I can’t remember a Masters where the ball was bouncing this aggressively. I’m sure there are small delineations between editions of the tournament that were memorably firm and fast. But for all the extraordinary play this week, there was considerable difficulty in scoring. A friend smartly observed that one particularly stretch of play (mostly Friday) included the best exhibition of short game play he had seen. Once the weekend came, the best iron players in the world separated in short order and the very best held serve with a sparkling 68 to end any doubt.
But I’m left wondering, was it *too* firm? I understand you can only over-ride Mother Nature so much. I think there’s a collective urge to embrace firm and fast, but did you ever watch shots into and around the greens this weekend and think it was too much?
(By the by, my personal opinion is that the course played as close to its supposed Old Course ideal as it ever has in the modern age this week.)