Robust Augusta Turning into Quite a Challenge for Masters Golfers

Apr 07, 06:05 PM

Current Headlines: AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - This springtime stroll through the pines is turning into something much more taxing. Pretty chilly, too.

Yes, someone is going to have a nice green jacket when this week ends. But it's hard to imagine anyone saying they got the best of Augusta National under these conditions.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were nowhere to be found atop the jumbled Masters leaderboard Saturday, as they began a third round in cold temperatures and steady wind that made for unfavourable scoring conditions.

When Woods teed off at 1:20 p.m., it was 9 C with a 21 km/h wind blowing from the northwest.

"I think over par is going to win," Mickelson said after the second round Friday, knowing about the weekend forecast. "If you made the cut and shoot in the 60s, you're right back in it."

Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark were on top at 2-under 142, joining Vaughn Taylor (143) as the only players to break par at the halfway point. They all had afternoon tee times.

Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont., was 3 over through five holes to fall six shots back of the co-leaders. Calgary's Stephen Ames was 2 over through nine holes.

Woods went par-par-birdie over his first three holes Saturday to move to 2 over, four shots out of the lead. He was still in contention after a wild second round filled with left-handed shots and spectacular saves from the water that resulted in a 2-over 74.

Mickelson was at 5 over through seven, a much calmer start than on Friday, when he spent much of his day flirting with the cut and scrambling in the woods en route to a 73.

The only real winner so far: the golf course.

"The unfortunate thing about this place is you can hit some great, great shots, and get absolutely nothing out of it," said Henrik Stenson, who wore a ski cap to the first tee and had already made two bogeys and a double through five holes to balloon to 8 over.

Lesser players would have been going home had they been in the trouble Woods and Mickelson were in Friday.

Tiger hit a left-handed escape shot after getting stymied near a tree on No. 9, but saved bogey.

He plunked it into the water twice at Amen Corner, but lost only one stroke, making a long putt to save bogey on No. 12 and a nifty up-and-down for par on the next hole.

He buckled over in disgust after airmailing the 15th green, but got up-and-down for a birdie.

There was also the shot he didn't hit: He nearly reconfigured his entire lumbar system pulling out of a swing when he got distracted by the shadow of a bird flying over his head.

"I felt like I broke my back, my wrist, my neck, my legs," Woods said.

But he didn't get hurt. And he still had a chance.

"I turned basically a 90 into a 74 today, which was nice," Woods said. "I'm right there in the ballgame."

So was Mickelson, who conceded he was worried about missing the cut when he was lost in the woods left of the 11th fairway. He limited the damage to a bogey, played mistake-free over the final four holes and shot 73.

Sixty players made the cut at 8-over 152, the most since 61 in 1993.

As for familiar names, other than Vijay Singh, there aren't many at the top.

Singh shot 71 and was in a group at even par that included Jerry Kelly (69), Zach Johnson (73) and Justin Rose (75). Johnson was poised to take the lead when he stood over a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th. He three-putted for bogey, then bogeyed twice more to close his round.

"It's just the greens," Johnson said. "I guess I got 'Augustacized."'

At 145 were U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy (70) and Padraig Harrington, whose 68 was the lowest round Augusta National has allowed for two days. Paul Casey also shot 68 while paired with Woods.

"This golf course always gives you a chance to shoot a good score," Harrington said. "There are possibilities of making birdies as long as you keep your momentum going and you don't have a mishap. That's the great thing about this course."

The theory that only Tiger, Phil and a few select others could win here is out the window, as is the notion that the older set can no longer contend.

Among the past champions who made the cut were Ben Crenshaw, Sandy Lyle, Craig Stadler and Fuzzy Zoeller.

"Scary, isn't it?" said Zoeller, the 1979 champion.

Fred Couples saved par from the sand on 16, from the trees on 17 and from the fringe on 18 to finish on the number and tie Gary Player's record for consecutive cuts at 23.

"I can almost play this course blindfolded," said Couples, who has been nursing an aching back and played only his fourth competitive round of the year Friday. "I can get it around, and I think that's what I did yesterday and today. (But) I would say this course is a little too tough for me."

Everyone will be trying to catch Wetterich and Clark, two players very few expected to be leading come the weekend.

Clark has finished in the top three at the 2006 Masters, 2005 U.S. Open and 2003 PGA Championship, although he never had a serious chance at winning any of them. He remembers seeing his name atop the leaderboard in the third round last year, and then he stumbled.

"You have to - no matter what happens out there - just know that you can still get yourself back into the tournament," Clark said. "And it's never really over."

Wetterich, meanwhile, is playing his first Masters, and there's no telling how he'll react on the weekend. So far, though, he seems to have figured it out as well as anyone.