by Gary Williams | Apr 9, 2024 | Blog
Driving down to Augusta from Charlotte is a very civilized drive. Two hours and twenty minutes, all interstate on a Sunday morning was a great way to get my mind right for the week ahead. I departed from my regular car routine of talk radio to 70’s and 80’s music to get into a nostalgic state. Augusta is a time capsule when you are on the property from the prices to the absence of cell phones. For me, I am constantly reminded of so many past Masters, from first recollections, to first in person experience with Mom and Dad in 1991. Like so many cities, Augusta has grown and changed a great deal in the thirty-plus years I have been coming to the Masters. Burgeoning neighborhoods and commercial development have transformed Augusta from a sleepy mill town into a modest sized city. I was ready to begin the week.
Monday observations:
- My week started the way it always does with a walk of the second nine. Everyone has said that the golf course was in particularly good shape, and it is. Its currently firm and the uniformity of the rye overseed have put the course in very fit shape.
- Seeing Tiger Woods on the 15th hole at 10 AM on a Monday with full grandstands and crowds three deep on a Monday morning is simply the latest reminder that he’s still the hundred-year flood. It’s just different.
- I made a point of pausing in the crosswalk on the 7th hole to reacquaint myself with the narrowness of the fairway from the tee and the elevation of the green in relation to the fairway and greenside bunkers.
- The new concession and merchandise buildings to the right of the 8th hole and left of the 18th hole looks like it’s been there for a decade in the best way. Great location for all your needs including a new and large bathroom.
- I love the walk up to the original members range which is the open field between 18, 8, and 9. A fantastic open field that would also be spectacular for sledding in the event of a winter storm.
- Conducted several interviews with Xander Schauffele, Brian Harmon and Akshay Bhatia. All in great spirits and Schauffele was particularly chatty about the state of mind to think you can win. Record is so good in all the majors, and he is due.
- I had a fascinating conversation with Michael Breed about life expectancy.
- Talking to Annika Sorenstam with her new members green jacket on was a reminder of how things have changed since I started coming here.
- The Masters having eclipse glasses for everyone on the property was the latest reminder that they think of everything.
- Tomorrow is the monster press conference day and I’ll sit in on all of them.
by Gary Williams | Apr 8, 2024 | The Card
18 observations, thoughts and predictions for the week in golf…
- Tiger Woods being here and playing for his 24th straight Masters cuts made, eclipsing the mark he is currently shares with Gary Player and Fred Couples is enough to ask of someone who hasn’t completed an official event since February of 2023.
- The 40th anniversary of Ben Crenshaw’s 1984 Masters victory will be celebrated this week. It’s the most I’ll ever be invested in a golf tournament. I watched the Masters wearing my spikes in my parents’ family room. Yes, I most certainly did.
- Phil Mickelson is arguably the greatest “old” player ever. He is the oldest major winner and surprised many with his Sunday 65 and his 2nd place in 2023. I’m not feeling a great week for Phil but Augusta National is kind to its elders and Phil is the king of the surprise.
- Augusta National used to be even wider a golf course than it currently is with the second cut of rough and the cluster of tall pines that were planted after the turn of the century but there are still some wide corridors. Hole #11 measures 82 yards wide at its broadest point and yet it still annually ranks as one of the toughest holes on the course.
- Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 champion, is coming to the Masters with big momentum. Hideki is unafraid to streak and he’s streaking right now including his win at Riviera. He would be my second overall pick in the draft.
- For all the elevation change at Augusta National the most pronounced drop on any of the greens occurs on the 6th green. From back right to front right the elevation drops four and a half feet. The back right shelf hole location looks miniscule from the elevated tee.
- Rory McIlroy is trying to win a major for the first time since August of 2014 and complete the career grand slam. Of all the factors for why he hasn’t gotten it done at Augusta there are none more telling than his slow starts. He is on a current streak of five straight Masters Thursdays of 72 or worse and during that period he’s played the first round in eight over par. Winners at Augusta always get off to good starts. Only one player this century was outside the top 10 after the FIRST round. Tiger Woods in 2005 and 2019 is that guy.
- The 7th hole has undergone significant change over the years. It was once a bunkerless hole like the 14th, now it has the most bunkers of any hole around the green with five. The shallow green and subtle but severe tilt from back to front make the 7th a silently sinister hole.
- Jordan Spieth already has six top 4 finishes in the Masters in ten starts. His iron play this year will likely make many people shy away from betting the 2015 champion but there is no one currently in the Masters field who feels more liberated when he gets to Augusta than Spieth. I expect another top five.
- The 14th green is art. Ask the likes of Gil Hanse and Ben Crenshaw which green is awe inspiring and it’s the 14th. It’s the largest on the course at 9,880 square feet and has so much pronounced and subtle movement that you can spend all day studying it and I highly recommend doing just that if you’re attending the Masters.
- Jon Rahm has been very consistent about his schedule since turning pro and how many events he plays in advance of the first major. This year he comes to the defense of his Masters title playing only 15 competitive rounds compared to an average of 25 over the past five years. Will he have the sharpness required through the bag starting Thursday.
- The drop from the tenth tee to the bottom of the course at 11 green is widely discussed. The 59 feet climb from the 18th tee to the back of the 18th green is more subtle but very significant. The final climb after the long walk is arduous as is the necessity to account for the climb for your final full shot of the tournament.
- Wyndham Clark comes to Augusta as a first-time participant, but he also arrives as a major champion and arguably the second best player currently on the PGA Tour. While there hasn’t been a first-time winner since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 there have been outstanding debuts in the last decade from Jordan Spieth in 2014 and Sung Jae Im in 2020 who both finished 2nd.
- Brooks Koepka has two seconds at the Masters in 2019 and 2023. He is the best major champion of his generation and has clearly shown that form is immaterial when it comes to his chances in majors. A Masters win would add another player to the career grand slam pool. Rory is a Masters away, Spieth a PGA away and Mickelson a distant U.S. Open away. If Koepka wins the green jacket he would go to Royal Troon with the slam on the line and all the Open Championships going forward.
- The two holes that have remained unchanged from a yardage standpoint are holes 3 and 12. At 350 and 150 yards respectively the two holes are brilliantly designed. The 12th is a mental torture chamber, and the 3rd is so exacting with where you hit your second shot that they will never be compromised by the distance in the men’s game.
- 20 years ago, Phil Mickelson was 33 years old with 22 PGA Tour wins and NO majors. Its unimaginable what the discourse would be on social media if there was a player with that resume today. Phil managed to have a major championship window that was open for 18 years. From 2004 until May of 2021. It’s hard to imagine another player ever winning his first at 33 and his 6th at almost 51.
- The ceremonial tee shots this Wednesday that will include 74-year-old Tom Watson, the 84-year-old Jack Nicklaus and the 88-year-old Gary Player should be cherished.
- Daily Masters diaries will be coming every day this week. Stay tuned for thoughts and observations, plus run-ins with who knows who that I will be sharing and Masters cuisine sampling. I’m here to bring it all to the 5 Clubs family.
