Sport 08-04-2005 Rain Holds Key to Masters Victory who: Veteran golfer Billy Casper what: Hits an unenviable record 34-over-par 106 on day one of US Masters where: Augusta, Georgia when: Thursday snippet: Rain called an early close to the first day`s play in the US Masters at the Augusta National golf club in Georgia on Thursday with American Chris DiMarco leading the pack at four under par after 14 holes. And The Telegraph`s Art Spander suggests that the bad weather could be the deciding factor in the weekend`s play. "Bad weather, and it couldn`t get much worse than it`s been this winter and summer, favours the patient and the accurate," he says, remarking that the perfectionist Tiger Woods does not figure in that category, having performed poorly in downpours at the Bay Hill and Players tournaments. Fred Funk was victorious in the latter last week and Spander reckons he might be one to watch this weekend, comparing him to "a tennis player at Wimbledon who can handle the constant interruptions". British golfers are of course well used to rain and first-timer Luke Donald may be Britain`s best hope after Colin Montgomerie failed to make the cut and Nick Faldo pulled out on Thursday, after just eight holes, due to a back injury. "When the first day was washed out completely here in 2003," writes The Mirror`s reporter, "the 5ft 9ins Mike Weir triumphed playing a strategic game similar to Donald`s." "It takes a mixed bunch of very special attributes to win the Masters," writes Bill Elliott in The Guardian after 26 years following the tournament. "It takes skill and nerve and chutzpah and a silky putting stroke... Working out who is to going win a major is not an exact science... Yet even when all this has been said, the smart money always goes with pedigree. Class, real class, embroiders the majority of the all-time list of major winners." Six-time champion Jack "Golden Bear" Nicklaus agrees, says James Lawton in The Independent. "We can talk about Vijay Singh or Ernie Els or Phil Mickelson as No.1s," says the 65-year-old, "but we all know who we think of as the most dominant player. It remains Tiger Woods. He has shown that what he can do is unique, and I believe he has gone through the stage which all great sportsmen have to experience. He has gone back to his game and re-assessed his situation. I believe there is still much to come from the Tiger - and it is very exciting." Finally, there have been calls for past champions to lose their automatic right to play after 73 year-old 1970 winner Billy Casper hit a 34-over-par 106 on Thursday, the tournament`s worst ever round, which included a record 14 shots on the part-three 16th hole, where he hit five balls into the water. [... more]

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