AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters is expected to get off to a rough weather start in Thursday’s opening round at Augusta National, where thunderstorms and high winds are in the forecast.
There’s a 90 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms prior to 1 p.m., with wind gusts of 40-45 mph between 8 a.m. and noon.
That would create potentially dangerous conditions and push back tee times, possibly bringing Friday into play for the conclusion of the first round.
Last year’s Masters was also affected by weather, with second-round play pushed to Saturday and third-round play pushed to Sunday, when eventual winner Jon Rahm and co-runner-up Brooks Koepka played 30 holes.
The Friday forecast calls for mostly sunny and windy conditions with a high of 72 and winds at 15-20 mph and gusts to 30 mph.
The forecasts for Saturday and Sunday are sunny and comfortably warm.
Meanwhile, the players are bracing for Thursday’s conditions.
“The golf course is hard enough without the weather,’’ Gary Woodland said. “The golf course is absolutely perfect, so hopefully some of the rain misses it. It’s firm and fast now. Absolutely perfect. Golf is tough enough without the wind, so it’ll be a challenge, but one that everybody is going to have to face.’’
There was a Great White Shark sighting Wednesday at Augusta National.
Greg Norman, who famously came close but never won a Masters, entered the grounds as a patron, with a ticket.
Norman, who played in 23 Masters and famously finished runner-up three times, is the commissioner of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour and had not been at a Masters since 2021 when he was working for SiriusXM radio.
The Washington Post was the first to spot Norman on the grounds with a couple of LIV executives.
“I’m here because we have 13 players that won 10 Masters between them,’’ Norman told the paper. “So I’m here just to support them, do the best I can to show them, ‘Hey, you know, the boss is here rooting for you.’ ’
When Norman was asked about the status of the peace talks between LIV and the PGA Tour, he was vague.
“LIV is completely autonomous to that, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m not even privy to any of the conversations, which I’m happy about because we’re focused on delivering what we’re promised the world we would deliver.”
Norman lamented that there were not more LIV players in the field other than the 13 who are here.
“I think there’s probably a couple that have been overlooked that should be in,” Norman said. “What is that number? I’m not going to give it a definitive number, but they’re definitely quality players that have done incredible performances over the last six to nine months that are worthy of it.”
A lack of world ranking points has prevented many LIV golfers from participating in this year’s tournament
Tommy Fleetwood has become the second English golfer at the Masters to lose his caddie this week, after Tyrrell Hatton also had to bring in an emergency replacement.
Fleetwood’s regular caddie, Ian Finnis, is back in England recovering from a chest infection that has plagued him for most of the season, while Hatton’s man, Mick Donaghy, is recovering from a bruised shoulder after a fall over the weekend.
Hatton flew in Hugo Dobson, a former teammate on the England Under-18 team who plays on the satellite tours, and Fleetwood decided to use 30-year Augusta veteran, Gray Moore, who’s the former caddie master at the club.
“He’s not been well all year,’’ Fleetwood said of Finnis. “At the moment, he’s at home trying to recover and get the right treatment. Hopefully he’ll be back out sooner rather than later. It’s definitely different being without him. We’ve been together every tournament for the last eight years pretty much.”
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