Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman win Zurich Classic of New Orleans

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Magnolia Lane. Amen Corner. Butler Cabin. “Hello, friends.â€� The Season of Championships continues with the year’s first major. This week’s Masters has a field of 87 players from 22 countries, with six amateurs and 17 first-timers at Augusta National. A couple of guys named Nicklaus and Player will get it all started with their ceremonial first tee shots Thursday morning. THE FLYOVER Don’t be surprised if the 18th green utilizes a new hole location this week. Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said the recent rebuild of that green has “recaptured some areas on the back part of the green that had been lost to encroachment. … The back right, I think, is going to give us an opportunity for a really good hole location. There’s plenty of room back there, but it kind of looks like it’s almost tucked, almost in the bunker, when you’re in the fairway.â€� Ridley said he received some positive feedback during Tuesday’s Champions dinner. Of course, before reaching the green, players must first find the fairway on this uphill dogleg right hole protected by two fairway bunkers on the left. Two more bunkers guard the green. LANDING ZONE Statistically, the hardest hole at Augusta National is the 495-yard par-4 10th. Since 1942 when the Masters began calculating stroke averages per hole, the 10th has played at 0.31 strokes over par. But it’s not the longest par 4 on the course – the 505-yard 11th has played to a cumulative average of 0.30 strokes over par. And in recent years, the 11th has been more difficult than the 10th. The last time the 10th was the most difficult hole was in 2001; since then, the 11th has ranked as the most difficult 11 times, including last year when it played to a stroke average of 4.400 (compared to the 10th’s 4.082, which was its lowest average in tournament history). Here’s a look at the 11th, which starts Amen Corner. WEATHER CHECK From the Masters official forecast: “Thursday’s first round will feature partly cloudy skies, while clouds increase later in the day. Easterly winds at 6-12 mph in the morning, turn southeast at 10-15 mph during the afternoon with gusts up to 20 mph possible late day. A warm front lifts into the area on Friday, bringing a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms. The front hangs just to the north on Saturday, keeping isolated showers in the forecast. The main cold front associated with this system is expected to approach Sunday afternoon, bringing increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms. After a breezy Friday with gusts of 15-20 mph possible, winds settle down for Saturday, and then pick back up ahead of the front on Sunday when the strongest winds of the week are expected.â€� For the latest weather news from Augusta, Georgia, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK This event, is so different, and is so unique. It’s pure golf. You know, it’s just player and caddie out there playing. We’re prepping together and there’s no other distractions inside the ropes. BY THE NUMBERS (AMEN CORNER EDITION) 3.63 – Jon Rahm’s stroke average at the par-4 11th in eight career rounds. That’s the lowest of any player in the field. 2.96 – Hideki Matsuyama’s stroke average at the par-3 12th in 26 career rounds. That’s the lowest of any player in the field with 25-plus rounds at Augusta National. 4.24 – Phil Mickelson’s stroke average at the par-5 13th in 98 career rounds. That’s the lowest of any player with a minimum of 25 rounds at Augusta National. In case you’re wondering, Tiger Woods’ stroke average at that hole in 82 career rounds is 4.39. SCATTERSHOTS Need a fast start: If you’re not in the top 10 after Thursday’s first round, you can probably forget about winning a green jacket. Since 2006, every winner has been T-10 or better after 18 holes. The last player who wasn’t? Tiger Woods, who opened with a 74 in 2005, which had him sitting T-33 on Thursday night. Woods rallied the next day, shooting 66 and was solo third headed into the weekend. “Obviously you’ve got to get off to a good start in a major and at least build some confidence and kind of get it rolling,â€� said Brooks Koepka, winner of three of the last seven majors but still searching for his first Masters victory. Mickelson’s 100th: On Friday, Phil Mickelson will play his 100th round at Augusta National. “I didn’t even know that until you brought it up,â€� he said when asked about it on Tuesday. “I’ve been fortunate to play a lot of rounds here, and I cherish and love every one of them, even the practice rounds.â€� Challenging prep work. With two inches of rain falling on Augusta National since the start of this week, the course has played softer and the greens have been slower during practice rounds. But with Augusta National’s sub-air system, and no rain expected until Friday, the course conditions could be completely different for Thursday’s first round. That means the players will need to lean on previous experience than on this week’s prep work. “Gotta pull on a lot of history,â€� said Brandt Snedeker. “… Kind of a little tough to get fully prepared.â€� Softer conditions=more contenders. Jordan Spieth said that softer conditions at Augusta National might widen the number of players who could win the tournament. “I think there’s less strategy when it’s softer,â€� he said. Spieth won in soft conditions in 2015, but he’s also contended in firm conditions in 2014, his first Masters start when he tied for second. “I think either way, you just have to step up and play some really good golf,â€� he said. FedExCup leaders: All 30 players who qualified for last year’s TOUR Championship are in this week’s field. In addition, 24 of the top 30 players in the current standings will tee off Thursday, including Corey Conners, who moved from 64th to 13th in the standings after winning the Valero Texas Open. Just two players have won the Masters after winning the PGA TOUR’s event the previous week – Sandy Lyle in 1998 and Phil Mickelson in 2006.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Graeme McDowell had just shot 68 in the first round of the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, his first round here in 16 years, but he was hardly feeling cocky. “For me it’s just day by day at the minute,” said McDowell, who missed the cut in 10 of 15 starts last season and has fallen to 358th in the world. “I’m just really trying to layer good days on good days.” It doesn’t seem like that long ago that McDowell won the U.S. Open and the decisive Ryder Cup singles match over Hunter Mahan, not to mention a bunch of other stuff. Alas, that was back in 2010. Nowadays, McDowell, a four-time PGA TOUR winner, is 42 and trying to find the player he used to be. Not only that, but he’s doing this wayfinding on a course that may as well be brand new to him, given that the last time he played this rowdy desert tournament was 2006. “You’re making me old,” he said of the long stretch between starts. “But it’s a fantastic week. I mean, obviously watching it on TV, heard the guys talking about it … we played early this morning, so I got to see 16 fairly benign. We’ll play it (Friday) afternoon a little later on, when I’m sure there will be a few beverages starting to flow and the atmosphere should be a lot of fun. “But the golf course is sensational,” he continued. “Not sure I’ve seen a better conditioned golf course than this one and it’s playing firm and fast which suits (me). Greens are fantastic and it’s been one of those weeks where I’m trying to wonder why it’s been 16 years since I’ve been here.” If the four-time Ryder Cup player and 11-time DP World Tour winner has been rethinking everything, including which tournaments to play, you can understand why. The results just haven’t been there, with just one top-10 finish, a T4 at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, since the start of last season. This week he’s been trying to learn the green complexes at a TPC Scottsdale course that, with its slopes and runoff areas, may as well be brand new to him. So far, so good. “It’s been a really tough 18 months,” McDowell said, “and I’m really just trying to keep things simple, just work hard, have good days, hopefully those will add up to being in contention and I’ll give myself some chances to win and that’s really just the goal at the minute is just to try and be as patient as I can.”

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