The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Augusta National: firm, fast and scary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 06, 2005

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Sport - Golf

Augusta National: firm, fast and scary

AUGUSTA, APRIL 5. Sweden's Jesper Parnevik used to think practice rounds at Augusta National were a waste of time. Putts seemed to crawl along the greens for three days until the Masters began on Thursday, then suddenly they raced across at warp speed.

Monday at the Masters felt like tournament time.

``You were hitting putts up to the hole, and they were coming back to you,'' Parnevik said. ``I've never seen greens this fast this early in the week.''

Maybe he should compare notes with Nick O'Hern. The left-handed Aussie is making his Masters debut, so he arrived over the weekend for a quick immersion on Augusta National.

He decided to walk the course only with his putter to get a feel for the place, and decided to rap a few putts on the par-3 12th in dry, blustery conditions on Saturday afternoon.

``I putted to the back left pin and the ball went off the green and into the water,'' O'Hern said. ``And there's not much slope on that green.''

``Very firm. Very fast. Very difficult,'' Japan's Shigeki Maruyama said.Preparations for the first major championship of the year began in earnest on Monday on an Augusta National course where the azaleas and dogwoods were starting to bloom and nerves already were a little frayed. — AP

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