A quick look at the Masters from Tuesday:
Groupings of note
The Thursday honorary tee shots at the Masters always draw a significant crowd but based on Tuesday’s pied piper followers of Tiger Woods in his practice round the most anticipated first shot Thursday likely will be Woods at 10:42 a.m. His group includes Marc Leishman and Tommy Fleetwood.
Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus again will hit ceremonial tee shots to begin the day at 8:15 a.m.
Immediately after Woods is the group of defending champion Sergio Garcia, Justin Thomas and U.S. Amateur champion Doc Redman of Clemson at 10:53 a.m. Then two-time champ Bubba Watson is joined by Henrik Stenson and Jason Day at 11:04 a.m.
The key afternoon groupings: 1:27 p.m. (Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar), 1:38 p.m. (Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm), 1:49 p.m. (Jordan Spieth, Alex Noren, Louis Oosthuizen) and 2 p.m. in the final group (Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Rafael Cabrera-Bello).
UGA vs. Tech
The field is a little thinner of Jackets and Bulldogs this year.
But among those in the field, except one, are all capable of wearing a green jacket on Sunday.
For Tech, Matt Kuchar, who had a T5 in Phoenix and played well in the recent WGC Match Play, has the best shot to win. He has had four top 10s in the past six Masters appearances and a T4 a year ago. (Larry Mize is here as more of a ceremonial participant as a past winner in 1987.)
For UGA, two-time winner Bubba Watson (2012, ’14) is getting most of the buildup, but another left-hander Brian Harman had a great stretch earlier in the season with a third place at the Tournament of Champions, and he’s 13th on the PGA Tour money list. Russell Henley has played well here and has had a T15 this year, and Kevin Kisner of nearby Aiken, S.C., is coming off a runner-up finish in the WGC Match Play.
By the numbers
89
An important caddie bib number in “Masters history, trivia division.” It was the number worn by Jack Nicklaus’ son as caddie in the famous 1986 sixth victory in Augusta by Nicklaus. Then the same number was worn by the winner’s caddie in 2016 (Danny Willett) and 2017 (Sergio Garcia). With only 87 players in this year’s field, the smallest since 86 in 1997, there is no caddie set to wear the number.
He said it
“No. Not at all. Phil is actually twice my age but really I feel after spending so much time with him that I just consider him a friend. To me, I still look up to him a lot, still an idol, and I know every time I see him it's wow. It's still Phil Mickelson, right? I still feel like a kid. Especially when you see him around here. It's just ‑‑ it just seems like one step above us every time, especially when he grabs a sand wedge around the green. But I don't think ‑‑ I mean, I don't consider them old. “ – Spaniard Jon Rahm, 23, when asked if Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were old to him.
Forecast
Wednesday: 50 percent chance of rain mainly between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., cooler with high around 70 Clearing by 4 p.m. For Thursday and Friday, the forecast is for cooler but little chance of rain.
