Weather on players’ minds at Masters Tournament

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Bad. Cold. Horrific.

These are some of the words that players used to describe the weekend weather forecast for the 87th Masters Tournament. As for the golf, four-time major winner Brooks Koepka (67, 12 under) sprinted into the lead before the weather twice halted play.

Jon Rahm was 2 under halfway through his second round, 9 under overall, and three off the lead, while amateur Sam Bennett shot his second straight 68 to reach 8 under, four behind.

But it was the inclement weather, which caused a brief suspension of play at 3:07 p.m., and again drove players off the course as the trees fell at 4:22, that was most on players’ minds. As wild as Friday afternoon was, players were abuzz over the forecast for Saturday: 100% chance of rain.

“The forecast looks horrific, so whether we play, whether we’re delayed, I don’t know,” said Masters first-timer Ryan Fox (71, 3 under). “I’m just happy to be there.”

Added Collin Morikawa (69, 6 under): “I think with the weather and everything, you’re going to have to really stay patient, and I’m going to have to go out and make some birdies.”

Even as the tournament began with its ominous weather forecast there were remnants of recent storms. The course took rain last weekend, affecting the Augusta National Women’s Amateur but also the Masters. Several players, even Koepka, have been caught leaving putts short.

“Somewhat this week, experience hasn’t paid off that much because there’s been so many putts that you remember being so much quicker than they actually are right now,” said 11-time PGA TOUR winner and 2018 FedExCup champion Justin Rose (71, 4 under). “I’ve left so many putts short this week, which is frustrating. I know I’m not alone. My whole group was the same.”

Bennett, the amateur from Texas A&M, said the surprisingly slow speed of the greens came up in mid-round conversations with defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler (75, 1 under).

“It’s already pretty slow and soft out there,” Bennett said. “I mean, Scottie was saying the greens were significantly slower than they have been in the past. … I played a college tournament down in Florida last week and they were significantly faster than they are here. It’s a soft golf course. The weather’s getting cold. It’s going to be a challenge no matter what.”

Indeed, the question of who thrives in poor conditions is likely to rise to the top of the list of factors this weekend, right beside who plays Augusta best. Rose, who has two runner-up finishes at the Masters (2015 and ’17), knows about cold and/or rainy conditions, having grown up in the U.K. and winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in chilly Monterey earlier this season.

“I played a lot of golf in 50-, 60-degree weather early in the season,” he said. “We’re going to be going back to those yardages and those numbers, and the wind just hits the ball a little bit differently when it’s cold. So, factoring that stuff in.

“Yeah, remembering a little bit of the West Coast is going to help actually,” he added.

Jordan Spieth (70, 5 under, seven back), another former AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner who also won the 2017 Open Championship, said wild weather can lead to wild lead changes.

“The benefit we have, those of us chasing, is that it’s going to be incredibly difficult conditions, so that makes it hard on all of us,” he said. “It means a few under (par) goes a long way. It’s going to be the opposite direction of wind, and then tomorrow, if we’re playing, it’s going to be playing in rain and wind, so the ball is going to go significantly shorter.

“You’re going to get tee balls that just – you get water balls,” he continued. “You’re just going to have to manage a lot. In some cases, you could argue that’s a good thing to have a big lead, but in other cases you could argue if he kind of falters a little and you kind of are able to shoot an under-par round somehow, you could make up a lot of strokes easily.”

Added Jason Day (72, 5 under): “Yeah, who knows what happens over the next few days. I’m not even trying to look at where – obviously I know where Brooks is, but you never know how the weather pans out and then you could find something over the next couple days.”