AUGUSTA, Ga. — Watch out.
Things look like they’re going to get tricky at this Masters, thanks to the perfect weather.
There’s a sentiment among the players that Augusta National conditions might be a handful by the time the weekend arrives. For the first time in years, there will be no rain during Masters week, which allows the course to firm up and play hard and fast.
The forecast the rest of the week is temperatures in the 80s with abundant sunshine.
“I think this could be the toughest Masters we’ve played in a while,’’ Shane Lowry said after shooting 71 Thursday to trail first-round leaders Rory McIlory and Sam Burns by four shots. “You look at the forecast. They can do whatever they want with the golf course this weekend.
“Over the last few years, we’ve had a day every year where it’s been raining or it’s been heavy rains. It’s kind of helped us a little bit, but I think before the week is out, it’s going to get very, very crusty around here.’’
Justin Rose joked that “you might get a yellow jacket if you win,’’ referring to the possible Sunday color of the greens.
Patrick Reed said the course “definitely has the teeth in it to make it really, really tough.’’
“The greens are already getting firm, crusty, and bouncy,’’ he went on. “I actually broke one tee on the (17th) hole trying to fix a ball mark. You already know it’s going to get crusty. You know it’s going to get fast, and it’s going to take a lot of patience.
“With what the weather looks like it’s going to be — really hot, sunny — they could make this place really, really hard if they wanted to. I wouldn’t be surprised. We have the best players in the world here. Why not? Challenge us and make it difficult.’’
Ryan Gerard, whose father, Robert, is from Oyster Bay on Long Island, shot an even-par 72 in his debut Masters round.
When asked to grade his day, he delivered the line of the day when he said, “I give the front nine (3-over par) an ‘F’ [and] I would probably give the back nine an ‘A.’ Overall, a ‘C,’ which would get a [college] degree in some places.’’
Fred Couples, the oldest player in the field at 66, was 2-under par through 14 holes, looking ageless. And then, 15, 16 and 17 happened.
Couples took a quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 15th and then doubled 16 and 17 to tumble to 6-over par and finish with a 78. He played the last four holes in 8-over par.
Bryson DeChambeau entered the week as one of the tournament favorites, having won his last two starts on LIV Golf. But a disastrous back nine may have foiled his chances of winning a first green jacket after he posted a 4-over-par 76.
His round imploded when he took a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 11th hole after he’d made the turn in even par. It took him three shots out of a greenside bunker to extricate himself.
“The bunker was softer than I anticipated,’’ he said afterward.
DeChambeau wasn’t the only LIV player to struggle Thursday. In fact, all 10 of the LIV Golf players in the field this week combined for a cumulative 32-over par with not a single one of them under par.
Sergio Garcia is even par and the rest are over par.
Jon Rahm, a past champion, struggled to a 6-over-par 78, second worst among the LIV players after only Carlos Ortiz’s 80.
Collin Morikawa has been on pins and needles all week, wondering whether his balky back was going to hold up. He practiced sparingly all week, not wanting to push it. Since he withdrew from the Players Championship when a practice swing wrenched his back, Morikawa hasn’t been able to practice at full speed.
He opened with a 2-over-par 74 and called it “probably the toughest round I’ve ever played.’’
“I’m just fighting,’’ he said. “Like, it’s a battle. It all started when I woke up. I’ve never felt this nervous, like, in my life. I think it’s a trust factor. When it happened out on the course at the Players, you know, there’s a certain doubt factor of, like, is this going to happen (or) is this not?
“I’ve been hitting balls for the past week and a half, but not comfortably. When I teed it up on Tuesday I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make contact.’’
Brandon Holtz, a 39-year-old real estate broker from Illinois, shot a 9-over-par 81 in his opening round.
“It was tough,’’ the U.S. Mid-Am winner said. “Definitely not what I wanted to do on the golf course today, but I had a lot of fun. I’ve kind of already won. I’m 39, chasing a dream and here we are. But at the same time, I’m not happy with how I played, you know. But we got tomorrow so let’s see what happens.’’
This year is the 40th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus’ sixth and final Masters victory, at age 46. It remains one of the most memorable in the 90-year history of the tournament.
“I don’t know whether it changed my life, but it was a nice way to finish a career,’’ Nicklaus said Thursday. “It looked like I was pretty much done with playing golf when I won the U.S. Open and PGA in 1980, and I really wasn’t, you might say, expecting to win anymore.
“All of a sudden, I found a little lightning in the bottle, and it was kind of fun to find that.’’
Nicklaus called that ’86 victory his “No. 1’’ favorite Masters memory.
“I love them all, but obviously ’86 was the one that I wasn’t expected to win,’’ he said. “I was over the hill and the whole routine, and I won. So that was very special. It happened to be the most special to me, absolutely.’’