Joey D: Midweek Masters Recap

Joey D checking in. It's Wednesday in Augusta, the weather has been inconsistent, the course still looks amazing and we're doing some fine-tuning regarding getting Pat Perez and Ryuji Imada both tourney-ready.

Pat wanted to work on some things, so I spent some time with he and his swing coach Mike Abbott the past few days. The verdict was that he needed to be a little wider in his stance. He was also coming up out of his spine angle, which is something we feel has been worked out entering Thursday's opening round.

I also worked with Ryuji and his coach Rich Abel, trying to help him through what I feel is a weather-related issue. He's still experiencing some soreness in a rib head on his upper left side. We worked that out in the trailer earlier this week and he's been hitting it nicely ever since.

The weather has been as consistent as we'd hoped. The wind has been howling the past few days, which has guys concerned and preparing accordingly. The key is for them to not over-think things. It's been a few days up here.

Guys know the greens and they know the wind is going to die down a bit later in the week. Keep the focus on their short game and don't worry about the weather. Greens are running pure and fast, which is important. Adjust according to the conditions - be it wind or cold - and just get after it.

It's about 65 degrees right now and things are expected to warm up over the next few days. We could see mid to high 70s by week's end. The weather is most likely going to cooperate and again, this course is in immaculate condition. You cannot make mistakes out here or you're going to pay.

Check back tomorrow as I'm going to post some pictures we snapped from inside the ropes yesterday, Pat's caddy Michael Hartford is going to download them for me on his computer. We got some great shots of #12 and #13 where TV cameras and spectators aren't allowed. After that, I'll chime back in Friday after we have round one in the books and can discuss where the guys are at.


Joey D.