This week’s 84th Masters at Augusta National will be played without spectators for the first time in its history.
The traditional opening major of the golf season was delayed from April to November. “This year it’s going to be eerily quiet,” said England’s Justin Rose, the 2013 US Open champion and twice a Masters runner-up. “You’re going to have to kind of remember the atmosphere almost to get inspired.”
Rose has adjusted to the major silences but would welcome the return of fans at next April’s scheduled Masters. “I think all of these majors, they haven’t quite felt the same, for sure, without that intensity that the crowd bring and the adrenaline that they kind of create,” Rose said. “Hopefully we get the opportunity in April to see crowds, but even that remains a bit optimistic possibly.”
Five-time major winner and three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson recalled being on the 18th green in 1991 as Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus made amazing putts at the 16th.
“One of them made the putt from down below to the front right up-on-top pin and the place erupted to the point where the ground actually shook and you could feel the vibrations in my feet,” he said. “And moments later the other player made the same putt and the place erupted again. You can hear the echo through the pines and it lasted a long time and you could feel the ground shake.”
Defending champion Tiger Woods, a five-time Masters champion and 15-time major winner, expects electric moments even without a live audience. Said Woods: “The atmosphere will be completely different. I won’t say the intensity, but just the atmosphere in general is going to be so different.”