Tag: conditions

Masters: Expect gusting wind to present another challenge on moving day at Augusta National

The wind could present a new challenge as it picks up around Augusta National in the third round of the Masters.

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As difficult as Augusta National has played this week for the 85th Masters, darker skies and more challenges are ahead for the second half of the tournament.

Saturday’s forecast calls for a front to move in, potentially bringing showers and isolated thunderstorms. A larger rain dump could follow.

According to the 11 a.m. tournament weather update: “Current projections are for showers and possibly a few thunderstorms to move through the Augusta area between 4-7 p.m., although a few showers may develop in the vicinity earlier this afternoon. Any thunderstorms are likely to stay weak but will have potential to produce lightning and downpours if moving directly over or near the course.”

In terms of playing conditions, the real issue may be wind. The forecast also calls for sustained winds at 12-18 mph with gusts as high as 20-25 mph by mid-afternoon.

Masters: TV info | Leaderboard | Photos | Tee times, TV

With that wind coming from the south, expect some of the hardest holes to play even harder into a headwind, namely Nos. 5, 10 and 11.

With wind bouncing off the trees around Augusta National, it could be challenging for players to select the right club on approaches into greens.

Considering that Augusta National is already playing firm and fast, it’s an extra obstacle that will truly make “moving day” a test.

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2021 NFL Draft: Updated future Saints picks after trade deadline

For now, the New Orleans Saints are projected to own a pick in each round of the 2021 NFL Draft after trading for Niners LB Kwon Alexander.

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Well that was a dud. The 2020 NFL trade deadline passed by so quietly that it was hardly noticed, if you weren’t paying attention. Like most of the league, the New Orleans Saints filed their moves with the NFL office well ahead of the cutoff date, having worked out a trade for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander.

So now we know exactly what sort of draft resources New Orleans will carry into 2021. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that the Saints included a conditional fifth-round draft pick in their trade package for Alexander (along with backup linebacker Kiko Alonso, returning from a 2019 season-ending injury).

And the conditions for that pick are interesting: if Alexander meets enough play-time incentives, the Saints will send their 2021 fifth rounder to San Francisco. But if Alexander does not get on the field often enough, either due to his recent high-ankle sprain, simply taking longer to pick up the system, or some other factor, then the 49ers will have to wait until 2022 to receive New Orleans’ fifth-round pick.

It’s a little more complicated than your standard pick-swap conditions, but not ridiculously so. Certainly not as contrived as what the New Orleans Pelicans will be receiving from the Los Angeles Lakers over the next half-decade.

Anyway: here are all of the 2021 draft picks the Saints are scheduled to make after the Alexander trade, as well as their draft-day maneuvering in 2020 and with projected compensatory selections:

  • Round 1 (own)
  • Round 2 (own)
  • Round 3 (compensatory for losing Teddy Bridgewater)
  • Round 4 (own)
  • Round 5 (conditional, could revert to 2022)
  • Round 6 (compensatory for losing A.J. Klein)
  • Round 7 (own)

To recap on a few of the picks traded earlier this year, the Saints swapped out their own third- and sixth-rounders in 2021 so they could move up the board in the 2020 draft. The rookies acquired in those moves were linebacker Zack Baun and quarterback-turned-tight end Tommy Stevens.

Additionally, the compensatory picks projected to New Orleans after Bridgewater and Klein signed with new teams in free agency are just that: projections. We won’t know for certain whether the NFL is awarding those selections until they are announced in the spring, so don’t get too attached to the idea of the Saints owning a selection in each round for once.

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