AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | It had been a nearly perfect Friday for Tyrrell Hatton, going around Augusta National with hardly a hint of drama, as he scaled the last hill in front of the 18th green.
That’s when Hatton saw that his second shot had stopped atop the green’s upper tier, leaving him 40 sideways downhill feet from the hole. Hatton, whose temper can erupt as quickly as a light switch can be flipped, barked something salty at the sky when he realized his predicament, perhaps the most predictable moment of the Masters’ second round.
When Hatton’s first putt, which he aimed perpendicular to the hole, stayed far to the right, leaving him 6 feet for a par, he leaned over and pointed at the offending slope, talking to Mother Earth as only Hatton can.
No golfer plays the tortured soul better than Hatton.
A moment later, when his par putt did a violent lip-out leading to the only bogey in his second-round 66, Hatton yanked his ball from the hole then pointed it at the cup like a schoolteacher scolding a disobedient student. Marching in to sign his scorecard after his lowest career round by two strokes at Augusta National, Hatton was still grousing about how his would be the only putt from the same spot that broke right when it should have gone left.
As the late, great Jimmy Buffett once sang, “There’s a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning,” a similar sentiment applies to the increasingly sun-baked Augusta National as the 90th Masters turns toward its weekend conclusion.
By most accounts, official and otherwise, this is the best weather week the Masters has had since about the time Y2K was a thing.
Brooks Koepka, who has finished second here twice, got a taste of what’s to come with the dry, crispy conditions late on Thursday and anticipates more of the same over the final two rounds.
There is no rain in the forecast whether you’re looking backward or forward and the gathering warmth – weekend temperatures are expected to equal or exceed the 84s posted by Aldrich Potgeiter and Naoyuki Kataoka on Thursday – suggests the knife’s edge difficulty of the first two days will only intensify as the green jacket ceremony approaches.
Given a moment to let his pulse settle, Hatton was asked if the weekend conditions might be as difficult as he has seen at the Masters.
“I imagine it will,” Hatton said. “I think the greens are just going to get firmer and faster, which is quite a scary prospect, because I feel like the 15th green can’t really get much firmer than what it is.”
He’s onto what may be the dominant theme of the weekend – how to handle an increasingly firm and fiery Augusta National and who will do it the best.
It is not unmanageable, at least to this point, as multiple players have demonstrated. Wyndham Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion who has played golf in the shadows for a while, shot 68 Friday morning. Kristoffer Reitan began reeling off birdies in handfuls to introduce himself on the global stage and others – Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed and Justin Rose to name three – turned in proper demonstrations of professional golf.
Brooks Koepka, who has finished second here twice, got a taste of what’s to come with the dry, crispy conditions late on Thursday and anticipates more of the same over the final two rounds.
“It’s out there if you’re willing to do it, but the cost for making an error is huge.” – Adam Scott
“It’s definitely firmer than I’ve seen it. They can kind of do what they want with it,” said Koepka, who is 3-under par through 36 holes. “I think this golf course is going to get firm, fast.”
Adam Scott watched playing partner Brian Harman make seven birdies, two bogeys and a double on Friday, evidence of what can happen.
“If they let the greens completely dry out, then it’s going to be really hard to be on the front foot,” said Scott, who double-bogeyed the 18th hole to shoot 74 Friday.
“It’s out there if you’re willing to do it, but the cost for making an error is huge. And when they’re not that easy to come by, doubles are really hard to claw back. Takes you a lot of holes.”
“So it’s going to be tough. There’s always going to be someone that deals with it very well, and they’ll be putting on a green jacket on Sunday,” – Tyrrell Hatton
McIlroy made four double bogeys a year ago – two in the final round – and still managed to win his first Masters. But that is not the preferred way to do it. What happens on Saturday will go a long way toward determining how the storyline plays out Sunday.
Will the Augusta officials choose to water the greens to allow players to be more aggressive and, if so, how much might that matter by late afternoon when the summer-like temperatures and low humidity conspire to dictate the action?
“So it’s going to be tough. There’s always going to be someone that deals with it very well, and they’ll be putting on a green jacket on Sunday,” Hatton said. “I’ll just try and do the best I can and see if I get a bit of luck for a change.”
There’s the Tyrrell Hatton we know and love.