Masters LIVE: ‘Nasty’ weather set to hit Augusta National on opening day

Thunderstorms are forecast to hit Augusta National on Friday (AEST), likely bringing some disruption to the opening day of the Masters.

While fans basked in the sunshine on the final day of practice, players were expecting the conditions to change significantly for the first round.

Organisers said rain and scattered thunderstorms were expected in the region starting about 6am (8pm AEST) and lasting to 1pm (3am AEST) on Thursday.

“Heavy rainfall and occasional wind gusts of 40-45 mph are anticipated over this period,” said the forecast.

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The weather is expected to improve in the afternoon and into the evening and windy conditions are expected to continue in drier weather on Friday with sunshine expected over the weekend.

The prospect of heavy rainfall and high winds means that players who have enjoyed the firm surfaces and relatively calm winds know they will need to be ready for something very different.

“Looks like we’re going to have a nasty one overnight and the morning. Not much we can do about it. It’s kind of just see how much it dumps and how it will change,” said Luke List, who is scheduled to tee off Thursday at 8.36 am.

“Everybody’s in the same boat as far as we’ve done all this preparation, but it will probably play different tomorrow, so I think that that’s kind of the unique thing about golf is we’re all on a level playing field when we get started,” added the Augusta resident.

Spaniard Sergio Garcia, the 2017 winner, says the high winds could be a significant factor.

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“There’s no doubt with as high as these pine trees are, sometimes it becomes tricky to know exactly where the wind is,” he said.

“On a course like this, where you have to be so precise in every single shot that you hit, when you play with that amount of wind, it becomes very, very challenging.”

American Gary Woodland was hoping that the forecast is mistaken and the course could remain in its current condition.

“The golf course is hard enough without the weather. It’s as good as I’ve seen it, to be honest,” he said.

“The golf course is absolutely perfect, so hopefully some of the rain misses it. It’s firm and fast now. Absolutely perfect. Hopefully the weather misses a little bit. Golf is tough enough without the wind, so it’ll be a challenge, but one that everybody is going to have to face.”

“When the wind is swirling here it’s very hard. Sounds like going to be a tricky Masters and scoring is going to be quite difficult. I don’t mind that. Ready for the challenge,” added Shane Lowry.

Last year’s tournament was hit by bad weather with several rain delays leaving some players with nearly two rounds to play on the final Sunday.

Second-round play on the Friday was stopped after three pine trees fell close to the 17th hole.

MASTERS ROUND ONE TEE TIMES (all times AEST)

Thursday

10pm: Erik van Rooyen (South Africa), Jake Knapp

10.12pm: Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Taylor Moore, *Santiago de la Fuente (Mexico)

10.24pm: Danny Willett (England), Austin Eckroat, Stephan Jaeger (Germany)

10.36pm: Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Luke List, *Christo Lamprecht (South Africa)

10.48pm: Gary Woodland, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark), Bryson DeChambeau

11pm: Zach Johnson, Corey Conners (Canada), *Jasper Stubbs (Australia)

11.12pm: Sergio Garcia (Spain), Chris Kirk, Ryan Fox (New Zealand)

11.24pm: Lucas Glover, Byeong Hun An (Korea), Harris English

11.36pm: Phil Mickelson, Sepp Straka (Austria), Tony Finau

11.48pm: Nick Taylor (Canada), Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Russell Henley

Friday

12.06am: Patrick Cantlay, Min Woo Lee (Australia), Rickie Fowler

12.18am: Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas

12.30am: Jon Rahm (Spain), Matt Fitzpatrick (England), Nick Dunlap

12.42am: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Xander Schauffele

12.54am: Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland (Norway), Cameron Smith (Australia)

1.06am: Lee Hodges, Adrian Meronk (Poland), Grayson Murray

1.18am: Camilo Villegas (Colombia), Denny McCarthy, Cameron Davis (Australia)

1.30am: Mike Weir (Canada), Ryo Hisatsune (Japan), *Neal Shipley

1.42am: Vijay Singh (Fiji), Si Woo Kim (Korea), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)

1.54am: Fred Couples, Adam Hadwin (Canada), *Stewart Hagestad

2.12am: Justin Rose (England), Eric Cole, Peter Malnati

2.24am: Akshay Bhatia, J. T. Poston, Shane Lowry (Ireland)

2.36am: Bubba Watson, Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark), Adam Schenk

2.48am: Patrick Reed, Sungjae Im (Korea), Kurt Kitayama

3am: Keegan Bradley, Matthieu Pavon, Tyrrell Hatton (England)

3.12am: Adam Scott (Australia), Sam Burns, Cameron Young

3.24am: Tiger Woods, Jason Day (Australia), Max Homa

3.36am: Brian Harman, Brooks Koepka, Tom Kim (Korea)

3.48am: Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg (Sweden), Sahith Theegala

4am: Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood (England)

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