For some, practice made pointless by soggy course, winds

Augusta National Golf Club is known for its fast greens, but on Tuesday players were fighting a different nemesis.

A steady wind blew golfers and their shots around the course, causing many in the field of 99 to change their plans. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were among the golfers who bagged their practice rounds altogether.

"My schedule changed a bit given the weather conditions and so forth." Mickelson said. "So I'll end up playing a practice round (today) ... and try to play in conditions similar to what we'll see this weekend."

Thunderstorms sliced through Augusta early Tuesday, dumping about a half-inch of rain and producing wind gusts of more than 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service in West Columbia, S.C. The wind toppled several trees and lingered all day.

Damp grounds and gusts upward of 30 mph Tuesday made the 7,435-yard course play much longer, players said.

"The fairways are very slow. Everything is very slow," said two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen. "You're not learning a lot out there, just getting a feel of the course if anything."

David Chung, an amateur who is playing in his first Masters, compared the conditions to the first time he played the course over the winter, a day after snow fell. As he went from hole to hole Tuesday, he could tell the grass was starting to dry out.

"The course is starting to firm up, but it's still a really long course," he said.

Augusta National has a special air system designed to dry the greens quickly, so they will pick up speed as Thursday's first round approaches, Lee Westwood said. The changing conditions will give veterans the upper hand this week, he said.

"The golf course changes a lot," he said. "But obviously if you've played it a lot and you have the experience, you have the knowledge of that."

Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, didn't fire at pins or play shots he didn't think would work Thursday during his practice round. Instead, he took a lot of shots off, knowing there wasn't much to learn.

"I didn't hit many shots -- I skipped a couple of holes and just chipped and putted," he said. "The wind is very much prevalent and the fairways are pretty shaggy. That will change over the next couple of days."

A cold morning will give way to warmer temperatures and light winds today. Weather service forecasters are calling for clear skies and temperatures in the 70s and 80s from Thursday through the final round Sunday.

The sunny skies and high temperatures can only make the course play faster, just like it's supposed to, Goosen said.

"Thursday, the course is going to be much, much quicker," he said. "It will be like night and day."