Masters weather forecast could wreak havoc Thursday in Augusta. See the latest update
Playing a golf tournament in the South in spring means that there's always a chance of rain and rough weather.
But the Masters Tournament is almost certain to extend a streak this week that it's not terribly happy about.
Severe wind and rain is in the forecast for Thursday's opening round of the 88th edition of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. If play is affected – which feels like a certainty at this point – it would mark a fifth consecutive Masters that has had to stop play due to weather delays.
That includes last year, when a storm on Friday, April 7, stopped the tournament and took down three trees adjacent to the 17th fairway, narrowly missing a host of patrons.
The 88th Masters almost certainly will hand out a green jacket on Sunday evening, but it likely won't be a steady march to a title for this year's champion.
Masters weather forecast for Thursday
The honorary starters are scheduled for 7:40 a.m. Thursday, with first tee times at 8 a.m.
Unfortunately, the tournament's Wednesday afternoon forecast says that a band of thunderstorms with wind gusts of up to 45 mph is expected to cross through the area, starting at 7 a.m. and lasting until 1 p.m.. It's a 40 percent chance of rain after 4 p.m. In all, up to 1 3/4 inches of rain is forecast.
The weather outlook for Friday has no rain, but winds up to 30 mph, with much better conditions expected for the weekend.
To see the latest weather forecast, check the following weather websites:
Has weather ever cancelled the Masters?
No.
Rain, however, has called off eight days of tournament play over the years. In the tournament's early formation, 36-hole days got the field back on time in 1936, 1938 and 1939.
The last time an entire day of play was wiped out was the first round in 2003; the field then tried to play 36 holes on Friday but had to return Saturday morning to finish Round 2 before getting back on schedule.
Has a Masters ever finished on a Monday?
Yessir, as Verne Lunquist would tell us.
The last Masters to finish on a Monday was in 1983, when Friday's second round never began and was moved to Saturday with players going off both nines. The third round was played Sunday and the final round on Monday. That year, Seve Ballesteros won his second green jacket, erasing a one-shot deficit to Raymond Floyd and winning by four shots.
Other Monday finishes occurred in 1936, 1938, 1961 and 1973.
When would the Masters resume, if postponed?
The Masters Tournament takes course conditions and weather forecasts into account as it decides when to return golfers to the course to start or complete rounds.
Depending how much rain falls on Thursday, and the wind around the course, some players could start their round on Thursday, but that would be determined in the moment.
Over the years, Masters participants have stayed in the same groupings for multiple rounds, as well as starting off both nines in order to speed up play and be able to put the green jacket on its champion on Sunday evening – even in the dark, as Adam Scott had to do in 2013.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Weather in Augusta, Georgia: Forecast for Masters on Thursday
