AUGUSTA, Ga. – Sergio Garcia is learning to accept life as it comes, to not get too upset when things don’t go his way.

Sounds admirable enough.

Except when one is trying to finally win a major championship that should’ve been in the trophy case years ago.

Garcia has played magnificently over his first two rounds at Augusta National – a bogey-free performance in the face of howling winds Thursday, a 3-under 69 in conditions that were still quite challenging Friday – yet there’s still a sense he has no idea what it takes to win one of golf’s biggest events.

He’ll head to the weekend with a chance to finally stamp himself as one of the greats.

Watch @TheSergioGarcia's second round in under three minutes. #themasters pic.twitter.com/1zkXVJqwzK

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 7, 2017

But he already seems to be steeling himself for the inevitable failure.

“Having a chance is the best thing,” Garcia said, before adding, almost as an afterthought, “and winning it, I’m sure, it’s amazing.”

He talked of how fortunate he’s been to play in 70 consecutive majors, a remarkable accomplishment indeed. But it’s not what a player should be harping on when, once again, he’s in position to win one.

“I don’t even know how many there are, but so many majors in a row and giving myself a lot of chances to win them,” Garcia said, “that for me is already a win.”

Maybe in his mind.

That sort of attitude is a big reason why he’s managed to finish in the top 10 of the majors a staggering 22 times without even once coming away with a green jacket or a claret jug or a Wanamaker Trophy or that unnamed silver prize they give to the U.S. Open champion.

Garcia isn’t just the best active player never to win a major.

He’s probably the most talented player – of any era – to miss out on one of the titles that transform a good career into greatness.

“If we can put the cherry on top,” Garcia said, his follow-up delivered with not a hint of urgency, “that would be even better.”

Can you ever imagine Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods saying something like that in the prime of their careers?

No way.

For them – and any great athlete, really – winning is the only thing that matters, the only thing that anyone remembers.

If there’s any hope for Garcia, at least he sounds a bit more positive than he did at this same place five years ago. After shooting himself into contention the first two days, he fell off the board with a 75 in the third round.

In a brutal self-assessment, he declared to Spanish reporters: “I’m not good enough. In 13 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place.”

Ouch.

After finishing up the next day, tied for 12th and an afterthought, Garcia was asked if he really meant what he said or had just gotten caught up in the frustration of the moment.

He didn’t back down.

“Do you think I lie when I talk?” Garcia shot back. “Everything I say, I say it because I feel it. If I didn’t mean it, I couldn’t stand here and lie like a lot of the guys. If I felt like I could win, I would do it. Unfortunately at the moment, unless I get really lucky in one of the weeks, I can’t really play much better than I played this week and I’m going to finish 13th or 15th.”

He’s 37 now, hardly over the hill but his head and beard now tinged with a bit of grey. Certainly, he’s no longer a vivacious teenager bounding up the fairway after pulling off a remarkable shot from behind a tree at Medinah, a runner-up to Woods in a memorable PGA Championship that everyone figured was a mere delaying of the inevitable.

Back in 1999, it would’ve been impossible to find anyone who doubted that Garcia would someday be a major champion. The only question seemed to be how many titles he would win.

Now, he’ll gladly take one.

Mark O’Meara holds the record for playing in the most Masters (15) before finally picking up his first victory.

This is Garcia’s 19th appearance at Augusta National.

“Things have definitely changed,” he said. “I think I’m a little bit calmer now. I think that I’m working on trying to accept things which can happen here and can happen anywhere. It’s part of golf. It’s not easy. It’s much easier to say than to do it. But that’s the challenge we always have, you know, making sure that you accept the bad moments or the bad breaks with the good ones, and kind of move on.”

To his credit, Garcia didn’t flinch when a scoring error briefly showed that he made triple-bogey at the 10th instead of a bogey.

“The most important thing is I knew where I stood,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t 1 under. I knew I was 3 under.”

He finished at 4-under 140, tied for the lead with three others midway through the tournament.

Afterward, Garcia was asked again about that 2012 meltdown, when he seemed resigned to a fate of never winning the big one.

He tried to sound more optimistic.

“I probably didn’t accept things as well as I should have,” Garcia said. “I’ve shown myself many times after that, that I can contend and I can truly feel like I can win – not only one, but more than one.”

That’s the way he needs to be thinking.

He just didn’t sound all the persuasive.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rickie Fowler finally got to the top of the leaderboard in a major and didn’t have much of a view.

Right next to him was Charley Hoffman, playing in the final group going into the weekend at the Masters for the second time in three years. Sergio Garcia knew the score when no one else did and had his first share of the lead in his 19th time playing Augusta National. Not to be overlooked was Thomas Pieters of Belgium, a real threat to become the first Masters rookie since 1979 to leave with a green jacket.

And those were just the co-leaders in the largest 36-hole logjam at the Masters in 44 years.

Even more daunting were the players lined up behind them – Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson among four Masters champions, Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose, Spanish rookie sensation Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy, missing only this major for the career Grand Slam.

“It’s going to be a fun weekend,” Fowler said after a 5-under 67, the best score of another wind-swept day. “We’re going to see a lot of good golf and battle it out.”

Friday’s second round at #themasters was the survival of the fittest. pic.twitter.com/JherxTvXu5

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 8, 2017

Two days of survival gives way to a shootout among some of golf’s biggest stars.

In conditions just as demanding as the opening round, Fowler holed out a bunker shot for eagle on his second hole, quickly moved into the lead pack and secured his spot in a share of the lead with a tricky birdie putt from the collar of the 16th green.

Garcia, playing his 70th consecutive major and still looking for that first victory to define an otherwise strong career, wasn’t the least bit bothered by seeing the wrong score for him on a leaderboard behind the 13th green when a penalty for a lost ball was mistakenly attributed to him. He bounced back from a bogey behind the 13th green by firing a 3-iron across the water and into the wind to the 15th green for a two-putt birdie. He shot a 69.

Pieters moved to the top by hitting off the pine straw and over a tributary of Rae’s Creek to 12 feet for eagle on No. 13, and he followed with a wedge to 4 feet for birdie on the 14th to shoot 68. Hoffman lost his four-shot lead in 11 holes before he steadied himself the rest of the way and limited the damage to a 75.

The leaders were at 4-under 140.

Hoffman will be in the final group going into the weekend at the Masters for the second time in three years, with one big difference. Two years ago, Hoffman was five shots behind Spieth in what turned out to be a runaway for the young Texan.

This time, the Masters appears to be up for grabs.

The wind began to subside as the pines cast long shadows across the course late in the afternoon, and the forecast is close to perfection for the rest of the weekend, with mild temperatures and hardly any wind.

That won’t make it any less exhausting, not with 15 players separated by only five shots.

The last time there was a four-way tie for the lead at the halfway point of the Masters was in 1973, when Bob Dickson, Gay Brewer, J.C. Snead and Tommy Aaron were tied at 3-under 141. Aaron went on to claim his only green jacket.

Hoffman had a chance to keep his distance until he ran off five bogeys in a six-hole stretch, including a three-putt from 4 feet at the par-5 eighth.

“Everybody was talking about how great that round was yesterday, but it was pretty easy to me – making putts, hitting good, solid golf shots,” Hoffman said. “Today I think I sort of felt how hard it was for everybody else in this wind when you got out of position.”

Garcia only really got out of position on the scoreboard.

His tee shot on No. 10 clipped a tree and shot back into the fairway, while Shane Lowry also hit a tree and couldn’t find it. Both were wearing dark sweaters during the search, and the scorers were confused with who lost the ball. Garcia made bogey, dropping him to 3 under. A few holes later, however, it was changed to 1 under on the scoreboard, and Garcia pointed to the board behind the 13th green.

It eventually was fixed, though that was of no concern to the 37-year-old Spaniard.

“The most important thing is I knew where I stood,” Garcia said.

And he knows the score that everyone talks about – 70 majors as a pro without a victory, and enough close calls to make him wonder if he’ll ever get it done.

Adam Hadwin is the only Canadian to make the cut. The Abbotsford, B.C., product shots a 2-over 74 and is 5 over. Mike Weir, the 2003 champion from Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 79 and finished 11 over. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot 80 and ended at 15 over.

Spieth, undone by a quadruple bogey in the opening round, started slowly and finished strong with birdies on the 16th and 18th for a 69. Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, also had a 69 and joined Spieth at 144.

“We’re in a position now where we can go out there and win this thing and certainly make a run,” Spieth said. “So that right there just kind of gives me chills, because after yesterday I was really disappointed in being 10 shots off the lead.”

And right there with them was Mickelson, who can become the oldest Masters champion. The 46-year-old Mickelson was one shot behind until he sputtered down the stretch with three bogeys and two par saves over his last five holes for a 73.

“If I can have a good putting weekend, I’m going to have a good chance,” he said.

Him and everyone else.

The Alberta Golf Hall of Fame is proud to announce that two long-time volunteers will be inducted during a ceremony at the Sundre Golf Club on May 17, 2017.

“The two individuals being inducted into our Hall of Fame this year have a storied history of giving back to the game,” said Alberta Golf Executive Director/CEO Phil Berube. “Mr. Swelin and Mr. Blake have combined to contribute 55 years of service to making Alberta Golf a better organization. Since 1989, these gentlemen have spent countless hours planning, executing and supporting the Association’s mission to enhance our Rules & Competitions offering which now serves as a model for the rest of the country.”

Les Swelin and Martin Blake will be inducted under the distinguished service category. With their inductions, the duo will become the 33^rd and 34^th honoured members of the Alberta Golf Hall of Fame.

About Les Swelin…

Les Swelin entered the Alberta Golf Association as a board member in the fall of 1989 from the small town of Hughenden, before moving to Sundre Golf Club. His passion for the game as a player and devotee to the Rules of Golf was evident early on. Les would quickly become a respected operational and governance trailblazer. His influence would reach provincially, nationally and internationally. His voice of reason, calm demeanor and reach for high standards of excellence helped set the course for amateur golf for three decades.

His early contributions were in junior golf. He quickly became the chair of the junior committee and with his fellow members truly modernized the provincial junior golf program. New camps, tournaments and team events would soon be producing elite golf talent never before seen in Alberta. Being a visionary, Les was instrumental in influencing the direction of junior golf at the national level as well, working to enhance the quality of junior golf in Canada. His efforts would pay great dividends as players from his program would go onto to win the Canadian Junior Team championship for the first time in 1997. Perhaps most impressively, players who began their junior careers under the leadership of Les Swelin won for the first and only time the prestigious Junior America’s Cup team championship in 2002.

As a natural leader, Les was called upon to chair committees, tournaments and eventually the entire association as President in 2006. His dedication to the game was untiring and he would always be sought after for strategic guidance. Never being one to follow trends, he could always be relied on for formalizing plans that would be beneficial at all levels. Les served as President during the vote to build a new, permanent office for Alberta Golf – ‘Golf House’.

Alberta Golf owes a great deal of gratitude to the vast array of volunteers that have propelled the game forward to such popularity over the past 30 years. At the front of the wave are captains of industry such as Les Swelin. He stands apart for his energy, enthusiasm, longevity and leadership. His impact has resulted in a better game but more importantly has positively enhanced an army of young men and women ready to take on the world in all aspects of life.

About Martin Blake…

Martin Blake came to the Alberta Golf Association in 1990 after a professional career in the banking industry and a volunteer career within the hockey community. Almost immediately after he joined Alberta Golf he became a much-respected tournament rules official which would soon lead him into the highly technical aspects of the Rules of Golf. His calm demeanor under pressure would make him the ideal Rules Official. He would soon be asked to adjudicate the rules at local, provincial and national events at almost a full-time level. His wife Norma would joke that she would pack his bag in May and look forward to seeing him again in September.

Martin’s understanding and expertise with the Rules of Golf would eventually lead him to being named the chair of the Royal Canadian Golf Association’s (Golf Canada) Rules Committee. This would open the door to being a Rules Official at many Canadian Men’s and Women’s Opens as well as the RCGA’s amateur championships. One of the crowning achievements was being called upon to be a Referee at the President’s Cup Matches held at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in 2007. Internationally, Martin attended rules of golf meetings with the R&A and USGA and was certified as one of the world’s leaders on the Rules of Golf at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews. Always one to share his knowledge on the Rules of Golf, Martin became a professor of the topic again for all levels. Many of today’s top officials were influenced by Martin Blake’s teachings and mentorship.

His eternal source of energy, dedication and goodwill could only come from a deep-rooted passion for sport that very few in a community ever have. The hours Martin Blake contributed to the leadership of the game of golf can only be explained as a calling. He was a calm, respected resource at all levels of the game. Never was there a more loyal, confident gentleman who could inspire those around him to be better. He held many varied roles within the organization such as executive committee member and tournament and committee chairman. If golf was a game designed for gentlemen, then Martin Blake was the prototype gentleman for whom it was so designed.

Martin also served as an Alberta Golf board and executive committee member. He was voted by his peers to be their RCGA Governor for many years where he represented his province’s best interests on the game of golf. His strong leadership and team skills made him a highly esteemed member locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. His long and lasting legacy has left an indelible mark on the game of golf.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Masters began Thursday with two ceremonial tee shots and one empty chair.

In a sombre tribute to Arnold Palmer, who died in September, Augusta National chairman Billy Payne escorted Palmer’s widow to the first tee for the honorary start. Payne also carried Palmer’s green jacket and draped it over a chair where Palmer had sat last April.

This is the first Masters without the King since 1954.

“The almost unbearable sadness we feel at the passing of Arnold is surpassed only by the love and affection for him that will always reside in our heart,” Payne said as thousands crammed around the first tee on a crisp morning full of sunshine and wind.

Every fan through the gate received a button that said, “I am a member of Arnie’s Army.”

Payne asked for a moment of silence so everyone could remember their own experience with Palmer – did anyone in golf have more friends? – and then turned it over to Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player for the ceremonial tee shots.

Player, who jokingly asked for a mulligan at age 81, drilled one down the middle. Nicklaus got him by about 5 yards, though Player was quick to announce it as a tie.

That’s how it was among the “Big Three” – Palmer, Nicklaus and Player, whose 34 majors among them included one stretch in the 1960s in which they combined to win the Masters seven straight times. They were best of friends off the course and hated losing to one another on the course.

Palmer had been part of the honorary start since 2007. He was so feeble a year ago that he did not hit a drive, though he still came out to the first tee and watched from a chair.

That’s what stood out the most to Player.

“Arnold was a great stickler for manners, and I’ll never forget, which really reminded me on the first tee this morning,” Player said. “Arnold could hardly walk to the first tee and he put his arms like this, and he stood up like this.”

To demonstrate, Player placed his hands on the side of his chair and lifted himself up.

“Because he had been taught to stand up,” Player said. “And he gave a little wave, and that was very touching to me, and I could see him doing it in that chair today.”

Brad Dalke, the U.S. Amateur runner-up, didn’t tee off until 11:30 a.m. and wanted to be sure he was out under the oak tree to see the honorary start. Rickie Fowler and William McGirt were among the players who came out to watch.

“I wouldn’t want to miss this,” Dalke said.

The “Big Three” has been referenced in recent years whenever three players separate themselves, if only briefly. The original concept had as much to do with marketing because Palmer, Nicklaus and Player were managed by Mark McCormack at IMG and would travel the world competing in exhibitions.

But it was as much about friendship.

“There will be other ‘Big Threes,’ but I don’t know if you’ll ever have another ‘Big Three’ that will live together like we did,” Player said. “I was in Jack’s home for weeks, and Arnold was in my home and Jack visited my farm time and time again. I was in their airplane. We really lived our life together. … Now, will that happen again with three guys? Possibly, I don’t know.

“It’s hard to be highly competitive against people and have a great friendship,” Player said. “And yet I sit here today and Jack Nicklaus is my best friend in the world.”

And they still are competitive, even after one shot.

Nicklaus was asked if he hit his driver farther than Player.

“Well, the official word was that it was a little past,” Nicklaus said “But Gary is claiming a tie.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Dustin Johnson withdrawing from the Masters was shocking enough. Then Charley Hoffman delivered a surprise of his own.

In a raging wind that left most players celebrating anything around par, Hoffman ran off seven birdies over his last 11 holes Thursday for a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-shot lead over Masters newcomer William McGirt.

So tough was Augusta National in gusts that approached 40 mph that Hoffman and McGirt were the only players who broke 70. Hoffman didn’t have reason to believe he would be one of them after a pair of three-putt bogeys early in the round.

“After that, I can’t remember missing a putt,” he said.

Hoffman’s four-shot lead was the largest at the Masters for the opening round since Jack Burke Jr. had a four-shot lead in 1955.

Lee Westwood, who has the credentials as the best player to have never won a major, ran off five straight birdies late in the afternoon and salvaged a 70. Only eight other players broke par, a group that included Phil Mickelson, Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.

Rory McIlroy, needing only a green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam, used a nifty short game to stay in the mix. He saved two tough pars after missing the green in the wrong spots on Nos. 10 and 11, ran off three birdies in the middle of the back nine, and closed with another good par save for a 72.

Johnson never got a chance to see how he would fare.

Just under 24 hours before the world’s No. 1 player was to set out in search of a fourth straight victory, he was headed downstairs at the home he is renting to move his car in a downpour when he slipped while wearing socks and landed on his left elbow and lower back.

He tried to play. He wanted to play. Even after warming up, when he felt pain upon impact on two out of every three swings, he headed to the putting green to give it a shot. But that’s as far as Johnson got. Instead of going to the first tee, he took a sharp right toward the clubhouse and soon was on his way home.

“I can’t do it,” Johnson said. “I don’t feel there’s any chance of competing.”

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot 3 over in his Masters debut while 2003 winner Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., was 4 over. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., also in his debut, shot 79.

There have been four other players at No. 1 in the world who didn’t play a major. But none as abruptly as this when at the top of their game. Johnson had won his last three tournaments and was the betting favourite at the Masters.

Worse yet, he expects his back to feel good enough to play by the weekend.

“If it would have happened on Monday, I don’t think we’d have any issues. But it happened Wednesday,” he said. “To have a freak accident happen, it sucks. It sucks really bad.”

Not having Johnson around didn’t make the Masters any easier.

The wind was so strong that it blew golf balls some 6 feet on the greens as Adam Scott and defending champion Danny Willett were getting ready to putt.

The par-5 15th hole, historically the easiest at Augusta National, was the ninth hardest because of strong gusts and a back pin. No need to explain that to Jordan Spieth. One shot spun back into the water. Another shot went well over the green. He made a quadruple-bogey 9 and shot 75.

“If you catch the wrong gust at the wrong time, then you look stupid, like I did on 12,” Thomas Pieters said. “But that’s just Augusta, I guess.”

Pieters reached 5 under until a pair of double bogeys on the back nine, including the par-3 12th, that sent him to a 72.

McGirt, who qualified for his first Masters by winning the Memorial last year, thought he had a good omen when he saw Jack Nicklaus on Wednesday and the six-time Masters champion told him that Augusta and Muirfield Village had enough similarities that McGirt would be fine.

He made only one bogey, had a few tough par saves and a few birdies and shot 69.

Hoffman just never stopped making birdies.

Right about the time McGirt was talking about how cool it was to see his name atop the leaderboard, Hoffman birdied the 14th to reach 4 under. He picked up another birdie on the 15th with a delicate wedge shot. His 7-iron on the par-3 16th ran down the ridge to a few feet for a third straight birdie. And feeling like he could do no wrong, Hoffman hammered a pitching wedge to 3 feet on the 17th for a fourth straight birdie.

His approach to the 18th was headed for the bunker when it hit the side of it by a few inches and caromed onto the green. His 15-foot birdie missed by an inch.

“I step on this property and it just feels special,” Hoffman said.

It helps to see the ball go into the cup.

Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.) lead the Canadian trio on the day, carding a 3-over 75 to sit in a tie for 41st. 2003 Masters Champion Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 4-over 76 to sit T54. Mackenzie Hughes, reigning RSM Classic champion, struggled with a 7-over 79–he sits T86.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Dustin Johnson arrived at Augusta National on quite a roll, having won his last three tournaments.

He never even took a shot at the first major of the year.

The world’s No. 1-ranked player was forced to withdraw from the Masters on Thursday because of a lower back injury suffered less than 24 hours earlier in a freak fall at the home he was renting for the week.

“I want to play,” Johnson said. “I just can’t swing.”

He certainly tried, arriving at the club about two hours before he was scheduled to tee off in the final group of the opening round with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker.

Johnson took some easy swings on the practice range, headed back inside for additional treatment, and then broke out his longer irons and the driver to see how the back reacted.

He was clearly in pain, rubbing the area several times and letting his caddie tee up the ball so he didn’t have bend over. After an extended conversation with his coach, Butch Harmon, Johnson started walking toward the first tee.

His intention was to play.

His back wouldn’t let him.

“It sucks,” Johnson said. “I’m playing the best golf of my career. This is one of my favourite tournaments of the year. Then a freak accident happened (Wednesday) when I got back from the course. It sucks. It sucks really bad.”

Johnson got as far as the putting green between the clubhouse and the first tee. After about a half-dozen putts, he pulled out an iron and took a few more half-hearted practice swings.

Walker and Watson headed toward the tee.

Johnson went the opposite way.

“I was doing everything I could to try to play,” he said. “Last night, it was ice, heat, ice. I was up pretty much all night trying to get it ready for today. I had it worked on all morning. Obviously, I can make some swings. But I can’t make my normal swing.”

This Masters was over for Johnson before it even began, a stunning development that removed the favourite for the green jacket .

“It’s disappointing, for sure, for everybody,” 2013 champion Adam Scott said. “To pull out of the Masters when you’re in the kind of form he’s in, it must be a very difficult decision to make. Hopefully he gets better quick.”

Two-time major champion Jordan Spieth realized Johnson was out of the tournament when his name was removed from the scoreboard.

“As a friend of his and somebody who’s played a lot of golf with him, I know this: It must really, really not be good in order for him not to tee it up,” Spieth said.

The injury occurred Wednesday after Johnson returned to his rental home from a morning practice session at Augusta National. On the way outside to move his car, and wearing socks but no shoes, he slipped on a short staircase.

“It would have been better if it was full set of stairs. I would have slid all the way down,” Johnson said. “But there were only three steps. I landed on my left side. My left elbow is sore and bruised. My lower left back took the brunt of it.”

He doesn’t think the injury is serious.

In fact, if it had happened earlier in the week, he probably would’ve been able to play.

“I feel like in two days, I’ll be fine,” Johnson said.

He had been scheduled to attend the Golf Writers Association of America annual dinner Wednesday night to accept its award as male player of the year. Johnson was coming off a season in which he captured his first major at the U.S. Open , was voted PGA Tour player of the year for the first time, won the PGA Tour money title and captured the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average.

Freak injuries are not unprecedented in golf.

Two years ago, Rory McIlroy was playing soccer when he ruptured ligaments in his ankle a few weeks before he was to defend his title in the British Open at St. Andrews as the No. 1 player in the world.

Johnson missed the 2012 Masters, withdrawing two days before the start of the tournament, saying he had tweaked his back from pulling a jet ski out of the water. Golf.com cited an unnamed source two years later as saying Johnson had been suspended for a positive cocaine test. His management denied that he had been suspended.

Since then, Johnson had gotten his life and his game in order.

The 32-year-old American rose to No. 1 in the world rankings and became the first player in more than 40 years to enter the Masters on a three-tournament winning streak. Two of those titles were World Golf Championships, and his undefeated week at the Match Play made him the first player to capture all four of the WGCs.

Johnson headed into the first major of 2017 accompanied by as much hype as perhaps anyone since Tiger Woods in his prime – “a freak of nature,” in the words of Rickie Fowler.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments,” Johnson said Tuesday. “But, you know, anything can happen.”

Just not what anyone expected.

It got a lot harder Wednesday afternoon when Dustin Johnson, the betting favourite and No. 1 player in the world, took a serious fall down a staircase at his rented home and wasn’t sure he could even tee it up at Augusta National.

His agent, David Winkle at Hambric Sports Management, said Johnson landed “very hard on his lower back.” He was treating it with ice and medication and told to remain immobile. Winkle said Johnson hopes to be able to play.

He was scheduled for the last group Thursday at 2:03 p.m.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook immediately dropped the odds of Johnson winning from 11-2 to sharing the top billing at 7-1 with Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.

Telling were the comments Johnson had made on Tuesday, when he was talking about the state of his game after three straight victories.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments,” Johnson said. “But, you know, anything can happen.”

That’s true at just about every Masters, though the mishaps typically occur on the golf course.

Johnson’s status only adds to the mystery at the year’s first major.

The Masters has the smallest field, with just 94 players, and that’s before history starts eliminating about 40 per cent of them.

No amateur has ever won the Masters, and five of them are in the field this year. There are 19 players at Augusta National for the first time, and not since 1979 has a Masters rookie (Fuzzy Zoeller) left with a green jacket. No one older than 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus has won the Masters, so that wipes out 11 more players.

No one has ever won his first tournament at the Masters, which doesn’t bode well for Roberto Castro or Kevin Chappell. And only three players since the Masters began in 1934 have ever won back to back. Sorry, Danny Willett.

So who does that leave?

The obvious choices would be Johnson (presuming he recovers), McIlroy or Jason Day, the top three players in the world. Impossible to overlook is Spieth, who has never finished worse than runner-up in his three Masters appearances.

But in the last 10 years, only one player from among the top three in the world ranking won the Masters _ Phil Mickelson (3) in 2010.

“That’s what makes the golf course wonderful actually, and what a great tournament it is,” Nicklaus said. “Because you really never know what’s going to happen. Even the players, as good as they might be, don’t know what’s going to happen.”

For the second time in three days, the course was shut down for the afternoon by severe weather. Thousands of fans headed to the exit at 10 a.m. as a storm approached, and while the gates opened again at 12:30 p.m. for the Par 3 Contest, the fun was suspended an hour later when another storm arrived.

The curtain rises on the 81st Masters on Thursday with a course that figures to be softened by rain, which could be good news for McIlroy. It could also be confounding because of wind that always feels stronger than it really is among the Georgia pines, which could be bad news for McIlroy.

This Masters offers something for just about everyone.

For Johnson, it’s an opportunity to pronounce his dominance in the game this year. Not since Hubert Green in 1976 has a player won three straight tournaments going into the Masters. Green tied for 19th that year. The only player to make the Masters his fourth straight victory was Jimmy Demaret. That was in 1940.

For McIlroy, it’s another chance to complete the Grand Slam. He could have won the Masters six years ago until a tee shot behind the cabins, a four-putt and all sorts of blunders on the back nine led to an 80 in the final round.

Augusta National at times can favour emotion. Who can forget Ben Crenshaw winning just days after he was a pallbearer at swing coach Harvey Penick’s funeral?

That might bode well for Day, who said he wasn’t entirely sure he was going to play a few weeks ago when he brought his mother from Australia to America to have surgery for lung cancer. Odds for a recovery suddenly are much stronger, and Day has said her health has been on his mind all year.

“I owe everything to her,” Day said.

And for Spieth, there is a chance to erase a bad memory of his back-nine meltdown a year ago.

“We’ll step out and try and get a chance to win on Sunday on the back nine again,” Spieth said. “That’s all we’re asking for. That’s it. Just that small little piece.”

Johnson can only ask for a chance to play.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Masters favorite Dustin Johnson took a serious fall on a staircase Wednesday and injured his lower back, and his manager said it was uncertain whether the world’s No. 1 golfer would be able to play the tournament.

It was a stunning development on an otherwise quiet day at Augusta National, where the course was shut down at 1:30 p.m. because of storms.

The real calamity struck a few hours later.

David Winkle, his manager at Hambric Sports, said Johnson fell on the stairs at the home he is renting in Augusta.

“He landed very hard on his lower back and is now resting, although quite uncomfortably,” Winkle said in an email. “He has been advised to remain immobile and begin a regimen of anti-inflammatory medication and icing, with the hope of being able to play tomorrow.”

What might help Johnson is that he is in the last group for the opening round, scheduled to tee off at 2:03 p.m. with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and PGA champion Jimmy Walker.

Johnson had been scheduled to attend the Golf Writers Association of America annual dinner Wednesday night to accept its award as male player of the year. He was coming off a season in which he won the U.S. Open for his first major, was voted PGA Tour player of the year for the first time, won the PGA Tour money title and captured the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average.

Rickie Fowler this week described the 32-year-old American as a “freak of nature.”

Winkle on Tuesday said Johnson was in “as good a shape as I’ve ever seen him in every aspect of his game and his life.”

Johnson has had his share of mishaps in a major but not before a major even started.

Two years ago, Rory McIlroy was playing soccer when he ruptured ligaments in his ankle a few weeks before he was to defend his title in the British Open at St. Andrews when he was No. 1 in the world.

But this was far different.

Johnson rose to No. 1 in the world starting with the first of three straight victories, the first player to do that going into the Masters in more than 40 years. Two of those titles were World Golf Championships, and his undefeated week at the Match Play made him the first player to capture all four of the WGCs.

Johnson was at Augusta National on Wednesday to play nine holes before the first wave of storms moved in.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments,” he said Tuesday. “But, you know, anything can happen.”

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook reacted swiftly to Johnson’s injury. Johnson was an 11-2 betting favorite going into the Masters. An hour after the news broke, he was reduced to 7-1 along with McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

Johnson also missed the 2012 Masters, withdrawing two days before the start of the tournament, saying he had tweaked his back from pulling a jet ski out of the water. Golf.com cited an unnamed source two years later as saying Johnson had been suspended for a positive cocaine test. His management denied that he had been suspended.

Winkle said he would not have any further comment until he knew more about Johnson’s condition.

If he cannot play, there are no alternates at the Masters.

2003 #themasters champion @MikeWeir made a hole-in-one on No. 4 before weather caused the Par 3 Contest to be canceled. pic.twitter.com/ULssErcboW

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 5, 2017

Former Masters champion and Canadian Mike Weir wasn’t going to let any rain put a damper on his day at Augusta National. The Brights Grove, Ont., product aced No. 4 during Wendesday’s par-3 contest with a nice touch of back spin.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jack Nicklaus compared his sixth and last Masters title at age 46 to catching lightning in a bottle. If Phil Mickelson has his way, he’ll put an end to the myth that lightning never strikes the same place twice.

“I don’t think much about age right now,” said Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion who turns 47 in June. “I think that guys’ careers are being extended a lot longer because of the way fitness has taken over.

“And it’s not like I’m a pillar of fitness,” he chuckled, “but I spend a decent enough time to be able to physically perform and practice and play the way I’d like to play. You look at guys like (59-year-old) Bernhard Langer who was in the second-to-last group last year – I don’t feel as though age is as big a factor as it was decades ago.”

No less an authority than Nicklaus himself believes Lefty may be onto something.

“Phil is far better prepared than I (was). I don’t think he’s probably playing his best golf right now but sometimes that changes very quickly,” Nicklaus said. “Honestly, age is not an issue to him. He’s a big guy and he’s a long guy and he’s got a great short game. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find him in contention.”

One other thing tilting in Mickelson’s favour is the weather. Overcast skies and winds gusting up to 40 mph are forecast for the first two rounds.

“That’s going to magnify the misses for a lot of players, which means that you need to miss it in the correct spots,” Mickelson said. “Even though you might miss it big, if you’re in the right spot, you can take advantage of your short game and salvage a lot of pars … where players less experienced with the golf course will possibly miss it in the wrong spots and shoot themselves out.”

Mickelson might have included himself in that last group a dozen years ago, when he wore the “best-player-never-to-win-a-major” label like a scarlet letter. But after going 0 for 42 in the biggest events of an otherwise successful career, his breakthrough win came at Augusta National in 2004. Now, he’s viewed by the up-and-coming generation as one of the game’s wise, old heads with five majors in the trophy case.

What hasn’t changed is Mickelson’s desire .

“I think the last year and a half, I’ve worked really hard to get my game back to the level that I expect and the level that I’ve strived for,” he said. “If I can play anywhere close to the way I played at the British Open last year and the Ryder Cup, I should be able to give myself a good opportunity for Sunday.”

Those preparations may have been hampered by Mickelson’s ties to renowned Las Vegas sports gambler and golf hustler Billy Walters, who is facing multiple counts of securities fraud in federal court. Prosecutors contend Walters received inside information from a former Dean Foods executive and passed it along to Mickelson before the golfer purchased nearly 200,000 shares of the company’s stock on consecutive days in July 2012.

Mickelson made a $930,000 profit selling the stock a week later, prosecutors alleged, a sum he’s agreed to pay back with interest. According to the New York Post, court documents also revealed that Mickelson paid a gambling debt of nearly $2 million to Walters.

Mickelson has not been charged and was listed as a witness for the defence. He has said he will not be called to testify. Walters has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer told the court that if called, Mickelson would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Mickelson wasn’t asked directly about the trial at the beginning of what will be his 25th appearance at the Masters. But his answer to a question about “compartmentalizing things happening off thegolf course” hinted at how he handles similar situations.

“The great thing about golf is that to be successful and to play a good round, you have to really dive in mentally, physically, and be committed to each shot, to the round, and it takes your focus away from anything else that might be going on,” Mickelson said. “So if you are going through a tough time, golf is a great place to be, because it allows you the freedom to focus on what you want to do at hand and it’s a real positive.

“I love everything about my job,” he added, “and that’s just another thing that I love about it.”