying the top spots, but for the past few days, we were told a soggy Augusta National was going to be a bombers paradise. Instead, soft, receptive greens turned the course into a dart-throwers paradise. When Augusta National bakes, the firm greens mean the only way you can access the pins is to hit spinny wedge shots, which puts a premium on longer drives. With the course as soft as it was today, that wasn’t the case. 7-irons were sticking and stopping. That brought the Webb Simpsons, the Lee Westwoods and the Paul Caseys of the world into play, and marginalized the advantages of some of the longer hitters.
We've seen this movie before, with guys like Zach, Weir and Charl.
Alan Bastable: Luke, how dare you leave Larry Mize off that list! What a day for the 62-year-old who hits his driver as long as most guys in the field hit their 2-irons — a two-under 70! Will he stick around and stay in the mix over the weekend? Surely not. But for one glorious day, Mize made six birdies and posted the same score as, yep, big, bad Bryson DeChambeau. Ain’t golf great?
Yes, Mize is a surprise, whereas we expect it from Bernhard...
Josh Sens: The biggest surprise is that there was no huge surprise. The soft conditions? We’ve seen short hitters shine in those before (Mike Weir/Zach Johnson). Woods playing well at Augusta? Even with his scruffy play of late, that’s not so unexpected, given his history here. Look at the top of the leaderboard. It’s stocked with players who have great track records at Augusta, along with a few who have simply had standout seasons so far. Oftentimes, we see an outlier shoot a torrid first round. I might say that having a 63-year old at three-under is a shocker, but since it’s Bernhard Langer, no stunner there either.
Michael Bamberger: This is absurdly selfish to say but has the advantage of being true: The biggest surprise of the day was the astounding joy a person could get by walking the course and watching the golf when there were more caddies and players than spectators. Sorry.
Don't gloat, Mike, it's unbecoming.
Alan Shipnuck: The biggest surprise was that it still felt like the Masters. Even without fans and flowers (and Sergio), Augusta National remains the game’s grandest stage, and it put on a heckuva show.
Only that Newberry guy thought it otherwise. the rest of us are happy to have it...
Nick Piastowski: I totally agree with all of the above, and I’ll add another to the mix just for discussion. I was surprised at how much I missed seeing the patrons. No fans is not new this year. But the atmosphere at Augusta just seemed really odd. Cold. Even though it was warm. They’re as big a part of this thing as the players and the green jackets, and Thursday confirmed that.
Fingers crossed for April.
I'll leave you there. I have no plans to tee it this weekend, so there's a chance of weekend blogging. no promises, but might be worth your while to check in.
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