Aussies March to Masters Tune

For the first time in this year’s Masters Tournament the sun has set across the Augusta course without an Aussie perched at the very top of the leaderboard. But, as Brendan James reports from Augusta, the boys from Down Under are in hot pursuit of Australia’s first Green Jacket.

The final round will see reigning Tour champion Brand Snedeker paired with 2009 Masters winner Angel Cabrera in the final group. Both carded a three-under-par 69 to reach seven under. Snedeker reached the mark with an outstanding back nine of 33, which included birdies at 13, 15 and 16. The 43-year-old Argentinian was equally as impressive and a birdie at the final hole gave him a share of the lead and booked a place in the ultimate group for the final round.

Following the leaders will be the strong Australian contingent of Adam Scott (-6), Marc Leishman (-5) and Jason Day (-5) who present a great chance of finally burying the Green Jacket curse by becoming the first ever Australian to win the Masters.

On a day when the famed layout took no prisoners, with tight pin positions and firming greens, Scott showed the form that has seen him contend into the final round of major championships regularly since 2011. As was the case when he finished tied second at the 2011 Masters, Scott will head out in the final round with a fellow Australian, Marc Leishman, who has capitalized on his superb opening round 66 to still be in he chase.

It is often the case that the winner’s of major championships catch a lucky break along the way to victory and Scott got a fortunate break during his third round 69. The Queenslander, looking to press with an eagle on the par-5 15^th, under-cooked his mid-iron approach, which dribbled off the front of the green and down the slope towards Rae’s Creek. But it stopped short of the water in the finely manicured grass and he was able to successfully get up-and-down for a birdie. His smile as he walked to the 16^th tee was that of a man who knew he had dodged a bullet.

A further birdie at the testing par-4 17^th and a solid par at the final hole put Scott in the clubhouse at six under and vying, yet again, for his first major championship.

“Today was a great day,” Scott said. “It seemed a fairly tough out there and again, with no wind, the course was tricky. The greens were firming out and getting faster so you had to be careful where you attacked.

“I played fairly cautious, and that was kind of a blessing in disguise. I drove it fairly well, but a couple of steps into the rough and had to be cautious out of the rough and that wasn’t a bad play today. So it worked for me.”

Scott said he doesn’t have a particular strategy for the final round but he knows the Green Jacket is not going to come to him, he’s going to have to go and grab it with smart, aggressive play.

“You just kind of have to roll with it a little bit and see what the course offers up and pick your spots where you can actually be a little aggressive, because you’re going to have to make some birdies to be in he hunt,” he said. “You can’t sit back and be defensive.

“I feel I’m playing well, just like these other guys, and you can’t just sit around and wait for it to happen. You have to pick your moments and that’s what will be the difference between the guy who wins and the guys who don’t.”

And his plan for final round eve? “Dinner and in bed by midnight,” he laughed. “No wild parties tonight boys.”

Leishman was also planning a quiet evening with his wife, Audrey, and his 15-month-old son Harvey.

“My wife’s cooking up a storm tonight,” he smiled. “Chicken crescent rolls she’s cooking, one of my favourites … something easy.”

The boy from Warrnambool said he is learning more about the course each time he plays it and Saturday down the stretch was no different. A mix of birdies and bogies on the back nine saw him finish with an even par 72 and remain at five under.

“I hit the ball well,” he said. “I just have to hole the putts tomorrow. I missed a few really makeable putts and if they go in I’m eight or nine under.

“I’m well and truly in it and need a low one tomorrow … maybe we’ll take that Aussie curse off.”

Despite bogies at the 17^th and 18^th holes of his third round, Day said he wasn’t disappointed and was looking forward to the opportunity of trying to win his first major.

“Obviously I would love to have the lead but I’m only a couple back,” Day, who opened with 12 straight pars and grabbed the outright lead through 15 holes, said.

“Masters Sunday is always nerve-wracking so patience is going be the key. Being patient with yourself and staying patient with the bounces and the ups and downs out there. I just have to try and get off to a good start tomorrow and just hang around … that’s pretty much what I learned two years ago.”

Australia’s fourth hope at this Masters, John Senden, is not entirely out of the mix at one over but it will be a tough ask to go out well ahead of the leaders and post a score that won’t be overrun. That said, Senden remains buoyant.

The 41-year-old said he was still in touch and would look to put the hammer down on the back nine tomorrow.

“If you’ve got a chance to do it, you go for it,” he said. “If you’re one or two back and hit a great drive down 15, you’re going for it. It’s a great opportunity and that’s why this golf course is so good, because you can really get it, or you can really come unstuck.”

Lurking behind the top-three Aussies are in-form Americans Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler and the veteran Steve Stricker as well as South African Tim Clark, who had the best round of the day with a five under 67. All four are looking for their first major title. Then there is Tiger Woods … and he is desperately searching for his first since 2008 to take his career tally to 15 majors.

After copping a two-stroke penalty earlier in the day (see full story at http://www.golfaustralia.com.au//2013/04/tigers-drop-drama), which relegated him to one under on the 1^st tee, Woods looked to be drifting out of contention through 11 holes of the third round. But three birdies in his final seven holes, has him poised to make a run for a fifth Green Jacket on Sunday.

And while some suggested Australia had its weakest ‘team’ heading to Augusta in 2013, the performances by Scott, Day, Leishman and Senden have been impressive for their focus and execution. At almost every press conference or media chat, American and British journalists have been quick to raise the point of no Aussie ever winning the Masters and does it play on their mind. And so it was again on he eve of the final round.

“It’s a great opportunity for all of us to be the first,” Day said. “There’s been some great, so many Aussies in the past that have had a chance to win the Masters and fell short a bit. So if it happens tomorrow, that’s great.

“If it doesn’t, then we’re going to keep plugging away.”

And this from Scott: “Aussies are a proud sporting people, and we’d love to put another notch in our belt. This is one thing that one of us would like to do tomorrow.”

And, perhaps, the biggest smile won’t come from the winner but from the man who inspired a generation of Australians to play golf, Greg Norman.

 

LEADING SCORES

 

T1. Brandt Snedeker (US)              70-70-69–209

T1. Angel Cabrera (Arg)                    71-69-69–209

3. Adam Scott (Qld)                     69-72-69–210

T4. Marc Leishman (Vic)          66-73-72–211

T4. Jason Day (Qld)                     70-68-73–211

6. Matt Kuchar (US)                           68-75-69–212

T7. Tim Clark (RSA)                             70-76-67–213

T7. Tiger Woods (US)                        70-73-70–213

T23. John Senden (Qld)             72-70-75–217

FINAL ROUND TEE TIMES (AEST)

2.30am                   Dustin Johnson (US)        John Senden (Qld)

4am                         Rickie Fowler (US)              Steve Stricker (US)

4.10am                   Tim Clark (RSA)                  Tiger Woods (US)

4.20am                   Jason Day (Qld)              Matt Kuchar (US)

4.30am                   Adam Scott (Qld)           Marc Leishman (Vic)

4.40am                   Brandt Snedeker (US)        Angel Cabrera (Arg)

 

 

DAY TWO

With black clouds filling every inch of Augusta sky and steady rain taking some of the sting out of the famed Dr Alister MacKenzie-designed layout, the second day of the 77^th Masters began in dour fashion.

But, as Brendan James reports from Augusta, the clouds drifted away, the sun broke through, the wind picked up and it turned into a great day … a great Day indeed.

With a leaderboard top-heavy in experienced Masters campaigners and a quartet of Australians looking to become the first to wear the Green Jacket, it was Jason Day who emerged from the pack with an inspiring second round 68 – the best of the day – to grab the lead by a single stroke at six under.

The Queenslander will tee off in the third round with 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples, who shares second place at five under with Victorian Marc Leishman, the 18-hole leader. He will play with Argentina’s Angel Cabrera, who claimed the Masters tournament in a play-off in 2009, in the penultimate group.

World No.7 Adam Scott got off to a disastrous start with three consecutive bogies from the 3^rd hole and at one stage was in danger of losing touch with the top-10. But he fought back with birdies at the 14^th and 18^th to get back to even par for the day and close at three under. He will play in the fourth last group on day 3 with American Jason Dufner.

That’s right … three Aussies make up the top-eight spots on the leaderboard. Our fourth man, John Senden, carded two late bogies in his round of 70, which saw him drop from the top-five into a tie for 14^th. He will play with the 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman in the third round and is certainly not out of contention.

Day made his way quietly up the leaderboard on Friday. A bogey at the par-3 4^th was quickly erased with a birdie at the next and another birdie at the difficult par-4 7^th really got the ball rolling for the 25-year-old.

A great birdie on the downhill 10^th was followed by some brilliant play at the long par-4 11^th when his drive finished left in among the pine trees and his ball was sitting on a pile of pine needles.

“I had an eight foot gap to go through and I thought I could play a 4-iron out to the right and let it come back on the wind,” Day told Golf Australia. “It came back a little more than I thought it would but it finished close and I made the putt.

“Had I made bogey I would have lost all the momentum from the birdie on 10 so it was good to make that one.”

The swirling winds of Amen Corner grabbed him at the next when a wind shift caused him to block his tee shot into Raes Creek short of the 12^th green. He made a “good bogey” there and further birdies at the 13^th and 16^th pushed him to six under where he remained at day’s end.

Day revealed there was some pressure to be the first Australian to win the Masters but he added that he and coach/caddie Col Swatton had formulated a game plan during the past 12 months and it was just a matter of sticking to that plan.

“I think if I can go out there and commit to the game plan that me and Col have obviously worked on over the past year, going into this weekend, hopefully I can be there come Sunday,” he said.

“There’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders, being from Australia and no Australian has ever won the event. They have been very, very close, but I’ve just got to try and put that out of my mind and just plug away.

“Instead of following the corners here I’ve been playing to the corners. I think a lot of people try and work on he draw shot, but if you’re hitting a nice fade to the corners and not to try and hug the corners so much you avoid trouble.

“It’s really about the second shots here. I think if you put yourself in the right positions on the greens, you can go out there and think its the easiest golf course in world. But, obviously there’s a lot of tough pins out there, and if you leave yourself above the pins all day, it’s the hardest place to play.”

As for being the first Aussie to slip a Green Jacket over his shoulders, Day says he looks at as a challenge to be the first.

“If you look at it as an opportunity to be the first and stay positive with it, it only motivates you to play well,” he said. “I can’t really think about it though…I need to stay committed to the game plan, stay aggressive to my target and really aim small, miss small out there.”

It’s an incredible bounce back at Augusta for Day, who 12 months ago hobbled out to the player’s car park after withdrawing with an ankle injury. It was the beginning of a forgettable year on the golf course for Day.

“I wish I could have played through the pain last year,” a tired Day said. “But it was unfortunate I had that injury. It’s good to be back here though and being on top of the leaderboard right now is a great honour to have.

“I look forward to playing well the next two days. Now I’m just very, very tired. We had almost a six-hour round out there today and it was difficult. It was a big grind.”

The slow-play of the second round was thrust into the tournament spotlight mid afternoon when 14-year-old Tianlang Guan was penalised by rules officials after hitting his second shot on the 17^th hole.

The Chinese teenage phenom had been warned about his pace of play on the 10^th hole and was placed on the clock two holes later. He was apparently warned twice more before officials took the unprecedented at the Masters step of penalising the youngster. Social media went into meltdown with the news and it left Guan’s future in the event hanging in the balance.

Under the 10-shot rule for the cut at the Masters, Guan’s second round 75, including one penalty stroke, had him at four over. If any of the leaders reached seven under, Guan was going to be heading home with ‘missed cut’ next to his name on the leaderboard.

When Day could only make par at the last hole to close at six under, there was a sense of relief that an international incident might have been averted, given no player on the PGA Tour has been slapped with a stroke penalty since 1995 and slow-play has reached epidemic proportions in the professional game.

While Australia hopes one of our four players can greet the judge first, it seems here in Augusta that all eyes are on just one man – Tiger Woods.

The World No 1 was in the penultimate group and was zeroing in on sole possession of top spot on the leaderboard as he played the par-5 15th. He fired his third shot approach at the flag and he knew it was good. The gallery knew it was good too. It was too good … slamming into the base of the flag and spinning back into Rae’s Creek.

Woods had every right to feel robbed but he knuckled down, stuffed his fifth shot in close and made a great bogey. If Tiger is to collect his 15^th major title here this week, that may well be the moment that defines his victory.

[To follow the progress of the Australians in round 3, follow Brendan James on twitter @BrendanJames2]

 

NOTABLE THIRD ROUND TEE TIMES (Australian Eastern Standard Time)

3:15 am (Sun): JOHN SENDEN, Trevor Immelman

3:25 am: Rory McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel

3:35 am: Bernhard Langer, Sergio Garcia

3:45 am: Tiger Woods, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano

3:55 am: Justin Rose, K.J. Choi

4:05 am: David Lynn, Lee Westwood

4.15am.: ADAM SCOTT, Jason Dufner

4.25 am: Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker

4.35 am: MARC LEISHMAN Angel Cabrera

4.45 am: JASON DAY, Fred Couples

 

DAY ONE

Victoria’s Marc Leishman is the surprise joint-leader of the 77^th Masters after shooting a superb six under 66. As Brendan James reports from Augusta, adding to his great performance is the fact his fellow Aussies – Adam Scott, Jason Day and John Senden – are also well poised to make a run for the title.

Leishman woke the morning of the opening round feeling better than at anytime in the past month. Now, he’s leading the Masters.

The 29-year-old has been fighting the effects of a viral infection and has been on a course of antibiotics. Wary not to run himself down in the days leading into the Masters, his preparation has been light – no more than nine holes a day since arriving in Augusta on Sunday.

After getting off to a shaky start with a bogey, the 29-year-old made close birdies at the 3rd, 8th, 10th, 13th 14th and 15th holes before draining a long bomb from about 40 feet on the par-3 16th. He then closed out his round with two pars, including a fantastic 8-iron escape from the 18th hole fairway bunkers to set up a two-putt four, to take the clubhouse lead with a six-under-par 66.

He was joined at the top of the leaderboard late in he day by Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard had a flawless round that included six birdies, despite some wayward driving on the back nine. Big-hitting Dustin Johnson was a shot back, while Englishman David Lynn, American Rickie Fowler and 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples made up a group of six players a further shot back at four under.

For Leishman, having the lead at the Masters is far removed from his first experience at Augusta in 2010. “Every kid wants to be here,” he said. “The first I was here a few years ago I was a bit like a bit of a deer in the headlights.

“I found myself looking around a bit too much and not concentrating on getting the ball in the hole, which is what you need to do.

“But growing up as a kid … you always had that putt on the putting green to win the Masters.

“To be here is awesome, and to be sitting here (as the leader) is pretty cool. But, you know, its only Thursday afternoon, so there’s a lot of golf to play. But I had a good feeling about my game.”

After returning home to Warrnambool for Christmas (where he played worst ball matches against his dad, a handy single figure player), Leishman returned to the PGA Tour but has been dogged by illness since the end of February.

Then, in his final nine holes of preparation for the Masters, something clicked.

“The turning point came yesterday (Wednesday). I just played the back nine and birdied 10, 11, 12 and eagled 13. I haven’t been on a run like that ever around this golf course.

“It was good to know that it’s possible, because it felt impossible the last time I was here.”

Not only did it help his confidence, but when he woke on the morning of the opening round he felt great.

“Look I don’t want to make too much of it but … I’ve lost a bit of weight and the infection has affected me physically and mentally I guess,” he said. “I’m probably 90 percent fit, which is better than I have felt for a while.”

While he might not be running on all cylinders, he said he was pretty relaxed heading into the opening round thanks to a round with Australian major champions Wayne Grady and Ian Baker-Finch in the traditional Par-3 contest on tournament eve.

“Had a really good time,” he said. “Had my wife, Audrey, and Harvey (his 15-month old son) running around. Mum and dad were in he crowd … we had a really good time and it was a really good lead-up.”

The Victorian almost blew his lead with an uncharacteristic mistake coming at the 18^th hole when he drove into the first of two deep bunkers left of the fairway. But he played a beautiful 8-iron into the heart of the green and two-putted from 25 feet. Asked what he was thinking when sizing up the shot, Leishman laughed “just get it over the lip … I wanted to finish on my feet. That lip is a bit higher than I thought it was. It doesn’t look that high on TV.”

Leishman, who earned a start in the tournament with his one-stroke victory at the Travelers Championship last June, was solid from tee-to-green but he was brilliant on and around Augusta’s difficult putting surfaces. He had just 25 putts in his round of 66 and he admitted, when asked if he could break Australia’s Masters drought, “if I can keep playing the way I’m playing, keep holing the crucial par putts and just putting the way I have been, there’s no reason why not.”

He led an impressive opening day for the quartet of Aussies chasing a first Green Jacket. Adam Scott (69) tied 10^th, Jason Day (70) tied 13^th and John Senden (72) tied 33^rd represents Australia’s best start to the Masters in many years.

And it could have been better. Both Scott and Day missed their targets in bad spots at times during their round but they couldn’t be faulted on the greens. Day, with 26 putts, and Scott, with 27 putts, were in the top-10 best in the field for putting, which augers well for the remainder of the tournament as it is often said that the best putters over four rounds at Augusta are always in the mix come Sunday afternoon.

An upbeat Day said he was looking to take advantage of the momentum gained in round one.

“I really enjoyed playing the back nine,” he said. “Just got to tighten up … there were a few soft bogies out there.

“I think that if I can do that, then hopefully the momentum will still keep going in the right direction and hopefully I can shoot some better scores.”

Scott was also very solid on this opening day, although he will hoping to improve his driving, which is usually his trump card. He hit nine of 14 fairways, not by much, but enough to put him out of position to attack flags and make more birdies.

Senden, in his fourth Masters appearance, was uncharacteristically inconsistent in his even par round, recording five birdies to cancel out the five bogies blotting his scorecard. He made it onto the first page of the leaderboard when he birdied the par-4 10^th to move to two under but he quickly gave that shot back at the next. He went to the practice range knowing he has a lower number in him tomorrow.

The much-hyped march of Tiger Woods to a fifth Green Jacket, and his first since 2005, got off to good start with the World No.1 posting a two under 70 with three birdies and a solitary bogey at the par-4 14^th.

Woods had 30 putts for the round (24 for the 13 greens he hit in regulation) and he said after the round the “greens were a little bit tough”.

“Tough in the sense they just didn’t seem to have the sheen on them today,” he said. “They didn’t have the roll out. They just weren’t that fast.”

Woods said the conditions were conducive to good scoring in the early part of his round but the wind picked up a little through Amen Corner.

“Overall I think the biggest challenge today was just the speed of the greens. They just weren’t quite there. They looked it, but just weren’t putting it.”

Defending champion Bubba Watson had a three over 75 and if he doesn’t go low in the second round he’s in danger of missing the cut.

He too blamed the lack of speed in greens for his poor putting performance, which equated to four three-putt greens.

“They were slower than I was expecting,” he said. “I just left a lot of putts short, a lot of putts were breaking different than I was expecting.”

Other notable performances came from 53-year-old Fred Couples, looking to add another Green Jacket to the one he won in 1992.

Despite a bogey at the last, when he almost shanked his approach from the fairway bunker into a greenside trap and couldn’t get up and down, Couples was seemingly cruising for most of the round. Some of the loudest cheers on the course during the day were reserved for Couples’ back nine birdies at the 10th, 13^th and 17^th holes.

At the other end of the age spectrum, 14-year-old schoolboy Tianlang Guan silenced plenty of critics with his one over 73. There were people lining up to suggest he would not break 80 around Augusta but the Asian Amateur champion was very good. His 20-foot birdie at the last got a standing cheer from the large crowd.

Guan, who has employed the services of an Augusta National local caddy, said just playing the Masters was a dream come true but to post a good score was unbelievable. “I just want to play some good golf tomorrow and just enjoy it,” he said.

The youngster is tied for 46^th and is the leading amateur by three shots, ahead of American Steven Fox, the 22-year-old 2012 US Amateur champion.

Earlier in the day, the opening morning of the 77th Masters Tournament started under a light veil of fog. But it didn’t deter a massive crowd from being on hand to witness the first shots hit by three of the game’s iconic figures Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer.

The ‘Big Three’ – winners of a cumulative 13 Masters’ titles – have carried on the tradition of past champions getting the field underway with ceremonial hitting of an opening drive down the 1st fairway. The custom of Honourary Starters began in 1963 with Jock Hutchison (1963-73) and Fred McLeod (1963-76) performing the duties. Byron Nelson (1981-2001, non consecutive), Gene Sarazen (1981-2001), Ken Venturi (1983) and Sam Snead (1984-2002) were the starters before Palmer (2007-present), Nicklaus (2010-present) and Player (2012-present) took over.

Shortly before 7.45am Augusta local time, Player emerged from the clubhouse and was quickly followed by Nicklaus and Palmer. All three were clapped and cheered as they made their way through an alley of people standing three and four deep hoping to get a glimpse of three legends of the game.

Palmer, 83, hit the first drive – a straight, solid blow to the right edge of the fairway. Player, still showing plenty of flexibility for a 77-year-old, also found the middle of the fairway with a flushed drive. Nicklaus, the baby of the group at 73, joked with the crowd that it was a bit early in the day for him as he did some fake stretches. Still showing all the customary moves for which he became famous, Nicklaus hit an uncustomary high draw out to about 230 yards towards the left edge of the fairway.

The trio were giving a rousing applause as they left the tee and headed back for a bite of breakfast in the clubhouse.

Scott will be the first of the Australian contingent out on course for the second round, hitting off at 11.17pm (Friday, Australian Eastern Standard Time). Leishman will be out at 2.35am (Saturday), Senden at 3.08am and Day is in the last group at 3.52am.

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