All calm on LIV Golf front but Masters bracing for storm
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The weekend will see heavy rain on Saturday with more showers and cool conditions forecast for Sunday’s final round.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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AUGUSTA – Dark clouds are gathering at Augusta National and it has nothing to do with the LIV Golf and PGA Tour feud, as wild weather rolls in threatening to wreak havoc at the Masters, where play got under way on Thursday.
The dispute between the established PGA Tour and the Saudi-bankrolled LIV was expected to be the storm enveloping the year’s first Major, but all was calm on that front, turning over the spotlight to Mother Nature.
Golfers will deal with humid, hot conditions that will see temperatures nudge towards 32 deg C during Thursday’s opening round while rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Friday.
The weekend will see temperatures plunge to below 10 deg C and heavy rain on Saturday, with more showers and cool conditions forecast for Sunday’s final round.
“With the weather coming in, nobody knows what’s going to happen,” said Bubba Watson, a twice Masters champion and one of 18 LIV Golf members in the 88-player field.
The forecast is certainly not good news for Tiger Woods
Woods astonished the sporting world when he returned to competitive golf at the Masters in 2022, making the cut and grinding his way through four rounds.
The five-time Masters champion’s leg will be put to the test again on an Augusta National layout he knows better than anyone.
It is rated one of the more taxing walks in golf and will be more difficult in the challenging conditions.
Asked if he had seen the forecast, Woods was brief.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve seen it,” said the 15-time Major winner.
The volatile forecast is going to add another element of unpredictability to a Masters already packed with potential drama.
There are questions over what to expect from the LIV contingent with the circuit having staged only three events in 2023, leaving concerns about competitive rust that will be amplified by the stormy weather.
Rain or shine, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler
In 2022, Scheffler came to Augusta as the hottest player on the planet and returns in top form with two wins already this season, including the Players Championship.
He is looking to become only the fourth player to retain a Masters title.
Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the third tee during a practice round prior to the 2023 Masters Tournament on April 5.
PHOTO: AFP
No player has won the Masters in consecutive years since Woods accomplished the feat in 2001-02.
Before that, only Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) had pulled off the Augusta double.
Once again, one of the main storylines will be McIlroy, who for the ninth time comes to Augusta National bidding to complete the career Grand Slam by winning golf’s four Major championships.
For McIlroy, who used a late surge to finish runner-up at the 2022 Masters – three shots behind Scheffler – a win would put him in elite company with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Nicklaus, Gary Player and Woods as the only players to capture all four Majors.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s Sandy Lyle insists he will not get emotional when he takes his final bow at the scene of his greatest triumph when he plays his final Masters.
The 65-year-old, who enjoyed a famous victory in 1988, is retiring from the Champions Tour and has also said this will be the last time he takes advantage of his lifetime qualification for the Masters.
“It’s not a hard decision. I’m not going to get that emotional about it,” Lyle said on Wednesday, after taking part in the traditional Par-3 Contest.
“It will be probably the last hole or so thinking, ‘Thank God I don’t have to go out here (any more)’.
“This is a beast of a golf course and the young ones hit it so much further than me.”
REUTERS, AFP
