Rain-softened Augusta National opens up opportunities

It was three-time Masters Tournament champion Phil Mickelson who gave the command order after several practice sessions on an Augusta National Golf Club course that has absorbed several inches of rain recently.

“You’ve got to attack it this week,” he said.

Message received and undoubtely already understood by the 94 other players in the Masters field who l began the assault in the first round.

Nearly two inches of rain has fallen on the course since last weekend and more is predicted for Thursday. The last time rain forced a halt in play was 2008.

The weather and club officials backing off severe setups since 2009 might result in a perfect storm of scoring that could eclipse last year, when eight players held at least a share of the lead in the final round before Charl Schwartzel won on four closing birdies.

The top-six players on the final 2011 leaderboard all shot in the 60s and 13 of the top-14 broke par. Almost 70 percent of the 49 players who made the cut broke par for 72 holes and the field scoring average of 72.42 for the tournament was a 20-year low.

Given all that, it’s easy to see why players say a go-low attitude may be required.

“The fairways are soft and there’s not much they can do,” Johnson Wagner said.

And the greens? “Pretty soft and pretty receptive,” four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods said.

Conditions aside, last year’s final-round shootout also might alter conventional Augusta National strategy, especially in the final round.

Adam Scott recalls standing on the 17th tee with a one-shot lead, going par-par, and watching Schwartzel breeze by him.

“You might be running the gauntlet if you feel like you need to get aggressive on 17 and 18,” he said.

But can players not in the final group afford to make that assumption? “A lot of guys will be thinking and they’re not out of it ... six or eight shots back, they might still be able to win,” said three-time Masters champion and CBS analyst Nick Faldo. “In the past, it’s usually come down to a couple of guys. But with 10 guys, within one shot? That will change things.”

CBS announcer Verne Lundquist, who has seen his share of Sunday charges over 28 years, echoed that.

“In most years, going par-par on the last two holes with a one-shot lead would usually win,” he said. “I know that we had never seen a finish quite like what Schwartzel did. With all we’ve seen over the years, you can’t predict anything.”

Another misconception about a wet course is that it favors the long hitters. But in a soggy 2003 tournament, Mike Weir and Len Mattiace, neither a bomber off the tee, went to a playoff that was won by Weir.

When Woods won in 2005, another year with wet weather, short hitter Chris DiMarco forced him into a playoff and Luke Donald, Trevor Immelman and Weir were in contention.

“It’s a trade-off,” Faldo said. “It helps the long hitters off the tee because they carry it longer but if the greens are soft, the ball will stay on the green, which helps the other guys. If the greens are dry and firm, even if you have a wedge in your hand, you’ve still got to work out where you land it, what the next bounce will do, where it’s going to finish, where it’s going to roll ... it’s not as straightforward as aim and shoot. If they’re soft, just pick your target, left or right of the pin, and fire it in there.”

Mickelson is of the belief that a firm and fast course favors him because it will play more difficult overall. A wet course renders much of his advance work and the experience of 19 starts at Augusta meaningless.

“It seems that some of the planning I have made go by the wayside,” he said. “As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of pins. There’s no fear of the course. When the subtleties don’t come out, the experience of playing here in the past is not as important. I think there’s a good chance a young player, inexperienced, fearless who attacks this course can win if you don’t need to show it the proper respect.”

Augusta National officials can still crank up the Sub-Air system overtime and drain more moisture out of the greens. They also can play havoc with hole placements.

Competition committee chairman Fred Ridley said as much.

“Clearly, the golf course will not be as firm and fast as it would otherwise be,” Ridley said. “We think we have looked at a setup that takes all that into consideration.”

It still might not be enough.

“I know they have Sub-Air but unless they change it, it’s going to be a birdie-fest,” Mickelson said.