The PGA Tour, USGA, R&A, PGA of America and Augusta National Golf Club recently announced new dates for the 2020 Masters Tournament of November 12-15. Last night, on what would have been Masters Sunday, Michelle Wie spoke to Brooks Koepka on an Instagram Live interview via Nike Golf platforms where the former World No.1 discussed the new dates and how altered weather conditions may change the dynamic.
“November in Augusta is going to be chilly,” said Koepka. “I’ve never been there that time of the year, you never know what you’re going to get that’s going to be the fun part – it’s going to play a lot longer and different.”
With the Masters traditionally scheduled for mid-April, the weather usually sits around 25 degrees Celsius. In November, the temperature can drop to as low as 8 degrees, which will have a huge impact how Augusta National will play.”
“I’m assuming it’s going to be wet,” he continued, “the ball’s not going to roll out as much, it’s going to spin more – the greens and slopes will come into play.”
“It could play two or three clubs longer.”
The four-time Major champion believes that the changed weather conditions will prompt many players to visit Augusta in advance of the tournament to get acclimatised.
“Even par might be a good score,” he said. “At Augusta, usually if you shoot two or three under its pretty good – if the weather’s cold nobody knows what could happen.”
What would be Koepka’s tee-time preference?
A fan tuned into the live feed and asked Koepka what his ideal tee time would be.
“I’m a big late-early guy,” he said. “I feel like if it’s late-early I can get my work done in the morning. Work out, then go play Thursday afternoon.
“Then, Friday morning it’s a quick turnaround – go out and get to work, then go to the gym in the afternoon. It then feels like you’ve got a day off in between – the Thursday-Friday goes so quickly you’ve almost got 20 hours of down time before you tee off on Saturday it makes the weekend a little easier for me.”
The postponement of the Masters gives Koepka some more time to fully recover from the knee injury that he had recently undertaken surgery for in the off-season.
