Tuesday At The 89th Masters
Press conferences, Before and After views since last year's tournament, plus an overabundance of Quotables, This, That and a solid weather forecast after a stunning day in Augusta.
By The Numbers
69: High temperature under sunny skies
8: Press Conferences
1: Tracksuit jacket worn by a player
1: Set of twin brothers taking part in a joint press session
1: Discussion of UFO’s
Masters-style normalcy returned to the grounds Tuesday. Bright skies, idyllic temperatures, the Azaleas were flowing under the umbrellas, and players predicting the greens will speed up. In other words, traditions that matter and set us for a sensational four days of tournament golf.
There is some unfortunate news on the flora and fauna front: Monday’s 1.25 inches of rain were not kind to the blooming azaleas. But there should be enough splashes of color to get the spring juices flowing. The golf course was also surprisingly wet early Tuesday but my evening stroll under the watchful eye of those guards formerly known as Pinkertons, the property had dried beautifully. The turf conditions remain incredibly good even by Augusta National’s absurdly high standards. And in one more tradition unlike any other, players suggested the greens were surprisingly slow but they expect a rapid increase in speed by Thursday’s opening round. The normalcy of it
Speaking of the opening day festivities, the tournament will begin earlier than ever Thursday. In announcing groupings for rounds one and two, the Lords are now sending the first group out at 7:40 a.m., normally the time when the Honorary Starters kick things off before the first tournament contestants go at 8 a.m. Tee time intervals have also been reduced from 12 minutes to 11.
Presumably, the Lords have noticed that today’s Aimpointing athletes are incapable of getting around the place fast enough to ensure a finish in sunlight. And we know it’s not all their fault given all the time spent walking back to tees and awarding invitations to winners of fall Korn Ferry Tour PGA Tour events. Either way, let’s hope Mssrs. Nicklaus, Watson and Player packed extra handwarmers for the 7:25 a.m. start when temps will be in the high 40s.
Notable Thursday/Friday groupings:
9:47 a.m./1:01 p.m.: Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann, Min Woo Lee
10:15 a.m./1:23 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Jose Luis Ballester (A)
10:26 a.m./1:34 p.m.: Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, Tyrrell Hatton
11:34 p.m./10:26 a.m.: Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood
1:12 p.m./9:58 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg, Akshay Bhatia
1:23 p.m./10:15 a.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry
Meanwhile, as The Quad hit the presses, a Champions Dinner group photo surfaced. I’ll reserve comment on the grizzled guy in the middle or that ginormous noggin in the back row and instead just share the photo. The 2025 gathering:
Before And After
As noted yesterday, there are new vistas with an airy sensibility not seen since the Hootie Johnson tree program we don’t need to talk about for the purposes of assessing the 2025 Masters.
The most newsworthy change seems to be at the 10th tee. Despite what you might see below—where the differences seem minor—the reduction in pine tree density might encourage players to skirt tee shots closer to the pines. Since nearly all of today’s teams pro golfers hit a left-to-right shot, this is meaningful in shortening the 10th. But let’s see if they can pull such a trigger when scores count.
For those who can turn the ball right-to-left, a few top players have said the thinning next to the tee could encourage a more aggressive play. There is certainly no option to play a cut over the cabins (see Jon Rahm in Quotables).
The 11th green saw a few surrounding trees come out of Helene a bit bruised, but the loss of the three trees behind the green stands out. May the tree Gods have mercy on my soul, but it looks better without them. Unfortunately, the TV tower stands out more now.
Two of three trees to the rear of the 15th green are gone, leaving a lone pine that blends in fine. But losing the two to its left gives the green an even more exposed sensibility. As if it wasn’t terrifying enough.