Sports

Mickelson predicts it will rain birdies at ‘soft’ Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Phil Mickelson predicted Tuesday the soft conditions at Augusta National produced by recent rainfall might turn the Masters into a “birdiefest.’’

“As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of the pins,’’ Mickelson said. “I don’t want to say [the greens] are slow, but it’s just not the same Augusta. It’s wet around the greens, and there’s no fear of the course. You’ve got to attack it this week.

“Unless something changes — and I know they have SubAir [a system that sucks the moisture from the ground] and hopefully they will be able to use it — but unless they change it, it’s going to be a birdie‑fest.’’

Mickelson said slower greens at Augusta National take some of the “subtleties’’ out of the putting and the greens become less defended against pars and birdies.

“When the subtleties don’t come out, the experience of playing here in the past is not as important because you don’t have to fear the greens and you don’t have to know where the ball will end up and you don’t have to fear certain shots because you can get up and down from the edges,’’ Mickelson said. “Those shots are not as hard.

“Therefore, I think there’s a very good chance that a young player — an inexperienced, fearless player that attacks this golf course — can win if you don’t need to show it the proper respect.’’

Tiger Woods said he played nine holes yesterday and had seven “mud balls’’ on tee shots.

“The golf course is a little bit wet,’’ Woods said. “The greens are quick but soft and receptive.’’

There is a 60-percent chance of thunderstorms for both tomorrow’s opening round and Friday, according to local forecasts. The weekend is supposed to be warm and dry.

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Dustin Johnson, the No. 12 player in the world, withdrew because of a lingering back injury. Johnson described the injury as a “tweaked back” on Twitter, and his agent said Johnson aggravated the condition while lifting a jet ski last week.

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The line of the day came from Keegan Bradley, who won the PGA Championship in August in his first major championship.

Bradley, the former St. John’s player, was reminded Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 is the only player to win the Masters in his first try, and he responded: “Well, I’ve won every major I’ve ever played in, so I don’t think it’s that hard, to be honest.’’

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Mickelson said of the practice round he played with 54-year-old U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Randal Lewis last week, “I think it’s really cool what he did, winning the Mid‑Am as a gentleman eligible for the Senior Am. I love that story. I hope he has a good week.’’

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The menu defending champion Charl Schwartzel designed for last night’s Champions Dinner included an iced seafood display, an international cheese and crudite, sliced biltong topped with Wellington sweet chili sauce and a South Africa barbeque consisting of marinated and grilled filet mignon, lamb chops, chicken breast and boerewors with monkey gland sauce. Dessert was a vanilla ice cream sundae. South African wines were paired with each dish.

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com