It’s Masters Week in Augusta and the AJC has a team of reporters on hand to cover it all week.
Here’s what’s going on Tuesday on what promises to be a beautiful spring day:
Some highlights of Thursday-Friday groupings in the tee times for the 81st Masters (complete tee times will be posted shortly):
- Long hitters: Two-time champ Bubba Watson is with Dustin Johnson, winner of his past three PGA Tour events, and Jimmy Walker, the reigning PGA Champion, at 2:03 p.m. Thursday in the final group and at 10:56 a.m. Friday.
- Former champ Mark O'Meara will be the de facto ref in the group with former Georgia Tech golfer Roberto Castro and former Georgia golfer Hudson Swafford at 11:18 a.m. Thursday and 8:11 a.m. Friday.
- Ernie Els, a runner-up twice for the green jacket, but a two-time Open and twice U.S. Open champ, tees off at 12:13 p.m. with Jason Dufner and Bernd Wiesberger in what could be Els' final Masters appearance with his exemption running out.
- Three-time champ Phil Mickelson plays at 10:45 a.m. Thursday with Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Si Woo Kim and follows with a 1:52 p.m. Friday tee time.
- Reigning champ Danny Willett and Matt Kuchar of Georgia Tech, a former U.S. Amateur champ who played well in Augusta as an amateur, will be with Curtis Luck of Australia, who qualified by winning the U.S. Amateur.
Complete list of tee times:
Thursday-Friday
8 a.m.-11:07 a.m. — Daniel Summerhays, Russell Henley
8:11 a.m.-11:18 a.m. — Trevor Immelman, Brendan Steele, Jhonattan Vegas
8:22 a.m.-11:29 a.m. — Mike Weir, Billy Hurley III, Scott Piercy
8:33 a.m.-11:40 a.m. — Larry Mize, Brian Stuard, a-Stewart Hagestad
8:44 a.m.-11:51 a.m. — Soren Kjeldsen, Kevin Chappell, Jim Furyk
8:55 a.m.-12:13 p.m. — Sandy Lyle, Sean O’Hair, a-Scott Gregory
9:06 a.m.-12:24 p.m. — Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Hadwin
9:17 a.m.-12:35 p.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Gary Woodland, J.B. Holmes
9:28 a.m.-12:46 p.m. — Adam Scott, Kevin Kisner, Andy Sullivan
9:39 a.m.-12:57 p.m. — Francesco Molinari, Daniel Berger, Thomas Pieters
10:01 a.m.-1:08 p.m. — Fred Couples, Paul Casey, Kevin Na
10:12 a.m.-1:19 p.m. — Russell Knox, Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama
10:23 a.m.-1:30 p.m. — Branden Grace, Brooks Koepka, Jeunghun Wang
10:34 a.m.-1:41 p.m. — Jordan Spieth, Martin Kaymer, Matt Fitzpatrick
10:45 a.m.-1:52 p.m. — Phil Mickelson, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Si Woo Kim
10:56 a.m.-2:03 p.m. — Brandt Snedeker, Justin Rose, Jason Day
11:07 a.m.-8 a.m. — Rod Pampling, William McGirt
11:18 a.m.-8:11 a.m. — Mark O’Meara, Hudson Swafford, Roberto Castro
11:29 a.m.-8:22 a.m. — Ian Woosnam, James Hahn, a-Brad Dalke
11:40 a.m.-8:33 a.m. — Ross Fisher, Pat Perez, Byeong Hun An
11:51 a.m.-8:44 a.m. — Jose Maria Olazabal, Ryan Moore, Webb Simpson
12:13 p.m.-8:55 a.m. — Ernie Els, Jason Dufner, Bernd Wiesberger
12:24 p.m.-9:06 a.m. — Danny Willett, Matt Kuchar, a-Curtis Luck
12:35 p.m.-9:17 a.m. — Vijay Singh, Emiliano Grillo, a-Toto Gana
12:46 p.m.-9:28 a.m. — Angel Cabrera, Henrik Stenson, Tyrrell Hatton
12:57 p.m.-9:39 a.m. — Charl Schwartzel, Steve Stricker, Mackenzie Hughes
1:08 p.m.-10:01 a.m. — Charley Hoffman, Chris Wood, Yuta Ikeda
1:19 p.m.-10:12 a.m. — Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Shane Lowry
1:30 p.m.-10:23 a.m. — Bernhard Langer, Alex Noren, Patrick Reed
1:41 p.m.-10:34 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Hideto Tanihara, Jon Rahm
1:52 p.m.-10:45 a.m. — Marc Leishman, Bill Haas, Justin Thomas
2:03 p.m.-10:56 a.m. — Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker
UPDATE: Is Dustin Johnson a true Masters favorite?
It’s the big interview day in the new posh media center at Augusta National Golf Club and the talk of this week will be around World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who will meet the media at 2 p.m. Johnson has won three consecutive PGA Tour starts and if he can win a fourth consecutive he would become the first golfer not named Tiger Woods to win four in a row on the Tour since the 1950s.
Here’s what three TV analysts said about Johnson’s chances:
Mark Rolfing:"I do not see Dustin Johnson changing the way his ball flight is going right now. …What I like right now about Dustin is that he is sort of morphing into a chameleon. He can adapt to this environment and play different styles of golf. And his putting now has really become just as brilliant as the rest of his game, at least in this stretch. He's a favorite, [but] not an overwhelming favorite."
David Duval:"He knows if he plays his best golf, you're not going to beat him. … Most certainly the favorite. The difficulty I see is coming off of three straight wins. It's hard to win four in a row. The good thing here at Augusta, there's not 80, 90 players that can win the golf tournament. … He's obviously [at] the top of my list. I think he's figured out that if he manages his game and adapts, that's all he needs to do."
Brandel Chamblee:"He can shape shots in a far different way [now]. He can get to the right side of holes here, like 1, like 8. He can get to the right side of 11, the right side of 15. No. 4 has given him troubles here in the past. …He hasn't been able to hit [those shots] with anywhere near the consistency in the past here that he'll be able to do this week. I would say that he is the predominant favorite."
Others on the interview schedule, tentatively on Tuesday: 10 a.m., reigning champ Danny Willett; 10:30 a.m., Jason Day; 11 a.m., former champ Adam Scott; 2:30 p.m., three-time champ Phil Mickelson; 3 p.m., Jordan Spieth; 3:30 p.m., Henrik Stenson; 4 p.m., Rory McIlroy; and 4:30 p.m., Justin Rose.
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