I wonder what Mickelson will be shooting round there when he's 70 odd. Didn't he say last year before the tournament or during it that if he won it he'd playing every year until he died.
I think the greens are a good thing, granted they are a bit too fast but some people have been at Augusta for over a week now since missing the Bellsouth Classic, they must have had some experience on those greens before yesterday.
I'd rather see a winning score of -1 than -21, the courses seem to get ripped apart on the US Tour with the technology and if putting super-fast greens adds another test to the course, so be it. These guys can earn like $1,000,000 for a weeks work, I think we're entitled to think they can putt on greens faster than the normal, these are the elite players on the tour at the moment.
Puttings just another part of the game, the TPC at Sawgrass had rough hadn't been cut for a week I heard? That's just adding more difficulty to the course, intended or not.
This weeks looks like a premium on hitting your ball close to the hole, which could lead to people laying up on the Par 5 (Knowing Tiger, he'll just go at the pin with a 3 Iron from 250 ) It's the same conditions for all, it's just a matter of who can deal with them the best.
I've only gotten to see about 30 minutes of the rebroadcast and I think it's time to turn it off. How about we get some clown heads or windmills and put them on those greens? First Tiger putts into the creek on 13 and then I see Toms' ball just roll off the front of the green on 14 when it was sitting there. This is not golf, it's a complete and utter joke. This tournament may turn out to be exciting and great golf, but it will certainly not be due to the joke of a course they're playing. What's next, replacing the putting surfaces with astroturf so they can get them rolling faster? Who ever said Augusta didn't resort to tricking the course up?
Toms' ball was sitting right on the edge of serious slope that ran off the front of the green. As fast as the greens are at Augusta (every year) it only took a bit of wind, and it was blowing yesterday, and a bit of bad luck to roll him off the green. Unlucky? Yes. Tricked-up? Nope.
It's not like Shinnecock last year. There is no 'US Open Style' rough and the greens are actually green, not brown.
As for the greens today.....I say cool! This ain't a run of the mill tour stop and these ain't run of the mill greens. Any 10 year old who watches golf knows that Augusta's greens are going to be the toughest, if not the fastest, greens the players will see all year. Couple that with the fact these pros have been playing slow, rainsoaked, greens the last few weeks and you're going to see some train wrecks like we saw today. These guys are pros and they'll have the greens dialed in by the weekend. Those that don't won't be around to worry about it anyway.
I'll have to agree with league on this one. I haven't seen anything new with respect to Augusta's green speeds or pin locations that I haven't noticed in past years. This sort of thing is the only defense Augusta has ever had to stop the Masters from turning into a run-of-the-mill birdie fest. IMO, the weekend or at least the traditional Sunday pin placements usually allow for many birdie opportunities for those who can get the putter going.
Other than the greens, this golf course is not that difficult. If it wasn't for the extreme undulations on the greens and the high stimp speed, this would be another Disney -30 winning score. But unlike the USGA, Augusta doesn't have to kill their greens to get that kind of speed out of them.
The greens are what makes Augusta...well Augusta. What is incredible is that Augusta can host the Major of all Majors with fast greens and the USGA hosed up the US Open's greens last year bad. You would figure the USGA with all it scientest counting dimples on golf balls could take a few lessons from the boys with the green jackets on how to run a Major with fast greens.
The greens are what makes Augusta...well Augusta. What is incredible is that Augusta can host the Major of all Majors with fast greens and the USGA hosed up the US Open's greens last year bad. You would figure the USGA with all it scientest counting dimples on golf balls could take a few lessons from the boys with the green jackets on how to run a Major with fast greens.
Well the guys at Augusta know their course. I'm sure if the US Open were held at Shinnecock every year the USGA would get a handle on the greens there too.
Saw on TGC this morning about how there are huge vaccuums underneath the greens to extract the water. This is why the greens played fast, even with all the rain.
Not to mention the fact that the US Open is played in June, its usually 90 degrees, and if the greens are not watered, of course they are going to turn brown.
How about we get some clown heads or windmills and put them on those greens? First Tiger putts into the creek on 13 and then I see Toms' ball just roll off the front of the green on 14 when it was sitting there. This is not golf, it's a complete and utter joke. This tournament may turn out to be exciting and great golf, but it will certainly not be due to the joke of a course they're playing. What's next, replacing the putting surfaces with astroturf so they can get them rolling faster? Who ever said Augusta didn't resort to tricking the course up?
Kind of disappointing to read such a statement from a long-time golf follower, Stl.
It's very critical to remember that pin placements play a huge role in major championship golf. Even more so at The Masters.
The 14th green at Augusta features a very pronounced "false front," which was built into that green complex as a deceptive defense. A pin placement right at the crest of that false front warns players to play past it; to go into the heart of the green or risk an unfortunate situation.
Toms' ball came to rest exactly at the crest of that false front...in a very precarious position. And a gust of wind sent his ball right down the false front. Mistake, or mishit, by David Toms.
As for Tiger's putt on #13: Did you see how far over to the left, and down, that pin location was? Tiger simply used the wrong line and stroked his putt way too hard for that pin location.
Augusta's greens are perfect. This is the way major championship golf should be played. These guys must learn to be more careful and respect par.
I can't wait to read the complaints after folks get a look at Pinehurst's greens this June. Talk about complaining. We'll hear it then.
You would figure the USGA with all it scientest counting dimples on golf balls could take a few lessons from the boys with the green jackets on how to run a Major with fast greens.
There is a huge difference between April and June or July. Not even close. It is infinitely more difficult to get these things right when the temperatures are over 85 and the humidity is about the same. It's nearly impossible. The USGA actually does a heck of a job.
Yeah right. They really did a heck of job last year didn't they? USGA brass admitted that they misread the weather conditions and let several greens get away from them. BTW.....That wasn't the first time.
April 8th, 2005, 01:55 AM
) It's the same conditions for all, it's just a matter of who can deal with them the best.
They really did a heck of job last year didn't they? USGA brass admitted that they misread the weather conditions and let several greens get away from them. BTW.....That wasn't the first time. 
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