Augusta greens turn brutal

AUGUSTA (AFP) — Augusta National’s firm, fast greens played havoc with some of the world’s top golfers in Thursday’s first round of the 90th Masters.

They are already talking about crusty conditions for the weekend and one of the hardest challenges in many years at the famed course.

“I think this could be the toughest Masters we’ve played in a while,” said 2019 British Open winner Shane Lowry of Ireland. “Look at the forecast. They can do whatever they want with the golf course this weekend.”

“Before the week is out, it’s going to get very crusty around here.”

There’s no rain coming to soften up a layout where scores on Thursday averaged 74.648 strokes with 63 double bogeys or worse as green speeds tested veterans and rookies alike.

“It’s like a Saturday firm I would say for a Thursday, which is not really normal,” Australian Min Woo Lee said.

American Patrick Reed broke a tee at 17 trying to fix a ball mark in the hard putting surface.

“It definitely has the teeth in it to make it really tough,” said Reed, the 2018 Masters champion.

“The greens are already getting firm, crusty, and bouncy. It’s going to get fast, and it’s going to take a lot of patience.”

England’s Justin Rose, three off the lead after an opening 70, says even fans of severe challenges might have their limits pushed this week.

“Every player would say they would like it firm and fast,” he said. “But I think there’s a boundary to that.”

Rose, who lost a playoff to Rory McIlroy in last year’s Masters, is in a wait-until-Sunday mode.

“I think the lead at this point is irrelevant,” Rose said. “There’s so much golf ahead that there’s no point in even looking at who is doing what at this moment in time.

“It’s just about executing your strategy, feeling like you can run the clock down, playing as well as you can, and then towards the end you’ve got to figure out if you need to change your strategy. But until the final few holes really it’s just about doing as good as can you do.”

World number one Scottie Scheffler was on 70 as well.

“I did a good job of staying patient and playing smart. Overall, I’m pretty proud of the effort,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I’m in a good spot.”

Scheffler figures Augusta National officials can make the course as difficult as they want.

“We’ll see how much they want to push it in the next few days,” Scheffler said. “So much of this course is wait and see, so we’ll see.”