Augusta National: No Damage From Sally Remnants, Overseed On Schedule

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While the rescheduled U.S. Open played out last week in New York, hurricane Sally made landfall and then hit Augusta, Georgia, home to the Masters this November.

A whopping 4-7 inches of rain in just under 12 hours and despite rumblings of possible, a club official says the course suffered no damage. The fall overseed of ryegrass remains on schedule.

The above photo posted September 24th to Eureka Earth’s Instagram account shows the course in a shaved down appearance with “50 days to the Masters 2020.”

In Augusta, the account also posted this image of the area behind Amen Corner. A new road has been installed on property purchased from Augusta Country Club and a distinct arc in the road provides room to length the par-5 13th hole to offset the impacts of Peloton and Whoop bands.

2020 Masters Final Round Will Need To Start Early To Make Way For A Dolphins-Jets Mid-Season Thriller

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CBS Sports President Sean McManus previewed the NFL season and Sunday, November 15th came up—aka rescheduled 2020 Masters week.

The final round sounds as if it’ll have a similar setup to the 2019 Masters when tee times were moved up to get play in before inclement weather. This time, however, the expedited start will be making room for a mash-up of mediocrity between 2019’s 5-11 Miami Dolphins against the 7-9 New York Jets.

What Clifford Roberts might have said to member/NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on that news? Maybe a passive-aggressive Heidi reference? Or a reminder that the Masters only happens once a year? Or…if you’d like to keep wearing that green jacket you’ll move this massive meeting of mediocrity?

Anyway, a 7:30-9 am or so setup, featuring threesomes off split tees, will be used again to accommodate the NFL on CBS based on the below Tweet and confirmation I received of the general window from CBS:

For those wondering, sunrise is expected at 6:59 am ET on November 15th and sunset is set for 5:24 pm ET.

Tiger: Fanless Masters Less Confined, Fewer Distractions

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Looking ahead to his 2020 Masters defense this November, Tiger Woods noted a couple of key elements that will be different.

Beyond the roars giving you an idea where another player stands, he also referenced the loss of basic distractions (backing off a shot due to a noise) and the lack of confinement. Presumably, as he said at the PGA, this favors players not used to everything that comes with playing on the biggest of stages. He’s not wrong.

From Ryan Lavner’s GolfChannel.com report:

“When you put 40,000 people on such a small piece of property – I know there’s no rough, but it gets confined,” he said. “But this will be very different. This will be a fun Masters, and I’m looking forward to defending.”

Some players have mentioned difficulties focusing without fans and plenty more are enjoying it. Pace of play has improved but the idea of being less confined is fascinating. For some players, having fairways lined by players might be a positive in helping to focus on the job at hand, and perhaps, for others not having the fan presence makes things trickier.

Anyway, it’s an oddity of 2020 that cannot be quantified.

After Strong 2020, Berger A Little Baffled At Lack Of Masters Invite

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When the Masters was postponed to November and the field frozen at 96, a Daniel Berger was bound to happen.

Ryan Lavner explains why the most consistent player this year before and after the pandemic is an obvious serious omission from the current Masters field. He’s now 18th in the world, 7th in the FedExCup standings and a winner at Colonial this year.

Augusta National said any players who win a Tour event this summer and during the fall portion of the 2020-21 season – or qualify through any of the other avenues such as high finishes in the majors – would earn an invitation to the 2021 event.

“I’m not sure what else I have to do at this point to get into Augusta,” he said. “I’m a little baffled that I haven’t had more opportunity to at least hear from some of the guys over there and have a chance, obviously. The field was set, but – I don’t know if I could say I deserve a spot, but I feel like I’m playing well enough to earn a spot into the Masters.”

With the November days already extremely short for a very decent-sized Masters field, adding invitations at this point seems logistically impossible.

So unless past champions past their prime to sit this one out to help get a player like Berger in, I can’t see a solution that allows the Masters to reverse course.

"It will be awesome to see Augusta National uncluttered."

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Picturing a Masters going forward without fans has been challenging. But now that November’s playing is going that route and we’ve seen how good courses have looked without clutter, I’m feeling better after this exchange in the Golf.com weekly roundtable.

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer (@AlanShipnuck): By then we’ll have had five months of tournament golf without fans, including two majors, so it’ll be old hat. But there is an intimacy at the Masters that will be missed — think about those fans right behind the green at 7, or the tee at 12, or 16, or the amphitheater around 18 green. But it will be awesome to see Augusta National uncluttered. The course is going to look so pure.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): I think it will be extremely strange, even with all the experience we’ll have had by then with fan-free events. With the possible exception of the Ryder Cup, roars help define the Masters more than any other tournament. The sounds are so familiar that longtime viewers can tell a birdie roar from an eagle roar. And we’re all familiar with the TV experience of hearing a roar during the broadcast, then waiting at the edge of our seats to see the highlight of what brought it on. So yeah, very weird. Unbelievably great that the tournament is happening. But it will still be strange.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer: It’s just so fitting that this golf year will end in this way, completely the opposite of what millions experienced last year. BUT it will surely be a memorable Masters and therefore a good TV show.

Is it too early to ask for some live drone shots too?

"Masters without fans delivers huge blow to Augusta economy"

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The Augusta Chronicle’s Damon Cline considers the economic impact of a fan-free Masters and some of the numbers are eye-opening.

The tournament historically could be counted on to fill up metro area hotel rooms – currently 7,200 – and rented homes, which exceed 4,000 listings. On the Georgia side of the market, which has the majority of rooms and short-term rentals, visitors pay “tournament-priced” room rates as well as a 6% lodging tax, $1 a night local fee and a $5 a night state fee.

Richmond County, for example, collects an average of $1.4 million in hotel-motel tax revenues from the month of April, which is about three times higher than the average month.

Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Sue Parr, who oversees the Masters Housing Bureau, the sole Augusta National-sanctioned home-rental service, said she believes homeowners and renters will work out arrangements for refunds or will hold reservations over for the 2021 tournament.

“All of the above are opportunities for the homeowner and the renter to find that win-win,” she said.

One are not addressed: how many are willing to rent their home out in these times?

A Tradition Without Any Others: Considering A Masters Minus Roars

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Jeremy Krinn on Twitter gets the credit for the take on Jim Nantz’s Masters motto above.

As for this new, hopefully short-lived tradition, ESPN.com’s Bob Harig reminds us how much Tiger Woods fed off of crowd support in winning the 2019 Masters.

"It was special to have that kind of support, that kind of backing,'' Woods said last fall. "I was going up against the best players in the world. I was trying to come from behind for the first time [to win a major]. And that support was so important.''

Woods clearly understands the current circumstances. He said as much last week at the PGA Championship, where there were no spectators. Golf has done tremendously well in this climate for more than two months, playing each week behind closed doors.

And having the television product for an unprecedented November at Augusta National will still be a highly anticipated and hugely interesting sporting event, with anticipation centering around the look of the place in the fall, how it will play and all manner of golf-related aspects to a year that is off the rails.

One question also answered by Harig: for the first time, there will be merchandise sold online to some. Presumably it’ll lean heavily toward items already made sporting 2020.

It will offer those who had tickets or badges for this year a special "exclusive'' opportunity to buy merchandise online, a potential windfall but one that can't make up for all the hardship of this year.

Augusta Mayor Not Expecting Masters To Have Fans This Fall

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Jeremy Turnage reports from Augusta on Mayor Hardie Davis saying he wants golf even if means the likelihood of no fans on site for the rescheduled 2020 Masters.

“I think that based on everything I know about what’s taking place at Augusta National, they’ve been on the front lines of reviewing what the PGA is doing. I think, as you see, the tournament’s happening tomorrow -- the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park -- without fans. And that’s likely what probably will happen here in Augusta. We have a tournament without fans.”

Davis did say, however, that he has faith that the ANGC can move forward with a Masters tournament with fans provided the proper precautions are put in place.

“Do I believe that the Augusta National Golf Club can do it better than anybody? Absolutely,” Davis said.

International Watch: Pepperell Passing On PGA Due To Quarantine Rules

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With the PGA Championship in less than two weeks, player quarantining is a looming issue for the three postponed 2020 majors. Each may see defections on the international front, with potential questions about the legitimacy of the event without players either able to reasonably gain entry or get situated to play.

The PGA is in very good shape after a recent contender in several majors, England’s Tommy Fleetwood, put in two weeks and then went golfing in the Hamptons before turning up at this week’s 3M Championship.

Other major winners whose situations remain unclear: Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Francesco Molinari, along with Lee Westwood.

Eddie Pepperell is the first player to pass up his exemptions to the PGA at Harding Park and the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

Ewan Murray of The Guardian explains Pepperell’s thinking and includes this quote implying some players have not bided by the quarantine rules:

“Under the current restrictions on travelling to America, I won’t go because you have to quarantine for two weeks going out there and that’s not something I am interested in doing,” said Pepperell. “I am still on the entry list in case they change the rules, but I am not interested in spending two weeks in quarantine.

“Some players have clearly gone out there and not abided by the rules, but should I play this event there is no way that I can do that if there is anyone that cares to look at it, they would know I have broken the rules and I am not going to do that. The fact that it is in San Francisco and it is so far away I am not that interested in taking a 12-hour flight, that is way down on the list of priorities.”

More problematic is September’s U.S. Open situation where the state of New York requires quarantining for those entering from 31 states, including California where the prior week’s PGA Tour event is played. International rules are the same.

And the Masters, which covets international participation? Good news? There is plenty of time between now and mid-November. The bad news? There is plenty of time between now and mid-November.

"So what will the Masters do?"

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That’s the question Bob Harig asks at ESPN.com with the Tradition Unlike Any Other slated for a COVID-19 detour November 12-15th and an increasingly likelihood that spectators will be a tall task. Particularly to a club made up of CEO’s in industries or sports where they could be exposed to criticism for endorsing the Masters played one way, while conducting their businesses differently.

Harig concludes with this:

A Masters without spectators would be a huge disappointment. Ultimately, if it comes to that, it would seem Augusta National still wants a 2020 Masters. There are still enormous worldwide television rights fees to collect. A November Masters without spectators would still be compelling to a worldwide television audience. And if the PGA Championship can be played without fans, so can the Masters. Then you hope for the best in April.

But don't try to argue that it doesn't matter. The atmosphere at Augusta National helps make the tournament. Just imagine Tiger Woods winning last year ... in virtual silence.

While Augusta National Is Still On Our Minds...

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Why not go back into the past and do a little reading?

If 2020 means a lost spring Masters and a longshot November playing, maybe the year can at least offer time to reflect on the incredible creation by Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie.

So if you want to learn more about the design origins, with some colorized images to bring the original more to life, MacKenziephile Josh Pettit has several excellent original MacKenzie writings and plans at his site posted.

For those interested in the original Par 3 course concept, where it sat on the grounds and Dr. MacKenzie’s vision, Pettit has also detailed all of that and more on this page.

Roundup: Tiger Wins The 2019 Masters, Again!

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Tiger Woods captured his fifth green jacket as heroically as one can on tape delay a year later.

If you did not watch, you missed a super show (again) punctuated by the occasional chats between Woods and CBS’s Jim Nantz. Early on the conversation was a bit stilted but as both grew comfortable with the format, so as the action picked up on the back nine, Woods opened up in fascinating ways and Nantz asked all of the right questions.

Check out CBS golf’s Twitter account for all of them.

But a couple stood out. This with Tiger taking us through the 12th hole moment was very strong.

This about his hole-in-one career numbers has been mentioned to golf writers but never to a national audience.

Finally, a solid five minutes on the scene after sealing the victory with the Green Jacket now on.

The Masters website posted some images both on their site (larger here) and on Twitter of the Champions Locker Room Sunday night…2019. There is Tiger getting his jacket fitted and tightened up by an unidentified man (though I do see part of Sid Mashburn’s profile on the left).

And for most, the greatest image of all is Phil Mickelson’s note taped to Tiger’s locker.

A close up look at the trophy engraving, another first I believe:

https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1249472906209439744?s=20

The final round was uploaded to YouTube today:

Steve DiMeglio gets caddie Joe LaCava’s thoughts a year later.

This Sam Frommer oral history from published quotes at the Masters2020 blog is a nice compilation.

Yardbarker’s roundup of social media posts during the replay features a solid mix, including some big names.

Alan Bastable at Golf.com wrote about David Dobbins, a 60-year-old U.S. Army contractor with a flight school in Augusta who also has an ability to capture images. The shots show what we miss not having a blimp over Augusta National during the Masters. Something that stood out during the final round when a blimp shot replay of Francesco Molinari’s clipping the tree at 15 and hitting the pond would have come in handy, among other shots.

Finally, Tiger posted a makeshift Magnolia Lane in lieu of the chance to drive up the real one today.

Preview: Tiger And Phil As Part Of This Weekend's Masters Replays

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A live Masters is impossible to replace, but at least CBS is trying to inject some fun into this weekend’s replays.

Hearing more of Jim Nantz’s comments (this time to CBSSports.com’s Kyle Porter), I do wonder why we don’t have more of this type of “director’s cut” insight for all majors and for posterity?

"[They're able to translate what they're thinking on a relatable level] even more than I even appreciated," Nantz said of his conversations with Mickelson and Woods. "I'm around them all the time. I'm at dinner with Nick Faldo or members of our CBS broadcast crew through all the years, and you hear things and think, 'Man!' The insight, the minute little details they factor in, it's amazing. You're going to hear that with both of them. The high level of detail that goes into every situation, including how they practice for certain shots for the Masters alone."

Saturday features Mickelson’s breakthrough 2004 win, followed by Sunday’s replay of the 2019 final round with Tiger Woods injecting previews. Previews below:

"Jim Nantz is just like you—a disappointed golf fan missing this week's Masters"

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GolfDigest.com’s Guy Yocom catches up with Jim Nantz during what would have been his 35th broadcasting duties for CBS.

Nantz shares observations on quarantining in Pebble Beach and this tease for the weekend CBS shows:

This weekend there will be two encore presentations—the 2004 Masters on Saturday—with Sunday bringing a rebroadcast of last year’s “Return to Glory.” Nantz spent the early part of this week taping interviews via his computer at home with Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods for the weekend shows. “We want the presentations to be as stimulating as possible and having Phil and Tiger talk about their wins as they watch the old broadcasts is pure gold for the viewers.”