Cold weekend awaits players
Windy finish expected
Usually, rain poses the biggest problem at Augusta National Golf Club during Masters Week.
This weekend, the wet stuff is taking a back seat to the cold.
"I think for a lot of us, it's shocking really," Stewart Cink told a news crew. "A lot of us, never played the Masters in 'January' before."
When Cink teed off at 8 a.m. Friday, it was 41 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
About an hour earlier, when many of the golfers began their warm-ups, the thermometer was at 38.
Walking off the 18th green nearly four hours later in temperatures in the mid-60s, Cink stripped down from the thermal sleeves and cashmere sweater he had worn to stay warm. Most of the players who finished their rounds by early afternoon left to picture-perfect golf weather.
Players with early tee times today will face a cold front that isn't expected to pass until after the green jacket is awarded Sunday.
Forecasts call for a low of 31 degrees this morning, and a record low of 25 degrees Sunday. The high today is expected to be in the upper 50s.
The freeze could do more than alter wardrobes.
"If it's relatively sunny and not a lot of wind, then the temperatures won't be a big deal," said Jim Furyk, who described his 8:33 a.m. start Friday as "freezing."
"What kept it bearable (Friday) morning was that it was sunny and there wasn't a lot of wind," he said. "If you get a little wind and a little cold, this place is going to be very, very difficult."
According to National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Kilmer, players will face winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour today.
"It looks to be breezy," he said.
The forecast isn't discouraging everyone.
Sandy Watts, a Mike Weir fan from Niagara Falls, Ontario, said she is used to cold weather
"The last time I came, it was almost 100 degrees on Sunday. We usually find it too hot, as opposed to too cold," she said, halfway out of her jacket and vest.
Jeev Milkha Singh, who is playing in his first Masters, said he wasn't too concerned with the unseasonable weather.
"I love playing in the cold. I have played in the European Tour for years," said the native of India. "I'm more comfortable playing in the cold. I like to play in the wind, too."
1979 Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller said those who made the cut just have to adjust their games to the weather.
"You can't worry about something you have no control over," he said. "That's kind of the way I look at it. It is the way it is and we'll deal with it, and I think that's how all the guys look at it."
Ian Poulter certainly does.
"I'm just going to put a jumper on and play my normal game," he said.
Reach Kamille Bostick at (706) 823-3223 or kamille.bostick@augustachronicle.com.
ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER/STAFF [CAPTION]
Michael Holahan/Staff Jim Furyk and caddie Mike "Fluff" Cowan try to keep their hands pocketed for warmth in temperatures in the 40s. [CAPTION]
Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff
