Former Masters champion details “borderline unplayable” Augusta National conditions

The Masters dealt with seriously windy conditions at Augusta National so bad that a former champion almost threw in the towel.

How bad was it at Augusta National on Friday at the 88th Masters Tournament? Players had to deal with wind gusts upwards of 40 miles per hour most of the day.

There are only 22 players at even par or better on the leaderboard out of the 89 participants.

Augusta National is already a challenging track, but it's nearly impossible when the wind blows like it did Friday.

Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel weighed in on the conditions.

“I thought I had 81 impossible shots today,” he said. “On a good day with a normal day, 15 mile-an-hour wind, with the way it’s playing at this firmness, it’s a fantastic test. It’s tough. You then get on the wrong side, and you’re thinking, wow, this is difficult. Then you add this wind to it, and it becomes borderline almost unplayable.”

Schwartzel will not be around for the weekend as he struggled mightily. He shot a 9-over 81 on Friday to go with his 2-over 74 on Thursday to finish at 11-over for the tournament.

He didn’t have the worst scores though, as Augusta National saw 14 and 15-over out there.

LIV Golf had 13 players compete at Augusta National this week, but after two rounds of play, at least six of their guys will miss the cut. Bryson DeChambeau does however hold a share of the lead, so a LIV golfer could still take home the Green Jacket.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.