For Tiger, Masters could be wet and wild

For Tiger, Masters could be wet and wild

Mark J. Terrill/AP

Tiger Woods appears ready to roar at Masters but Rory McIlroy as well as forecasts for more rain could make challenge a tough one to weather.

AUGUSTA They cant be forced to extend membership to women, but the powers that be at Augusta National Golf Club are helpless to keep one female from having the last word this week.

Mother Nature is threatening to wreak havoc on the Masters.

The angry storm that roared through these hallowed fairways Tuesday night just about clinched it. This years tournament, so anticipated as a classic with so many of the big boys playing so well, has been turned into a wide-open contest.

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Last weeks forecast for hot, dry weather has been replaced by a wet one, so much so that tournament officials were talking about the extrem e possibility of playing lift, clean and place. And that means the favorites, like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, will not have the advantage of tougher conditions to separate themselves from the field.

It seems that some of the planning I have made may go by the wayside, a disappointed Mickelson said. As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of the pins. The greens are soft. I dont want to say they are slow, but its just not the same Augusta. Theres no fear of the course. Unless something changes, it's going to be a birdie fest.

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About an inch and a quarter of rain saturated an already wet golf course Tuesday night. One of several downed trees took out a restroom and while Masters chairman Billy Payne was promising to have it rebuilt by the end of Wednesday, there are some things even he cant manage.

In effect, it makes it easier for some of the inexperienced players to set their sights on a green jacket. First-timers have always found it difficult to feel comfortable. Fuzzy Zoeller, in 1979, was the last to win on his first try. With talented players such as PGA champ Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson (No. 2 on last years money list) and Kyle Stanley making their Masters debuts, Zoeller might have company.

When the subtleties dont come out, the experience of playing here in the past is not as important, Mickelson said. You dont have to fear the greens and you dont have to know where the ball will end up and you dont have to fear certain shots because you can get up and down from the edges. Those shots are not as hard. I think theres a very good chance that a young player inexperienced, fearless player that attacks this golf course can win if you dont need to show it the proper respect. If it plays like this, there wont be the big mistakes made by any of the young players.

That would certainly shift the story line fro m the Woods-McIlroy duel that everyone seems to be hoping to see.

Woods, who won his first major 15 years ago at the Masters, has accumulated a lot of course knowledge since. Even when his game and his mind were at their lowest points, he managed to contend here the last two years.

McIlroy, who blew his chance to win as a 21-year-old last year, is back to make amends, a runaway win at last years U.S. Open having assuaged the pain.

Not everyone was buying the certainty of that showdown.

Its whipped up a bit of frenzy, I suppose, Lee Westwood said, adding, Rory has never won here and Woods has not won here since 2005. So its naive to think that its a two-horse race. I think Phil might have a little bit of something to say about that. Luke (Donald) might. I might.

Or, for that matter, anyone else.