Tiger Woods, the defending champion, isn't considered a threat to win by oddsmakers. Woods is willing to reminisce but unwilling to concede the future. He says he can contend. "Yes," he said. "I can."
The map showed an outlined area not far from Augusta National, only this isn't another neighborhood the club plans to purchase. It's the historic Harrisburg and Laney Walker area that the Masters and its partners are trying to save.
The pimiento cheese sandwiches are still here, and so is the Hogan Bridge over Rae's Creek. So much else has changed at Augusta National this week, when the first fall Masters will be held without many of the traditions that make it a tradition unlike any other.
Any optimism that the next Masters will be restored to its full glory of spring blooms and the endless chorus of cheers was dampened only by the reality of the calendar and the recent spikes in coronavirus cases.
It rained hard on Tuesday and the course made for some interesting shot-making during today's practice rounds. Who gets helped by wet conditions is a matter of debate.
The cart picking up golf balls on the practice range at Augusta National can only go so far. Club members were swapping tales Tuesday about the staff who reached the end of the range and had to sort through azalea bushes more than 350 yards away to pick up a few more balls.
Take away a few white scoreboards in their usual places behind the greens, and the green television stands behind the 12th tee and a few other strategic locations, and this is what Augusta National looks like in November.
Sergio Garcia pulled out of the Masters on Monday after informing Augusta National he tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the second player to withdraw following a positive test.
In a year marked by racial injustice, Augusta National announced Monday it would honor Lee Elder with two scholarships in his name at Paine College and an honorary tee shot next year for the first Black player in the Masters.
Carlos Ortiz held off Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama by closing with a 5-under 65 to win the Houston Open on Sunday, becoming the first Mexican to win on the PGA Tour in 42 years.
The financial hits have been onerous and TV ratings plunged, but how have the sports entities handled holding competition at a time when the biggest foe has been the coronavirus.
Jason Day stumbled at the end at difficult Memorial Park, three-putting for bogey on the par-4 18th to fall a stroke behind Sam Burns in the Houston Open.
Brandt Snedeker found a lot of fairways and greens at difficult Memorial Park, top-ranked Dustin Johnson returned from the coronavirus, and fans were back, too, Thursday at the Houston Open.
A six-week break going into the Masters was not what Dustin Johnson had in mind. He wasn't expecting to test positive for the coronavirus, either, and still wonders how it happened.
The 120th U.S. Open starts at sunrise Thursday, and for the sixth time, the challenge will be the West Course at Winged Foot. The coronavirus moved the event from mid-June to mid-September, causing a pair of dramatic changes
Tyler Koivisto, 27, wore a cap that advertised a buddy's headcover business called Stymie Golf Supply, a little like underdog Rocky Balboa's robe that promoted Shamrock Meats.