Handicappers Beware: ANGC Now Listed As Muddy
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The 13th green Tuesday (click to enlarge)The golf course is indeed soft, slow and the turf dense, with more rain coming Tuesday night and more forecast for later in the week. It's going to lead to conditions which erode the local knowledge edge veterans rightfully believe they had, opening the door to inexperience and youthful aggression. Rory has to be licking his chops.
Tiger Woods, opening his media conference.
TIGER WOODS: The golf course is a little bit wet out there. Obviously we got some pretty good rains here. Today I played nine holes with Freddie and Sean, and seven drives and had seven mud balls. So hopefully it will dry out, but I think the forecast is for more rain. But the greens are absolutely perfect. They are quick, there's no doubt, but they are pretty soft and pretty receptive.
Phil Mickelson's comments were shocking in their brutal honesty but certainly accurate. Having sat in on this session, I didn't feel that Phil was deflated, but he also did not dance around the fact that many more players are in the equation due to the soft conditions, a product of a warm spring and recent rains.
It seems that some of the planning I have made may go by the wayside. As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of the pins. The greens are soft. I don't want to say they are slow, but it's just not the same Augusta. It's wet around the greens, and there's no fear of the course. You've got to attack it this week.
Unless something changes, and I know they have SubAir and hopefully they will be able to use it, but unless they change it, it's going to be a birdie‑fest.
Q. Since you put in so much time preparing, is it disappointing not to see the conditions?
PHIL MICKELSON: When the subtleties don't come out, the experience of playing here in the past is not as important, because you don't have to fear the greens and you don't have to know where the ball will end up and you don't have to fear certain shots because you can get up‑and‑down from the edges. Those shots are not as hard.
Therefore, I think there's a very good chance that a young player, inexperienced, fearless player that attacks this golf course can win if you don't need to show it the proper respect.
