Conditions likely to suit longshot Palmer at Masters

There have been some heavy downpours in Georgia in the days and nights leading up to the Masters and this could play into the hands of Ryan Palmer, who looks way overpriced to win at Augusta at 150/1.

Conditions have been impacted that much that officials are seriously considering whether to implement the ‘pick and place’ rule, with Tiger Woods one of those impacted by numerous mud balls during his Augusta practice rounds.

The greens may not be so negatively impacted by the wet conditions because of a state of the art system that is run underneath the surface, but they are still liable to be softer than is typically the case.

These conditions will generally make the course play longer, but this will please the longer hitters because of the slight advantage it offers them.

Palmer is one of biggest drivers on the PGA Tour and so even if denied some run on the muddy fairways, he could still be close enough to greens that he can play a wedge or short iron for his approach.

Furthermore, the fact that there is little rough at Augusta limits the chances of him finding trouble off the tee.

Meanwhile, Palmer has proven one of the top putters on tour this season and features prominently in the statistics in terms of the strokes he has gained on the greens.

At the prices, he is certainly worthy of consideration given his qualities off the tee and on the greens, while his track record at majors is not the worst either.

Palmer finished in the top 30 in all four majors in 2011 and has proven to be well suited to Augusta before when taking tenth at the Masters last year.

He is among the first to tee off for the opening round and should creep round under the radar, as he has an unspectacular threeball alongside debutant Harrison Frazar and out-of-form Englishman Ross Fisher.