Campbell and Perry halfway leaders at Augusta National

McIlroy survives rules breach

night inquiry at Masters

FROM AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Just when it seemed he was coping with all that windy Augusta National could throw at him Rory McIlroy's Masters debut went horribly wrong on Friday but at least the 19-year-old from Belfast is still in the tournament.
McIlroy dropped five shots in two holes, four-putting the short 16th and taking a triple bogey 7 on the last. Then he was the subject of a rules investigation that extended into the night and could have led to his disqualification.
Bunkered in two on the last he left his attempted recovery in the sand and it looked from television coverage that he had kicked the sand before playing again.
It was potentially a breach the rules and because he had signed his scorecard the punishment would have been the harshest of all for not adding the penalty. But at 8.45pm - he had finished playing by 4.15pm - his name appeared in the third round draw and he was cleared.
The fastest rising star of European golf had climbed from 39th place to sixth with a superb run that included a 10-foot eagle putt on the 13th, but that was not how he would remember the day sadly.
On the 16th his long-range birdie try up the ridge ran eight feet past and by taking three more from there he tumbled off the leaderboard. When the 7 followed, he was right down on the cut mark of one over - suddenly 10 adrift of Americans Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry, who led by one from Argentina's Angel Cabrera.
At the time it left triple-chasing Padraig Harrington as the leading European after an eagle on the 13th put the Open and US PGA champion three under and joint 10th.
However, he was then also involved in a rules discussion when his ball was blown by the wind on the 15th green. Because he had addressed it previously a one-shot penalty was imposed and instead of putting for birdie the putt he then sank was for par.
Harrington then bogeyed the 17th and when his birdie putt at the last horseshoed out he was round in 73 for two under alongside Tiger Woods, who had bogeyed the 18th for the second day running and signed for a 72.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia leads the European contingent going into the concluding 36 holes as a result. A 67 in the last group of the day, completed with a birdie, put the world number three joint sixth.
Anthony Kim left his mark on the Masters on Friday, ripping apart Augusta National Golf Club for a tournament record 11 birdies.
Kim's round also included two bogeys and a double-bogey at the par-4 10th to leave him on seven-under 65, a 10-shot improvement on the 75 he carded in his debut round on Thursday.
"I haven't been making 11 birdies in TWO days; so to make 11 in one day is pretty special," the 23-year-old American told reporters after he moved into contention in a tie for sixth on four-under 140. "Obviously to do it at Augusta is amazing. Hopefully I can build off that and if I keep the putter hot, I like my chances here."
Playing with teenagers Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa, Kim was overshadowed by the pair during Thursday's opening round but stepped into the spotlight on Friday when he eclipsed the 10 birdies posted by Zimbabwe's Nick Price in the 1986 third round.
After covering the first eight holes in five under, Kim said he felt things slipping away with his bogey on nine and double-bogey on 10.
But then he recalled a story he had read early that morning about the death of promising Los Angeles Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed in a car crash on Thursday just hours after pitching six shut-out innings.
"No matter what I shoot, I want to put this tournament round in perspective," said Kim.
South African Gary Player ended his record 52nd US Masters appearance on Friday with a bogey, a tear and a rousing standing ovation.
Player's farewell closes one of the greatest chapters in the history of Augusta National as he becomes the final member of golf's "Big Three" to sign off from the Masters, following long-time rivals Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Dressed in his trademark black golf shirt and trousers, the 73-year-old Black Knight marched purposefully up the 18th fairway as the other members of his group, Canada's Stephen Ames and England's Luke Donald, fell back, allowing the three-time champion to savour the growing cheers.
As Player stepped forward to make his final competitive putt at Augusta a fan yelled, "Thank you, Mr Player" before the gallery fell silent.
A few seconds later, after he had tapped in for a bogey 5, the crowd erupted again and continued to shower him with applause as he walked over to shake the hands of his fellow South African golfers, including defending Masters champion Trevor Immelman, who had stayed on after their rounds to honour the man that had inspired them.
"I'll never forget that as long as I live," Player told reporters while fighting to maintain his composure. "It just went on and on and on from all sides. But it happened on every single hole. All 36 holes, I got a standing ovation. I wish I had words to say the correct thing but it was a feast. It was something you'll never, ever forget.
"You'll go to your grave knowing you had tremendous love showered upon you."
Also bowing out of the Masters after 30 years as a competitor was 57-year-old Fuzzy (Frank Urban) Zoeller who had a 76 for 155 to miss the cut by 11 shots.
In 1979, he was the first rookie in nearly a half-century to win the Masters. And he did it without even seeing the course or practising over it.
His daughter Gretchen, one of four children and a former college golfer, was carrying his bag. They hugged on the 18th green, where moments earlier, Zoeller was treated to a standing ovation. Both of them were fighting back tears.
It came at the end of a farewell tour that Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver started off on Monday by handing him the key to the city. Ever the funny man, Zoeller couldn't resist a promise to return, if only because he already knew where the good bars in town were.
him at 155 and 11 strokes over the cut.
``I hope everybody's had fun, because I've enjoyed my ride,'' Zoeller said. ``I can tell you that. Now it's time to step aside and let some other young kid come in and win. Hopefully, they will, too.''
With that, he headed off toward the clubhouse and the locker where his own green jacket hangs. He plans to come back for the par-3 contest every year, then take a seat on the upstairs porch next to Arnold Palmer.