Masters champions call out Friday’s ‘borderline’ Augusta National conditions

AUGUSTA, Ga. — On Friday at the Masters, the goal was to just hang on. The second consecutive day of strong winds made conditions challenging and putting surfaces slick.

The scoring average was 75.08 and even the par-5s weren’t particularly easy — not one eagle was made on the back nine. After a double bogey on 14, defending Masters champ Jon Rahm was six over through 14 holes. In danger of missing the cut — which moved back to six over — Rahm went birdie-birdie on 15 and 16. He bogeyed 17 and two-putted for par on 18, signing for a 76 and five-over total after 36 holes.

Rahm was relieved to be done and through the weekend. Then he was asked how challenging the round was.

“Very,” Rahm said. “A couple times questioning myself why we were out there, especially when I got to 18 and saw the whole front of the green just full of sand [that the wind was blowing from the bunker]. It’s rolling a little bit different. I understand they want us to finish. I can imagine they were very close to calling it a few times, especially when we were on 11 green and we were getting those massive gusts every couple of minutes or so. It was extremely difficult.”

Rahm admitted to making several errors after giving himself promising opportunities on the course.

However, he found solace in sinking a few birdie putts towards the end of the round, particularly on the 16th hole where he nailed a 50-foot putt. “It is definitely a tough day when you are not feeling confident with your swing,” Rahm commented. “I struggled throughout the day, never really finding my rhythm.

I didn’t have many opportunities, so I had to push hard at the end to make the cut. Fortunately, I managed to succeed.”

Friday was challenging for Gary Woodland as he faced difficulty on the 16th hole when his ball unexpectedly rolled back on the green.

It seemed as if the ball was moving towards the pin location for Sunday. Several golfers hesitated to take their putts.

You place the ball down, and it’s on the verge of moving,” Rahm remarked.

“Moreover, how much time did it consume for us to complete the game?

More than six hours because they needed to clean the greens between groups, and then within each group, there were constant delays as people kept stepping back. It’s nearly crossing the line.”