Waterlogged and Rain-Soaked, a Soft Course Awaits the 86th Masters

For a second straight day, rain halted activity early at Augusta National. The field will find a course ripe for scoring on Thursday, barring more showers.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Nick Faldo hit the perfect shot.

Well, at least it looked perfect, cutting through the muggy Georgia air, heading directly for the front hole location and then thudding just in front of the cup of the 117-yard par-3 ninth. On a normal day, the ball would have taken an extra hop or two, spun back and given the 64-year-old a short tap-in for birdie.

Not today.

Faldo’s ball plugged on the edge of the soft green, spun off the slope and trickled into Ike’s Pond. The patrons gasped. On the tee, the three-time Masters champion hunched over and grimaced, his chances of winning the Par 3 Contest gone.

Blasted!

A day ahead of the Masters opening round, Augusta National was a water-logged, rain-soaked, green sponge, ripe for low scores — if your wedge shots fly well beyond the flagstick, unlike Sir Nick’s. If Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest showed us anything, it’s that, for one, the roars are back at Augusta National after a two-year hiatus and, secondly, that this place is soft and slushy (not sloppy, because this is the Masters and nothing here is sloppy — they do not allow sloppy).

Torrential rains Tuesday inundated the course. The conditions aren’t getting any drier, either. It rained again Wednesday morning and then once again Wednesday afternoon. More rain was expected into the evening Wednesday, and there was a 40% chance for more showers Thursday morning.

It’s damp here. Approach shots created muddy dimples on the faces of the spectacularly mowed greens. Divots were carved in bunches, so much so that one Masters staff member collected them in a giant bucket. The greens, normally slippery and slick, were slow enough that many players left putts short.

In fact, one of the first threesomes off at the Par 3 Contest — Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Lucas Herbert — all left birdie putts short on the first hole.

Yes, it’s a wet one here. But not wet enough for patrons to witness any standing water. The Masters and its impeccable drainage system doesn’t allow such a thing. But there was kitty litter. At least it looks like kitty litter. The green-colored pebble mixture is poured on muddy or slippery areas as a cosmetic fix to the meticulously manicured turf.

Despite the saturated course, players weren’t complaining about conditions. In fact, Padraig Harrington called the course “great” and said as the day wore on Wednesday, the sun peeked out and the layout started to firm up. But then more rain pounded the area in the late afternoon. In fact, the oncoming storms suspended play in the Par-3 Contest and closed the course permanently before 4 p.m. — a second consecutive day for closures.

For at least three hours Wednesday, the patrons here got a show at the Par 3 Contest. And, yes, the roars returned for the first time since the pandemic began. Spectators were prohibited from attending the 2020 tournament, and only a limited number of patrons were on hand for Hideki Matsuyama’s win a year ago.

On Wednesday, thousands encircled the nine holes of the par-3 course. They saw an ace from Jason Kokrak and a near-ace from spry 86-year-old Gary Player. They saw children, too, lots of them, running about in the Masters white caddie uniforms, some taking spills on the green slopes and others tapping in 2-foot putts for dad.

There were two notable absentees during the shenanigans: Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, a pair that combine for 33 major championship titles, including 11 green jackets.

Oh, well, we’ll all get to see them Thursday, when Nicklaus, Player and Tom Watson smack their ceremonial opening tee shots, and Woods tees it up 14 months after a car accident left many wondering if he’d ever play again.

For Woods and others, the soft course is prime for scoring, if you take a cue from Faldo. Throw your darts well past the hole.

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