Masters Week Finally! Wet Weather And That Monster Called Bryson

It’s been a long wait since April but The Tradition Unlike Any Other is upon us — the 2020 Masters.

This much-anticipated final major of the season will give us Augusta National as we’ve never seen it — a November setting and it’s going to be so very different from what we’ve come to love about April at The Masters.

First, let’s get straight to the bad news.  There’s trouble on the horizon from a weather standpoint.

With Hurricane Eta to the south messing with Florida, things are going to be very, very challenging this week.  The forecast simply stinks.

There’s a 60 percent chance of showers on Tuesday with an 80 percent chance for more on Wednesday.  Augusta National’s sub-air systems will be running overtime.

Gets even worse for Thursday’s first round — 80 percent chance of thunderstorms.  They can pretty much play in showers.  Thunderstorms?  Well that sounds a lot like weather delays and with very little daylight this time of year, that’s a huge problem.

Friday’s forecast called for 40 percent chance of showers.

What we may be looking at, possibly, are 36-holes on Saturday or Sunday, possibly both, depending on potential weather delays on Thursday and Friday.

Click on this link for the bad news:  Augusta Weather Forecast:

Okay, now a few words on the pre-tournament favorite, who just happened to be on the grounds last week for a tuneup.

Bryson DeChambeau played a practice round with 1998  champion Sandy Lyle and Lyle gave an interesting intelligence report to Carl Paulson, one of the “Inside The Ropes” guys on PGA Tour radio.

Here are some of the clubs Bryson used for approach shots to the greens:

No. 1 is 445 yards — he hit sand wedge for his second shot;  No. 2, the 575-yard dogleg left par five — he hit eight-iron in for his second;  At the short par four third (350 yards), Bryson went over the green with his tee shot — he hit three-wood;  At the par five eighth (570-yards), he hit seven-iron for his second into the green.  At the 460-yard downhill ninth, it was a pitching wedge second.

The 10th is tough, 495 yards downhill, then uphill for the approach.  Bryson hit pitching wedge for his second.  At the 505-yard ball-buster 11th, it was just a nine-iron in for him;  At 13, the iconic dogleg left, it was three-wood, seven-iron;  At 15, he hit nine-iron for his second into the short par five;  He hit sand wedge into the 440-yard 17th.

What Lyle didn’t talk about was what DeChambeau hit into the par threes along with the uphill 18th.

So before you panic, also consider the course was nice and dry last week.  This week’s conditions will be totally different.

How good is Bryson in the rain?  That’s what we’ll find out.

What we do know is that Augusta National is a second-shot golf course and Bryson can sometimes be off with his carry distances — and that’s not something you want to happen at Augusta National.

Jordan Spieth, the 2015 Masters champion, is of the same mind-set as the odds-makers.

“I remember talking to Justin (Thomas) and Rory (McIlroy) about this at lunch one day,” Spieth said earlier this year.  “We were sitting having lunch and watching the telecast and they were showing Bryson. I was like, this guy has to lose the Masters to not win the Masters.  If you’re hitting it straight and you’re hitting it far, it obviously should be a massive advantage,” Spieth said. “Augusta National has  done a lot to that golf course after Tiger won a number of times because of distance. He hit it that much further than other guys, and they lengthened a number of holes.

“His (DeChambeau’s) fairway on nine  goes from the scoreboard of one, 90 yards left of the fairway, to the bunkers off number seven,” Spieth laughed. “I mean, it’s a thousand yards wide.”

Yes, length will be to DeChambeau’s advantage even more than it was a Winged Foot when he took the U.S. Open by storm.

But there is one big disadvantage for Bryson.  He stares seemingly forever at those green-reading books that Tour players now use.  Augusta National doesn’t allow those.  So Bryson will be on his own and there’s a massive putting premium at The Masters.

But from the sound of the forecast, reading putts may be the least of everyone’s worries this week.

Rain, rain and more rain.

And that’s simply not a good thing.

Breaking News:  2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia withdrew from the tournament on Monday after getting a positive test result for COVID-19 virus.  Joaquin Neimann was forced to withdraw last week after testing positive.

Coming Up Wednesday:  We break down the Masters favorites.