Strong Winds Blow Officials Off Course

Masters officials admit a mistake?

Strong, cold northeast winds caught them off guard Thursday after they had placed pins in positions that would have been tough on a calm day.

A combination of the wild breezes, pins on the edge of mounds, and fast, hard greens made par-72 at Augusta National Golf Club a very good score.

If they had it to do over again, officials would have been more generous with pin placements.

“Conditions were so much more different than they (the pin committee) thought they were going to be is why the course played like it did today,” Masters spokesman Charles Yates said. “I believe they would have put the pins in different spots if they knew the winds were going to be up. They weren’t expecting it.”

Former Masters champion Fred Couples, who shot 72, told Yates, “If the weather stays like this, over par will win the tournament.”

Added Couples: “There were no easy pins. They were placed over crowns. You couldn’t be aggressive at all. You were afraid you would putt it 30 feet by the hole. I’ve never played the course on Thursday when the greens were this hard. I could have shot 80. Maybe they’ll soften the pins tomorrow.”

He said the greens were so hard “you couldn’t get an iron within 10 feet of the hole unless you hit the flag.”

Couples said some pins were in spots that hadn’t been used before.

“I wouldn’t use ‘unfair’,” he said. “That’s a bad word. The greens and pins were testy”

How testy?

Ken Green, who shot 87, had a five-putt and a four-putt during his 15-over-par round. He left without comment.

Lee Janzen, another 72 shooter, said: “It’s the toughest I’ve ever seen the course play.”