The Augusta Masters or just The Masters kicked off on the 6th
of April at the Augusta National Golf Club. The field of 94 was trimmed to 93
following the withdrawal of tournament favourite and World no.1 Dustin Johnson
who had won his last 3 tournaments, but pulled out after the first tee owing to
the back injury he sustained in a fall down the stairs at his rented home.
DAY 1
Day 1 was a tough day with blustery conditions which
prompted many experts to say that this could be a rare masters where no one
would go 70 or under. Out of the 93 in the field only 2 men finished under 70.
Charley Hoffman fired a (65) 7 under par with 9 birdies(1 stroke less than what is par for the hole), 5
of those 9 birdies came on the last 7. His 4 stroke lead was the biggest day 1
lead at the Masters since 1941.
William McGirt who shot (69) 3 under par with 4 birdies was
the other player who finished under 70.
World No.2 and in the absence of Dustin Johnson the top seed at Augusta, Rory Mcllroy who was beginning his quest for the only Major
Championship missing from his collection carded a +3 in the first nine with 3
bogeys(1 stroke more than par for the hole). But carded 3 eagles(2 shots lesser than what is par for the hole) over the back 9 to finish round 1 on par (At Augusta
par is 72 shots)
Jordan Speith had a forgettable day and fired a (75) 3 over par. He was on par in the
front nine and upon return to the scene of his final day collapse(the back nine) last year he
was unable to banish the demons and hit a bogey and 1 quadruple bogey on Firethorn(hole
15) which ruined his day.
Three time Masters Champion Phil Mickleson stayed close to
the lead and fired in 4 bogeys, 3 birdies and an eagle to finish at (71)1 under
par.
Lee Westwood started off badly as well with 4 bogeys in the
1st 9 but launched a strong comeback over the back nine and recorded
5 birdies in a row from Azalea(hole 13) to Nandina (hole 17) to finish the day
at (70) 2 under par.
DAY 2
The day had more sunlight than Day 1 but wind was expected
to stiffen on an already breezy day.
Hoffman carded 5 bogeys to finish round 2 at (75) 3 over par
and saw his 4 stroke lead completely wiped away by Sergio Garcia who carded 6
birdies and 3 bogeys to finish at (69) 3 under par, Thomas Pieters who hit 1
bogey, 3 birdies and an eagle on azalea (hole 13) finished round 2 on (68) four under par
and Rickie Fowler who struck 1 bogey, 4 birdies and an eagle to recover from a 1
over par after round 1 to finish round 2 at 6 under par(67)
These four players have a score of 4 under par(140)
23 year old Jordan Speith, who in his 3 visits to the masters
has a lowest finish of 2nd, was 3 over par on day 1, hit 5 birdies
and 2 bogeys on day 2 to finish at 3 under par and after 2 rounds he is on par
and 4 strokes behind the leaders currently tied at 10th with Adam Scott also who was (75) 3 over par after round 1
launched a comeback hitting 7 birdies 2 bogeys and a double bogey to finish
round 2 at (69) 3 under par and 3 time Masters Champion, Phil Mickleson who had a (71) one under par score on day 1 crumbled on day 2 as in going to close the gap to the leaders he hit 6 bogeys and 5 birdies to finish at (73) 1 over par. He dropped 6 spots on day 2.
World no.4 Hideki Matsuyama who had a nightmare 4 over par on day 1
finished with a day 2 score of (70) 2 under par and is now tied at 16th , 6 strokes
behind the leaders. As conditions continue to improve expect a sharp rise in
the leaderboard from the young sensation.
Rory Mcllroy who finished day 1 on par collapsed on day 2
with 5 bogeys and 4 birdies and finished the round at (73)1 over par. He
dropped 1 spot to be tied on 13th.
William McGirt who finished day 1 in 2nd with a
score of 69 (3 under par) saw his lead dwindle as he hit a 73 on day 2(1 over
par). He now is 2 under par and in 5th.
THE CUT
As the leaders had a score of 4 under par. The cut was 6 over
par. 40 players failed to make the cut.
Notable Past Champions who didn’t make the cut were defending champion Danny Willet(151) 7 over par. He hit a
bogey on Holly(hole 18) which caused him to fall behind by a shot and
ultimately not make the cut as 7 over par was 11 shots behind the joint
leaders. His round 2 quadruple bogey on Tea Olive(hole 1) also didn't help matters. Vijay Singh(153) 9 over par and Bubba Watson(152) 8 over par also missed out.
Now as the field thins down to the top what can we expect as
we enter the business end of the tournament. Day 3 is crucial to the chasing
pack so as to not hand over a psychological advantage on the final day to the
leaders. It is crucial for the leader to focus on pars and not bogey, basically
the leader should just aim to maintain his lead and not go for broke on day 3
itself as the trailing pack have the scoreboard pressure on them and he doesn’t
have it to that extent as the chasers.
Suppose player A is 5 shots behind player B at the start of
day 3. Player A must aim to cut the deficit of 5 down to 4 or 3 and possibly
even 2 or lesser (he is playing with the knowledge that he has to hit a minimum
of 1 eagle or 2 birdies in addition to having a par on all of the remaining
shots) A lead of 5 is generally considered safe on the final day (collapses on
the final day do not happen every year)
Player B with his
lead of 5 shots should solely focus on pars as he doesn’t have to do anything
extravagant right at that moment and should maintain his lead rather than
blowing it up in the hope of extending it. Conservative play may result in
bogies? Well that’s what the lead is there for. However by maintaining par he
is pressurising his opponent to go for birdies regularly and that so often
results in pressure.
Rory Mcllroy and Phil Mickleson went to cut the lead and in
going for birdies they ended up hitting bogeys. Hence the leaders should stay
smart at just aim to maintain their leads. that will be impossible in this
masters event on day 3 as we have a 4 way tie and even the leaders know that
they got 3 players level with them and any error means they will fall of the
lead.
36 holes remain and every hole is important, 1 bad hole can cost you (Danny Willet had a bad hole 1 and eventually missed the cut as he was under pressure to at least maintain par if not card a birdie) On round
1 Jordan Speith hit a quadruple bogey on Firethorn (hole 15), had that been a par he would
have been tied for first.
The Cut has been made,
the best 53 remain. Who will get the Green Jacket from Danny Willet at Butler’s
Cabin?
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