AUGUSTA, Ga. — Watch out.

Things look like they’re going to get tricky at this Masters, thanks to the perfect weather.

There’s a sentiment among the players that Augusta National conditions might be a handful by the time the weekend arrives. For the first time in years, there will be no rain during Masters week, which allows the course to firm up and play hard and fast.

The forecast the rest of the week is temperatures in the 80s with abundant sunshine.

“I think this could be the toughest Masters we’ve played in a while,’’ Shane Lowry said after shooting 71 Thursday to trail first-round leaders Rory McIlory and Sam Burns by four shots. “You look at the forecast. They can do whatever they want with the golf course this weekend.

“Over the last few years, we’ve had a day every year where it’s been raining or it’s been heavy rains. It’s kind of helped us a little bit, but I think before the week is out, it’s going to get very, very crusty around here.’’

Justin Rose joked that “you might get a yellow jacket if you win,’’ referring to the possible Sunday color of the greens. 

Patrick Reed said the course “definitely has the teeth in it to make it really, really tough.’’

“The greens are already getting firm, crusty, and bouncy,’’ he went on. “I actually broke one tee on the (17th) hole trying to fix a ball mark. You already know it’s going to get crusty. You know it’s going to get fast, and it’s going to take a lot of patience.

“With what the weather looks like it’s going to be — really hot, sunny — they could make this place really, really hard if they wanted to. I wouldn’t be surprised. We have the best players in the world here. Why not? Challenge us and make it difficult.’’

Ryan Gerard, whose father, Robert, is from Oyster Bay on Long Island, shot an even-par 72 in his debut Masters round.

When asked to grade his day, he delivered the line of the day when he said, “I give the front nine (3-over par) an ‘F’ [and] I would probably give the back nine an ‘A.’ Overall, a ‘C,’ which would get a [college] degree in some places.’’

Fred Couples, the oldest player in the field at 66, was 2-under par through 14 holes, looking ageless. And then, 15, 16 and 17 happened.

Couples took a quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 15th and then doubled 16 and 17 to tumble to 6-over par and finish with a 78. He played the last four holes in 8-over par.

Bryson DeChambeau entered the week as one of the tournament favorites, having won his last two starts on LIV Golf. But a disastrous back nine may have foiled his chances of winning a first green jacket after he posted a 4-over-par 76.

His round imploded when he took a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 11th hole after he’d made the turn in even par. It took him three shots out of a greenside bunker to extricate himself.

“The bunker was softer than I anticipated,’’ he said afterward.

DeChambeau wasn’t the only LIV player to struggle Thursday. In fact, all 10 of the LIV Golf players in the field this week combined for a cumulative 32-over par with not a single one of them under par.

Sergio Garcia is even par and the rest are over par.

Jon Rahm, a past champion, struggled to a 6-over-par 78, second worst among the LIV players after only Carlos Ortiz’s 80.

Collin Morikawa has been on pins and needles all week, wondering whether his balky back was going to hold up. He practiced sparingly all week, not wanting to push it. Since he withdrew from the Players Championship when a practice swing wrenched his back, Morikawa hasn’t been able to practice at full speed.

He opened with a 2-over-par 74 and called it “probably the toughest round I’ve ever played.’’

“I’m just fighting,’’ he said. “Like, it’s a battle. It all started when I woke up. I’ve never felt this nervous, like, in my life. I think it’s a trust factor. When it happened out on the course at the Players, you know, there’s a certain doubt factor of, like, is this going to happen (or) is this not?

“I’ve been hitting balls for the past week and a half, but not comfortably. When I teed it up on Tuesday I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make contact.’’

Brandon Holtz, a 39-year-old real estate broker from Illinois, shot a 9-over-par 81 in his opening round.

“It was tough,’’ the U.S. Mid-Am winner said. “Definitely not what I wanted to do on the golf course today, but I had a lot of fun. I’ve kind of already won. I’m 39, chasing a dream and here we are. But at the same time, I’m not happy with how I played, you know. But we got tomorrow so let’s see what happens.’’

This year is the 40th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus’ sixth and final Masters victory, at age 46. It remains one of the most memorable in the 90-year history of the tournament.

“I don’t know whether it changed my life, but it was a nice way to finish a career,’’ Nicklaus said Thursday. “It looked like I was pretty much done with playing golf when I won the U.S. Open and PGA in 1980, and I really wasn’t, you might say, expecting to win anymore.

“All of a sudden, I found a little lightning in the bottle, and it was kind of fun to find that.’’

Nicklaus called that ’86 victory his “No. 1’’ favorite Masters memory.

“I love them all, but obviously ’86 was the one that I wasn’t expected to win,’’ he said. “I was over the hill and the whole routine, and I won. So that was very special. It happened to be the most special to me, absolutely.’’

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Maybe gift shopping really is out of control at the Masters.

Xander Schauffele’s tee shot on the par-5 eighth hole Thursday at Augusta National appeared to come to rest in somebody’s merchandise bag, just a few feet to the left of the fairway. Schauffele used a tee to mark the spot, removed the ball and then handed off the bag to a woman in a pink and white outfit.

He was able to play on without penalty and made par.

Schauffele finished the front nine in 1 under, but he had his shaky moments. His tee shot on the par-4 ninth ended up in some pine straw and his second shot found a bunker. Then he splashed out to within inches of the hole.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Copyright 2026 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Patrick Reed said this week there are “10 to 12 guys who have a really legitimate opportunity to win the green jacket.”

It doesn’t take math major to determine that would eliminate more than 85 percent of this week’s 91-player field from winning the 90th edition of the Masters Tournament.

Told of Reed’s assessment, Bryson DeChambeau quipped, “I hope I’m one of those 12. That would be nice.”

Unlike Reed, DeChambeau has yet to claim a Masters title, but it’s still safe to assume he was among Reed’s short list.

The bigger point is that heavy underdogs rarely win at Augusta National. The first major of the year is the only one that is played at the same course every year. It’s a stiff test that lends itself best to those who are not only immensely talented with their ability to hit a variety of shots, but have experience with the different winds, course conditions and nuances that make Augusta National one of the most unique tests in golf.

And Reed explained 10 to 12 are more players than he typically believes enter a Masters with a legitimate chance of winning.

“I just feel like with how deep golf has been, especially this past year to two years, that the fields are obviously getting a lot stronger,” he said. “I feel like the field this week is really strong like always. I feel like it used to be five or six, maybe seven guys.

“It just makes this event a little bit more special and even more fun going out there and playing against the best.”

Three of the past four Masters have been won by the current top two players in the world: Scottie Scheffler in 2022 and 2024 and Rory McIlroy last year, when the Northern Irishman completed the career grand slam in a dramatic playoff victory over Justin Rose.

Included in that stretch was the 2023 victory by former world No. 1 Jon Rahm.

The last player to win the Masters in his first attempt was Fuzzy Zoeller, who overcame a six-shot deficit and beat Ed Sneed and Tom Watson in a playoff 47 years ago.

Today, McIlroy will begin his quest to become only the fourth player in history to win consecutive Masters. If successful, he would join Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02).

“It’s arguably maybe not the largest field in golf, but it’s the strongest,” McIlroy said this week. “There’s so many great players and so many players with so much experience on this golf course, it’s not quite like some of the other major championships. It seems like you get a lot of the same guys contending year in and year out.”

The conditions could serve to increase that likelihood this year.

Augusta National has not seen a drop of rain this week. After some chilly and breezy conditions this morning, the forecast calls for mostly sunny — and completely dry — skies throughout the tournament.

That includes temperatures in the mid-80s during the weekend. That’s an equation for a firm and fast Augusta National, which will demand precision with all elements of players’ games.

“The forecast looks great,” Scheffler said. “It’s going to get firm and fast. I would imagine they would like the greens to get fast. I think that increases the challenge of the golf course.

“I’m excited to see how it plays this week. We might get a little bit of wind, too. The golf course is shaping up nicely.”