2011 Masters Clippings, Sunday
I've been doing these clippings for a few years now and Masters Saturday typically produces less content due to different deadlines and low Sunday web viewership. That, combined with a peculiar day that saw some great early scores followed by the leaders not doing much, has left us with a little less to chew on heading into Sunday's finale.
Still, there was plenty of good stuff even if writing about the golf course appears to be forbidden!
(Reminder: The live chat here starts at 11 PT/2 ET right after the thrilling conclusion of the 1975 Masters. Weiskopf holds a one shot lead over Nicklaus and sits four clear of Miller.)
Ledes
Doug Ferguson's game story for AP:
It was a roar that defines the Masters, so loud it startled even Tiger Woods.
Rory McIlroy, who already dazzled the crowd with a shot through the pines to the back of the 17th green, raised the putter in his left hand as the birdie putt turned toward the hole, then slammed his right fist when the ball disappeared into the cup.
The cheer was so clamorous that Woods, who had settled over his shot in the 18th fairway, had to back away. After all these years of crushing the hopes of so many others, the four-time Masters champ finally felt what it was like on the other end.
That moment — and right now, this Masters — belongs to McIlroy.
Phillip Reid for the Irish Times:
You don’t get a stampede around Augusta National, it’s much too civil a place for that. Yet, as Rory McIlroy continued his quest for a maiden Major title by retaining his lead after the third round, there were significant moves made by the young and the old to make the 21-year-old Ulsterman cast a glance or two over his shoulder heading into the final day.
James Corrigan, writing for the Independent:
The fist pump said it all. Rory McIlroy has the opportunity to join the legends today when he takes a four-shot lead into the last round of The Masters. Europe's 12-year wait for a Green Jacket looks set to reach a quite glorious conclusion this evening.
Larry Dorman, filing for the New York Times:
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland moved one step closer to ushering in a new era in golf on Saturday at the Masters, shrugging off the immense pressure of playing with the tournament lead, distancing himself by four strokes from his closest pursuers and closing in on his first major championship.
Lawrence Donegan of The Guardian:
If history tells us anything it is that the course of a Masters tournament can change with the swiftness of a blink. But when the final round of the 75th version of Bobby Jones's annual invitational begins on Sunday, Rory McIlroy will surely never have imagined a more tantalising chance of winning his first major championship.
An ESPN.com highlight video is here and if you are looking to alter your level of consciousness, Andy North is analyzing the highlights.
Rory
Brian Keogh reports that Padraig Harrington sees Rory on the cusp of golfing immortality, with a particularly bold prediction.
Sensing that a victory by his Ryder Cup team mate would open the floodgates to multiple major wins, Harrington said: “I don’t see why he can’t win. And if he does win, there will be another name thrown in [to the debate] about the guy who is going to win the most majors in a career. So, it’s a big step for him at the weekend in that sense.
Steve Elling on Rory's Vincent Chase-like setup this week.
McIlroy is staying in a rented home near the course with three boyhood pals from his home course in Holywood, Northern Ireland, and it seems to be a nice pressure valve for him, Schwartzel said.
"Yeah, I've seen him every night and we have had some good meat at the ISM house," Schwartzel said of the management firm. "Maybe that's the key. He has a couple of mates out there and looks like he's just cruising."
For a bunch of rambunctious boys in their early 20s, it sounds like they have mostly stayed out of trouble, excepting the neighborhood lady who yelled at them for throwing a football in the street.
"We'll probably go back, get some dinner and hang out," said Ricky McCormick, 21, one of the three amigos staying with McIlroy. "He's just really relaxed."
When the menu for the night was posed, one of McIlroy's pals cracked, "Asparagus."
Hey, it's Masters week, and at least they picked the right color.
Christine Brennan on Graeme McDowell joining Rory's entourage Saturday.
One of McIlroy's best friends, U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, missed the cut here and joined McIlroy's gallery Saturday.
"Actually he just texted me and told me he loves me. I don't know what that means. I don't know if that's him or the beer talking," McIlroy said, laughing.
"No, it's great to see him out there and I appreciate his support. He's going to know how I'm feeling. He's a major champion and he got it done last year at Pebble (Beach). Hopefully I can emulate that feeling and get a major myself."
On seven occasions, those trailing by four or more entering the final round of the Masters have rallied to win, most notable among them Nick Faldo in 1996. Leader Greg Norman was up six on Faldo entering the final round and lost by five.
I mean, what's not to like? McIlroy, the product of staunchly working-class parents who worked a multitude of jobs to give their only son every chance of making it in golf, is immensely amiable and approachable and, despite the riches that have come his way so early in life, refreshingly modest. He knows that, despite his precocious physical talents, his all-round game remains a work in progress.
Chris Gay on Rory's eye-opening stats, none more impressive than 80% of his greens hit in regulation and no three putts.
The Four Backers
Four golfers are four back and each offers reason to think they could hang around and make things interesting Sunday.
Sean Martin on Charl Schwartzel and the strength of his game, as shaped by his father.
George Schwartzel helped his son build a simple, technically-sound golf swing that is lacking in quirks. He remains his son’s only teacher.
“When your dad’s as good as that, you tend to get the basics right very early,” said Schwartzel’s manager, Andrew “Chubby” Chandler. “His basics are great. He’s got a very pure golf swing.”
Charl seeks advice from his father only when he’s home in South Africa. His father doesn’t travel outside their home country often, and they don’t use email to trade tips and video. Schwartzel likes it that way.
“I don’t make it complicated,” he said. “It’s difficult enough as it is.”
Jeff Babineau on Angel Cabrera's shocking return to the leaderboard after a missed cut last week and a four month hiatus to aid an injured wrist.
His lone positive result in six events this season: a tie for seventh at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open last month, when a majority of the world’s top players were in Miami competing at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
But he has kept plugging along, working diligently on his game with mentor Charlie Epps and trying his best to to shake off the rust. On Saturday, he drove the ball well and his power came in quite handy, helping set up short-iron approaches that led to birdies on four holes and helping him overpower the Augusta’s vulnerable par 5s by getting home on two and in a greenside bunker at a third.
“I didn’t play for about four months, so I’m just getting my groove,” he said. “I’m just practicing a lot.”
Day drew a chuckle in the interview room Saturday evening when he noted the youth movement in men's golf, that "it seems every year they are getting younger." Like McIlroy, Day was drawn to golf as a boy when Woods began to dominate the game in the late-1990s.
"When Tiger came along, he pretty much changed the game," Day said. "Everyone turned into athletes. We are not fat slobs anymore. He has pretty much changed the game for the good. It just shows how good the coaching is, the science behind the game, and how confident some of these young guys are coming up now."
Bob Harig on Adam Scott, the other Australian hope vaulting himself into the picture with a long-putter aided 67.
Scott, who has 14 worldwide victories but has never been much of a factor in majors, tied for the day's best round with a 5-under-par 67 despite bogeys on two of the last three holes. That put him in a tie for sixth, five strokes back. Ogilvy, who won the 2006 U.S. Open, is another stroke back, tied for ninth.
All of them, no doubt, have a green jacket on their minds for personal reasons.
"Thinking about the Aussie duck thing would happen after I won," Ogilvy said. "'Oh, I'm the first Australian.' That's probably not what I'm going to be thinking about when I'm out on the golf course. But obviously it would be a really nice thing for Australia for it to happen, for sure."
Rex Hoggard looks at the Aussies besides Scott:
Geoff Ogilvy was next, limping out in 39 strokes but rallying on the second nine to salvage a 73 and a tie for ninth place.
Jason Day, however, may be Australia’s best hope on Sunday. Following birdies at Nos. 2, 3 and 5 the 23-year-old edged into a Grand Slam lead for the first time in his young career.
On Thursday, Day noted he wanted the Masters masses to yell his name like that of playing companion McIlroy. For much of his front nine they wouldn’t stop.
“We’re walking up (No. 6) and he looks at the leaderboard and says, ‘Holy crap, I’m leading.’” Day’s caddie Col Swatton said.
Holy crap, indeed.
If you saw Day's caddie carrying the bag like a rank amateur Saturday, Rex Hoggard explains why.
Walking up the second fairway the strap on Day’s staff bag broke, leaving his caddie Col Swatton just one option – carry the 50-pound bag like a suitcase. Day, however, was not affected by the malfunction, birding the second and third hole to take the lead over playing companion Rory McIlroy.
“Jason turned around and asked, ‘What are you doing?’” Swatton said.“He was like, ‘Man that must be heavy, but I’ve got to keep going. I’m playing really good.’”
Billy Byler on amateur Hideki Matsuyama's ridiculously good 68.
Matsuyama plans to return Monday to Tohoku Fukushi University, where he's a freshman. Matsuyama said his college, in Sendai, Japan, was damaged by the March 11 earthquake, but he didn't know the exact situation.
He will learn more next week. And he will take with him a grand experience.
"I'm very glad to be able to play at this beautiful a place. That's one of my impression," he said. "And I thought the greens are very hard."
Tiger
Ron Sirak says it's all about the putter for Tiger:
Tiger, it seems, is trapped in his own version of Groundhog Day right now: He shows a glimmer of hope; follows that with a disappointing performance and then is asked questions to which he has no answers -- other than coach speak. "I'm hitting beautiful putts," he said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself of something observation doesn't seem to support.
Gene Wojciechowski likes what he's seeing with Tiger despite Saturday's round.
To all those who say Woods won't win a major this year -- or win anything this year -- it might be time to tap the delete button on those predictions. Woods is nearer a breakthrough than anyone realized.
I say this with a straight face. I say it despite knowing that Woods was eight strokes worse on Saturday than he was on Friday, when he shot 66.
But the swings look less mechanical than they had from Bay Hill or Doral. For huge chunks of the first three days of this tournament, Woods appeared to be playing golf, rather than giving himself on-course lessons.
This is the course he knows best. And in the last six years, he's finished no lower than sixth. So a Sunday run to Top Five Land is a probability, not a possibility.
Jeff Rude is still wondering about Tiger's swing.
Just when you think his swing is on the verge of being second nature, he hits a block flare as he did on No. 4, short and right, similar to the one he rinsed in a first-round loss at the WGC-Accenture Match Play. Or he pulls a drive like the one on 17 that, of all things, hit the Eisenhower tree.
I didn’t even know the Eisenhower tree was in play for Woods. Short hitters, yes. Woods, no. But he hit it Saturday and the ball fell straight down, onto the pine straw, from where he had to squat and make a flat swing en route to a scrambling par.
When did he start imitating an old president as a golfer? Is the Eisenhower tree even in Steve Williams’ yardage book?
Michael Bamberger on the scene in Tiger's gallery:
A year ago, Phil Knight, the Nike king, was walking the hills here, as part of Tiger's support team, like Tiger needs a support team. A year ago, Saturday Night Live was killing him in a skit. A year ago, he had his own Nike spots. Now he's a supporting player in group ads. A year ago, he was trying to save his marriage. What a difference a year makes. Now he's looking for his putting stroke.
Speaking of that gallery, Thomas Boswell says it's lacking in energy:
When Woods misses putts, and on Saturday he missed every type known to suffering golfus humanicus, he agonizes like a slain lord but the crowd lets out such a tepid moan that, sometimes, you barely hear it.
This isn’t judgment. It is just reportage.
The Other Americans
Mike Lopresti files a few notes on the unprecedented American showing.
The ugly Americans. Some of their scores, anyway. The highest U.S. player is Bo Van Pelt in eighth place, the first time in history no American was in the top five going into the last round of the Masters.
And on Phil Mickelson, at -3 after a final round 71:
"I struggled getting the right speed, which historically I've been able to read these greens very well," he said. "And I feel like I know the breaks on most of the putts but I just have struggled getting it going.
"It was there for the taking … The greens are more receptive than they have ever been."
Dave Kindred on Fred Couples salvaging his round after a rough start.
He'd be at McIlroy's throat if he hadn't decided Saturday afternoon, for the first time all week, to try more than he could do. Near enough the eighth green to go for the par-5 in two, Couples "tried to hit some low, hooking wood up there, and I can barely hit a straight wood shot, let alone try that." He pulled it left into junk, after which ensued "a comedy of errors." He hit his third over the green, his fourth short, and three-putted from there for a double. Birdies from 15 feet at the 15th and eight feet at the 16th brought him back to even for the day.
And finally...one more reminder, at 11 PT/2 ET the Live Chat kicks off and the person who correctly guesses Jim Nantz's pun in honor of the champion wins a plant from the Butler Cabin Botanical Conservatory!
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 10:10 PM
Reader Comments (21)
Still having good success here with the iPad app, while the iPhone app is all abut unusable for me.
If Augusta is set up for an eagle fest today, as Geoff suggested in an earlier post reflecting on the slightly softer conditions, and if McIlroy comes in at 68, that would force his closest pursuers to card a 64 to force a playoff. Those at -5 would need to break the ANGC course record to get into a playoff, but even if they did Rory would know it before arriving at 15. "I've beaten them all before," he observed Friday. No doubt he'll do so again today with the tremendous tactical advantage he will have over anyone who goes low enough to challenge him.
A long time ago in the early days of this blog someone wrote that Tiger was stimulating kids to take up the game in such numbers that he was creating the competition that would give him fits trying to break jack's record for major wins. That future has arrived. Even if Tiger had made everything yesterday, he'd be at -11 and McIroy would still be thinking "I've beaten him before."
Phil's worked out his number for today. 59. That would be a hell of a story.
If anyone thinks it's impossible to lose a 4-shot lead on Sunday at a major and leave with an open wound, then watch that wound grow in size and infectious qualities as time marches on . . . . well, you haven't watched much golf over the years.
Saying that, I'm still pulling for the lad, unless I'm given the choice of a 63 from Bubba.
you are the go to person in golf right now. I hope Golf Digest appreciates you. Great job. Am I imagining this or did Rory make a gesture toward hole 18, toward Tiger, when he made that putt on 17. It looked liked he was high-fiving the air in that direction.
But I can't believe Rory would make such a gesture. Weiskopf (I think) maintained for a while that Jack's reaction to the bomb on 16 in 1975 was a similar thing with the putter raised in the direction of the players on the tee. We can see it again today. There is no way on God's green earth that Jack Nicklaus would do such a thing. Rory is young but it seems equally doubtful in his case.
I think I just might have to ignore the perfect golf weather this afternoon and stay indoors...
Question: If Rory wins will DF switch sides to that of his countryman?
This took place on "ESPN - The Reporters".
Hope the Euro crowing doesn't get over done, but whatever.
I guess this makes me a hater, but I've been saying Tiger goes 0 for 4 again this year in the majors and I'm definitely sticking to it.
Jack's record seems likely to stand, to my way of thinking.
Rory, it will be something about a green jacket for an Irishman in green
Cabrera would be something like another bear 25 years later wins again
Day, will be a new day dawns at Augusta
Kim, he now puts his wide grip around Augusta National
It's so trite and awful ,Nantz would love it
Shack,
Wojo's on the George Bodenheimer Public Relations payroll in Bristol. Wojo will punk for whomever Bodenheimer tells him to punk. Just like Jim Gray for LeBron James, Bristol HQ for the Miami Heat, and Bodenheimer himself keeping Mike Tirico on the payroll after his bouts of serial workplace sexual harassment landed Tirico a 90-day stay in the unpaid penalty box.
Neither Wojo nor ESPN has any credibility as a media outlet. For spin, Bristol's where you wannabe - sort of a Frankie Luntz or Chris Matthews setup for Bodenheimer's various babies in the sports world.
As for Bobby Ryan, he's just taking the old Colonel Dave Egan Line. Ryan, like Egan, bashes the big boys when they're down and calls himself a contrarian. Ryan pulled this crap on Boston radio a few years back, targeting Jason Kidd and his then-wife and earned himself a month's off without pay and the wrath of just about every female east of Albany and north of Providence. The second Tiger wins a major, you'll find Ryan back on ESPN kissing his backside and telling viewers that he saw the reemergence of Tiger's greatness all along.
Harsh to type this, but Ryan deserved what his kid got in the Middle East. The guy is pure scum and has been pure scum for the past 30 years. Bob Ryan is little more than the Peter Vecsey of Beantown and everyone in the biz knows this.
I like Rory McIlroy, but he's 21 years old and still has 18 holes left to play on Sunday at Augusta. Let's hold off for a wee bit before anointing him the next king of the sport. Many great players have choked on the backside on Sunday at Augusta. Remember 25 years ago when Seve Ballesteros, not exactly your weekend duffer, gagged on the final nine, up to and including dumping his approach on 15 into the drink, giving a certain Nicklaus, Jack a Grand Canyon through which to drive his 6-under 30 rally to victory?
On that day, Ballesteros, already a two-time Masters and two-time British Open champion who would win his fifth and final major at the 1988 British Open, led Nicklaus, the finest closer ever to play the game, by six shots with 10 to play. Just as the Golden Bear tore up the back nine at Augusta, Ballesteros, who may have been the most imaginative shot-maker I have ever seen, started hemorrhaging away strokes and the lead. Perhaps oddest of all, Ballesteros, who used a 4-iron for a superb eagle on the 13th, saw that same 4-iron bring about his demise on 15. Ballesteros, determined to reach the green in two and eagle the hole as Nicklaus had before him, instead caught the ball fat and dumped it into the creek.
Not often one saw Ballesteros pull an Arnold Palmer (and I'm a fan of Palmer's), eschew all common sense, and then fail to pull off the shot with the money on the table, especially at Augusta, but he did all of those things that day - and that's part of the reason Nicklaus notched his sixth Masters' title. I take NOTHING away from the Golden Bear's rally, not a damn thing - just want to make the point that Nicklaus was superb - and Ballesteros, well, choked on those final 10 holes.
If Seve Ballesteros, a two-time Masters' champion and then-two-time British Open titlist, cannot hold a six shot lead with 10 holes to play on Sunday at Augusta, don't be too surprised if Rory McIlroy, as talented as the kid is, pulls a Wayne "F-bomb" Rooney in the 2010 World Cup today.
Personally, I think the kid will win. Probably by a couple of shots. And not without a few mistakes - and some brilliance - along the way. But if Seve Ballesteros can blow it, this talented, football-tossing, Augusta-partying Northern Irishman can, too. Shack, you may want to remind the public relations....er, press...corps of these rather salient facts.