It's Masters time - 2012.04.05

At Mother Nature's Mercy

Heavy rain Tuesday night softened Augusta National, and forecasts call for more wet stuff to fall Thursday and Friday. That means not only is there the possibility of lift, clean and place rules, there's also the possibility this Masters could turn into a birdiefest.

Strong thunderstorms Tuesday night made a mess of some fairways and washed-out a couple of bunkers at Augusta National Golf Club. (Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Rain rain go away, come again another day. At least that's what Phil Mickelson is wishing for prior to the start of this week's Masters.

"It seems that some of the planning I have made may go by the wayside," Mickelson said. "The greens are soft. I don't want to say they are slow, but it's just not the same Augusta."

While there have been only subtle changes to Augusta National -- specifically, the greens at Nos. 8 and 16 have been redone, which should provide for some new pin positions and different breaks -- the biggest impact this year may be the weather.

It has rained each of the last two nights, with the worst of it coming late Tuesday when more than 1-1/2 inches fell. More rain is in the forecast for Wednesday evening, as well as the first two days of the tournament.

"I played nine holes with Freddie (Couples) and Sean (O'Hair) and hit seven drives and had seven mud balls," Tiger Woods said after a practice round.

Because of those conditions, Augusta National officials may consider instituting lift, clean and place rules.

"We surely would not want to do that," chairman Billy Payne said. "That would be a decision very difficult to make. However, we are also bright enough to know that weather conditions can have an impact on that, and possibly cause us to change our minds on that issue."

One advantage Augusta National has over other courses is its state-of-the-art SubAir system under its greens. With the flip of a switch, the greens can be as fast and dry as officials want.

However, Mickelson believes the wet conditions will lead to more birdies and therefore bring more players into the mix. Although Augusta National officials would rather avoid using lift, clean and place rules, Payne did not rule out the possibility.

"When the subtleties don't come out, the experience of playing here in the past is not as important, because you don't have to fear the greens," Mickelson said. "You can get up-and-down from the edges. Those shots are not as hard. Unless they change something … it's going to be a birdie-fest."

That's not entirely bad news for Mickelson -- he ranks 10th on the PGA TOUR in birdie average. Bo Van Pelt leads in that category with 102 total birdies (4.64), while Webb Simpson is second, Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker fourth and John Senden fifth.

Still, most top players prefer Augusta National when it's at its most difficult.

"I've always enjoyed hot and fast," said top-ranked Luke Donald. "With the grass coming into us (in the fairway), you don't get a lot of roll. Certainly I would personally prefer if it was a warmer week."

For the most part, temperature won't be a problem. Thunderstorms might be.

Thursday's forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of precipitation with thunderstorms likely in the afternoon and evening. A half-inch to an inch of rain is also expected.

Friday is expected to be cooler with a high of just 66 with a chance for rain through the morning at 60 percent.

The forecast for the weekend looks clear.

Rain has occurred during 42 of the 75 Masters' played and eight days of play have been postponed due to weather, with the last coming in 2003 when the opening round was washed out.

The last weather delay to occur here took place in 2008 when the first round was delayed an hour because of fog and the third round suspended for 45 minutes because of lightning.

As for the golf course, heating and cooling systems added under the eighth and 16th greens should help should with any weather concerns.

Trying to figure out the subtle changes in some of the newfound breaks will be more difficult.

"A subtle change is pretty significant at this speed," Woods said. "… There are different breaks on those greens than there are in the past. I've had to redo some of my charting on those greens, because the old breaks are out the window."

For example, there is a bigger plateau on the top right side of the 16th green and the fronts of the greens have also been extended. The opening into the green on the par-5 eighth was also widened by a couple of yards.

Not that any of the changes will be obvious to the naked eye.

"You can't really tell," Lee Westwood said. "Even standing there and just staring at it, you can't see the obvious change. So it's not a case of relearning the greens, because every putt you have out there is a new challenge."