Tenth Green at Augusta

[Carlyle Rood]

My wife and I just got back to our apartment in Athens from Augusta.  We watched play from the fifteenth green all day.  On a hunch, we decided to go to the tenth and await a playoff.

We've done that on a few occasions, only to have O'Meara make a bomb or Duval falter at 18.  Usually we go to eleven and wait.

We were directly behind the green on ten.  I don't know how it seemed on television; but, that was the nastiest pin position I've seen.  It was sort of on a crown.  I told my wife when Len M. chipped up: "If he holes that putt for par, then he'll probably win."  I only gave Weir a one-in-three chance of two-putting.  Those putts were that hard.

I'll tell you one other thing.  We walked directly from 15 to 10 after Weir and Maggert hit their shots to the green.  (We didn't wait for them to putt because they don't let you out of the stands until the last group has hit their shot to SIXTEEN.)

From the moment we got there, a groundskeeper was rolling the green!  They were rolling it so meticulously, I wasn't sure they were going to finish before the playoff started--and the last group still had three holes to play at the time!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Carlyle,

How much of a part do you feel the shadows play with respect to the difficulty most seem to have reading and putting that green ?

[Carlyle Rood]

It was dark; however, it was uniformly shady.  Walking up to the green, my eyes adjusted immediately.  I would imagine it would have been more difficult when the sun is higher and the shadows are more stark.

The most difficult thing about that particular putt was that the slope ran away from the hole on three sides.  On television, I presume Weir's putt looked like a straightforward, long uphill putt.  But beyond the hole, it was nearly downhill.  Once you get it past the hole, things get really interesting.

[Bruceski]

Very interesting, Carlyle. TV severely flattens the greens at Augusta. Weir's first putt (that ended up 5 feet short) at the 18th must have been much more uphill than it appeared on television. Maggert literally slammed his putt from the same general location and just got it there.

[Bill_McBride]

Good call on the slope beyond and left of the pin position, Carlyle, Weir hit his 2nd putt so firmly it looked like it was uphill.  That was such a ragged finish it reminded me of Palmer in 1961 when he made six from the side of # 18 and Player won.

[Carlyle Rood]

Generally, I consider myself to be pretty familiar with the guys on tour.  I don't follow most PGA events; but, I do watch a few.

But before the playoff began, I looked at my wife and said: "Sweetheart, if Len Mattiace wins, he'll be the first Masters champion that I couldn't pick out of police lineup.  I have no idea what he looks like."

The only chance I had to see him before the playoff was when he played fifteen; however, he walked to the green using the other side of the lake.

I could recognize most players from 240 yards away up the fairway; but, I had no idea whether it was Mattiace or Byrd when they played through.  It was sort of frustrating because I couldn't appreciate his shot into the green there.

[Pete_Pittock]

Thanks for the input. This is the first time I have heard of greens being rolled for a playoff. How much did that affect the play. I don't think Mattiace or Weir had any inkling of the changes, and their chips and putts showed it.

[Joel_Stewart]

I'll assume you didn't see Mattiace's bomb on 10 during the regulation round.  He was at the bottom of the green and made what seemed like a 50 footer for a 3.  

Any idea on how much that green is sloped from right to left, it looks like 6 degrees or more?

[Carlyle Rood]

It may go 4 percent, then 5 percent, then 6 percent.  It seems like it would accelerate.  It looks like it would dive late; however, I only watched one twosome play the hole.  I was directly behind the green and it seemed like it began going downhill behind the cup.  It's just a hell of a green.

[Buck Wolter]

Carlyle-
We must have been 20 ft from each other on 10. As soon as Weir birdied 15 and Mattiace's bogey on 18 was posted we made a beeline for 10. We were about 40 ft from the cup on the right side of the green just inside the ropes. While I wish it was a birdie to win it was damn exciting to be that close to something like that. By the time the playoff started it was 50 deep from the dogleg t the green.

I'm not an expert on Masters pin positions that must have been a hard one. Outside of Maggert I don't know if anyone in the field was rolling the ball better than these two guys. and for them to both miss as badlyas they did was hard to believe. Judging from Mattiace's par putt his birdie on 10 earlier in the day would have gone off the green if he had missed the hole, that was incredibly fast. The shadows had to make it hard to read as well they were right thru the green and both players first putts.

I was amazed at watching them prepare the hole. They were rolling the green for a good 20 minutes and not just around the hole. They fixed ball marks and filled divots. They even sprinkled green mix on spots on the green lest they look spotty on TV. I wondered at the time if they would tell the players the greens had been rolled, not sure what kind of difference that makes in speed.

Buck