(Augusta, GA) With a high temperature in the mid-70s, the 2025 Masters started on Thursday under clear, sunny skies. The wind was out of the south. However, it’s predicted to shift tomorrow to the northwest, a direction that makes the course play more difficult. This wind direction prevailed in 2007 when Zach Johnson won with a one-over par 289. It was that Masters where Johnson played the par-fives in 11-under par despite not hitting any of them in two shots. So watch where the wind blows over the last three rounds. But today, the weather is making for low scores.
One of my routines is to watch the action at the first hole, particularly at the green. Behind it, there’s an observation stand that usually has plenty of open seats. This morning, I was treated to three birdies: Fred Couples using a putter from well off the green while Brian Harman and Joaquin Niemann make short putts. It’ll be interesting to see how tough the hole will play if the wind shifts tomorrow.
From the size of his gallery and shout-puts from the patrons, Rory Mcllroy appears to be the gallery favorite. In his 11th attempt to complete the career Grand Slam, Mcllroy is attempting to break through and claim his first green jacket. When asked on Tuesday about all of the expectations and pressure heaped upon him, he said: “It’s just narratives. It’s noise. It’s just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year…I just have to keep my head down and focus on my job.”
Fred Ridley, Jr.
Wednesday at the Masters:
Masters chairman Fred Ridley presided today over his annual State of the Masters press conference. Here are some of the highlights:
When asked about some of the juniors at the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship using the AimPoint putting method and “not bloody moving on with it,” Ridley admitted he did notice it. He intimated that certain aspects of the competition may be time-limited in ’26.
In addition to how professional golf is wrestling with the pace of play issues, Ridley also applauded golf’s ruling bodies, namely the USGA (which he’s a past President) and the R & A, for their “deliberative and collaborative” plans to contain the effects of increased distance in the game. In the past, he has stated strongly there will NOT be an 8,000-yard Masters scorecard.
On new buildings and infrastructure, Ridley announced that the new Player Services Project will open next April with a state-of-the-art facility offering a player locker room, fitness center, and dining. It’ll be near the practice range and the “caddie shack.”The Champions Locker Room will remain on the second floor of the clubhouse.
Ridley didn’t announce any criteria change for qualifying for the Masters other than maintaining its option of a special invitation, which has been used with LIV player Joaquin Niemann for the last two years. He said the club would review such criteria, including those PGA Tour tournaments whose winner would be automatically invited to the Masters after this year’s Masters.
He sees the dynamic between Augusta National, The Masters, and Augusta as a “relationship and not transactional.” That’s why the club worked so well and diligently with the community after Hurricane Helene.
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On the driving range, Cameron Smith, wearing a blue blazer, was seen hitting full shots. He looked like someone rushing from his office to the first tee, desperately late for a game with a big client.
Tuesday at the Masters
After I settled in at the Masters Press Building, I headed out to the course eager to see if I could detect any after-effects from last November’s vicious storm. Knowing Augusta National’s sizable resources, I didn’t expect to see much. From players’ early visits to the club before this week, reports indicated from Rory Mcllroy and others that although fewer trees were in selected places, the course was largely intact.
On Monday, David Westin, writing for The Augusta Chronicle, quoted Nick Faldo as marveling at some of the exposed vistas from lost trees, such as seeing the fifth green from the 18th green. “We could never see that up there. He also quoted Adam Scott as saying, “It looked a lot thinner.”
My surprise occurred when I went to the 10th tee and looked down the iconic fairway. For the first time, I could see a fairway far off in the distance of Augusta Country Club. Never was I able to see the course from that vantage point. When I wrote about the terrible storm last fall, I heard from local sources that Augusta Country Club was hit very hard, with reports saying it lost “thousands of trees.” In time, that vista will be hidden once again, but it’ll take some time.
Talking to some of the Masters gallery volunteers, I learned of a few other places on the course where trees were lost. Overall, no pivotal trees affecting shot values fell, which might change how a hole is played during the Masters.
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One of the many Masters traditions occurs on Monday and Tuesday when players and caddies try to skip their shots in front of the pond on the 16th hole onto the green. On Tuesday, I watched Michael Kim and Byeong An and their caddies fail in their attempts. But it sure delighted the patrons, many of whom identified with balls finding in the water.
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One of things I used to ponder in between my chicken breast sandwiches at the Masters is why Augusta became the “winter golf home” for Atlantans, like Bobby Jones back in the 1930s. It never made sense to me. Why not Florida? Or even Sea Island, Georgia with its ocean breezes?
I can’t remember who enlightened me, but it may have been the legendary sportswriter Furman Bisher. Synonymous with sports in Georgia and someone who covered over 50 (!) Masters, Bisher said the allure of Augusta was its higher temperatures during the winter versus Atlanta. It’s all about topography and elevation. Atlanta is 1050 feet above sea level, while Augusta is only 136 feet above sea level. Hence, Augusta typically offers a warmer place to enjoy golf, and its spring is unmatched for its blooming color.
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Bernhard Langer
Reading some of the interviews from Monday, I was intrigued with Bernhard Langer’s press conference. At age 67, this will be Langer’s last competitive Masters. It would’ve been in the previous year, but he missed it due to Achilles tendon surgery after injuring it while playing pickleball. He’s an amazing player with an unbelievable career, highlighted by two Masters victories, 10 Ryder Cup stints, and a record number of Champions Tour wins. When asked about his battles with the putting yips, which victimized him four different times, Langer clearly remembered when it reared its ugly head.
After erroneously citing the “Buick Invitational” in Detroit in 1989, rather than the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Langer said: “I was playing there and I think I’ve hit 17 greens in regulation one day and 16 the next day, and I was like 11 over par for the two days and missed the cut. It was the absolute low of my career. I couldn’t hit the ball any better than I did, and I couldn’t putt any worse than I did.”
He then added: “I packed my staff, missing the cut, went back to my hotel and literally got on my knees — I was already a believer at the time — and said a prayer, like: God, if You want me done with this game, I’m ready to give it up. Just show me what You want me to do, and I’ll pack it up, no more golf.”
This is Terry Moore’s 39th Masters as a credentialed press member. The founding editor of Michigan Golfer and a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, he can be contacted at terry50moore@gmail.com
