Getty The drive down Magnolia Lane heading into the Masters is majestic.
Golf fans are glued to their weather app as rain is in the forecast all day in Augusta, Georgia. Early Masters tee times should be fine as the first group gets started at 10 a.m. Eastern. According to Weather Underground, the chances for rain only increases as the day progresses. There is a 60 percent chance of rain at 1 p.m., and by 3 p.m. it moves all the way up to 90 percent. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-60’s for most of the day.
Here’s the Weather Underground daily overview for Saturday at Augusta.
Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 67F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
How will the rain impact the Masters? Tournaments have been played in the rain before, with the main caveat being the golfers and fans must not be in any danger. CBS Sports Chip Patterson wondered whether the progressively bad weather could cause the final group to finish their third round on Sunday morning.
If the players are worried about the weather, they are not letting anyone in on their secret. Dustin Johnson, who sits at -3 and in T-6 position, appears to be rooting for adverse weather.
“Whatever the weather is for tomorrow, we’ve got to play in it,” Johnson told PGATour.com. “The tougher the better.”
Rickie Fowler is in T-8 at -2, and spoke about how the rain could impact play.
“I don’t think really many of us have played in a windy kind of rainy condition,” Fowler explained to PGATour.com. “There’s sometimes you get a little misty or the ground gets a little wet. But it also can benefit if it makes the greens a little bit easier. If they do get a little bit wet and they soften up, they can slow down a little bit, so there are some benefits to having that.”
Meteorologist Doug Anderson spoke with The Augusta Chronicle earlier this weekend about the potential for rain this weekend.
“… Unfortunately there is another front coming in over the weekend,” Anderson noted to The Augusta Chronicle. “It looks like that final weekend we are going to have some challenges…It looks like Saturday, they are going to be dealing with some gusty southwest winds as well; Sunday, not as bad.”
USA Today described an “arctic outbreak” that is expected to impact most of the country.
Sorry, winter-weary folks, more waves of bitter cold and heavy snow are in the forecast across the northern U.S. Record cold is possible this weekend all the way from Montana to Wisconsin and as far south as Oklahoma. Weather Channel meteorologist Michael Palmer called it a “ridiculous late season arctic outbreak,” warning a hard freeze is possible all the way into the Deep South. Meanwhile, an atmospheric river — aka the Pineapple Express — will hit the West Coast this weekend, bringing the threat of heavy rain, flooding and potentially record warm temperatures.
Heading into the final two rounds, Patrick Reed is atop the leaderboard at -9 with Marc Leishman in second at -7. Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth round out the top five going into Round 3.