Fansided

5 biggest questions heading into the Masters

By David Salituro

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 09: Tiger Woods of the United States and Justin Thomas of the United States walk during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 09, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 09: Tiger Woods of the United States and Justin Thomas of the United States walk during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 09, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images /

4. How will Augusta National play in the fall?

For more than 80 years, the Masters has been the unofficial start of spring. Not this year in what is the most unique tournament ever held at Augusta National.

Year after year of driving down Magnolia Lane in early April and playing on the lush ryegrass at Augusta National have made Masters veterans comfortable that they know the place inside and out. But in 2020, they’ll have to adapt to conditions they’ve never encountered at the Masters.

The hot summer allowed Bermuda grass to grow through the over-seeded ryegrass. The difference is minimal, but for players who’ve grown accustomed to playing the same shots from the same spots every year at Augusta National, it will take some getting used to, especially around the greens.

“I can see just a little bit that the grass is in some ways a little more forgiving potentially,” Adam Scott, 2013 champion making his 19th straight Masters appearance, said on Monday. “It’s a very fine grass when it’s just pure overseed in April and at times on particular shots when it is quite thin and fine like that it demands a lot of precision.

“But, you know, I’ve also heard guys say that it is quite different on the course with the little bit of the Bermuda still around because it is quite warm, you know, you have to play some shots around the greens in a different fashion. So I’ve got lots to learn in the next three days if that’s the case.”

The course in the fall is soft, much more so than in the spring. And with rain forecast all week, it can potentially get even softer, making the course more forgiving. That would be welcome to the game’s best ball-strikers.

But the biggest difference viewers watching at home will notice is the lack of fans. There won’t be the traditional back-nine roars on Sunday, the patron-lined fairways, or the throng following the leader up the 18th fairway. In many ways the tournament is still the same: it is still the same Augusta National people have come to know and love. The trees are still green with a touch of autumn brown. The pine straw still surrounds the fairways.

The 2020 Masters will have a different feel. But when the winner slips on the Green Jacket on Sunday, what is different about it will all fall away and the golf world will feel for one moment a sense that all is back to normal.

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