Soggy Masters on tap as unique major season wraps up
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[November 12, 2020]
By Andrew Both
AUGUSTA, Ga. (Reuters) - Players applying late finishing touches to
their Masters preparations were forced to cut things short when
thunderstorms rolled in on Wednesday afternoon, setting the stage
for a soggy start to a tournament 19 long months in the making.
A handful of players were still on the course at 3 p.m. local time
when the siren wailed to signal dangerous approaching weather, among
them Matt Kuchar, who casually strolled up the 18th hole in the
company of a couple of friends.
A dire forecast for heavy rain overnight and into Thursday morning
suggests Augusta National's vaunted drainage system will be fully
tested.
Bryson DeChambeau remains a warm favourite to add to his recent U.S.
Open victory, though his odds are nothing like a short-priced Tiger
Woods in his heyday.
DeChambeau, who has spoken about perhaps using a 48-inch shaft
driver, the maximum allowed, was spotted on the range earlier on
Wednesday tinkering with a more standard 45-inch one.
Whether he puts the longer one into play this week might be of
interest only to golf equipment junkies, but it has the potential to
change the modern game.
The longer the club the faster it can be swung, and the further it
can be hit, though the trade-off in loss of accuracy has to date
discouraged anyone from wielding the 48-inch weapon competitively.
Whatever driver DeChambeau chooses, however, he will need a deft
touch around and on the greens at a course where experience counts
for much.
Others with legitimate hopes of slipping into a Green Jacket include
fellow Americans Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, Spaniard Jon Rahm
and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.
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Northern Ireland's Rory
McIlroy, Webb Simpson of the U.S. and Dustin Johnson of the U.S.
walk up the 3rd during a practice round REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Defending champion Woods, meanwhile, finds himself in the
unaccustomed position of being almost an afterthought, a longshot
based on his recent mediocre form.
Nineteen long months after ending a decade-long drought to claim a
15th major title, the 44-year-old Woods is at an age where great
performances are still possible but consistent excellence harder to
attain.
That the Masters is even being played will be a welcome sight for
golf fans around the world.
Usually held in early spring, it was the first major championship
this year to be postponed as the coronavirus swept across the United
States.
The PGA Championship was subsequently pushed back from May until
August, the U.S. Open from June until September, and the British
Open cancelled altogether.
The Masters, as with the majors preceding it, will be played without
spectators, but a global television audience will lap it up, even if
the pink azaleas and white dogwoods that usually provide a colourful
backdrop are missing.
But a Green Jacket is still on offer, and at the end of a disrupted
season there could hardly be anything more fitting.
(Reporting by Andrew Both, editing by Ed Osmond)
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