On an otherwise dark, damp Wednesday at Augusta National Golf Club, there was a bright side for Masters officials: the forecast offers wind on Thursday and Friday, but little in the way of wet weather for the remainder of the week.
With a soaking rain on Monday and Wednesday, Augusta National Golf Club won’t be playing quite as firm and fast as officials might have hoped when the tournament begins tonight. The change in conditions may prove particularly fateful for one player.
Dustin Johnson, the world’s No.1-ranked player and the favourite entering the week to win the green jacket, is questionable to compete in the Masters after suffering a freak back injury on Wednesday.
The field for the 81st Masters contains 94 players. But only one ponytail. So picking out Curtis Luck shouldn’t be a problem for anyone inclined to follow the 20-year-old West Australian.
A who’s who of golfers paraded through Augusta National’s new media centre on Masters Tuesday. There were laughs. There were interesting takes. There were great stories. And there were tears. OK, maybe not the last one.
Disregard the knee-jerk response to see when Tiger Woods is playing and there’s still much to digest with the release of the groupings the first two days at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods, who hasn’t played a competitive round since early February, announced overnight that he won’t compete in the 2017 Masters. Woods, who’s won the green jacket four times, made the announcement on his website.
Tiger Woods has yet to commit to next week’s Masters, which isn’t necessarily a surprise: he waited until 8 PM on the Friday before last year’s tournament to withdraw, which is saying something given he missed the entire season.