MASTERS REPORT AND LINK TO SCORES
- SPIETH, WATSON SHARE NARROW LEAD: STEPHEN GALLACHER'S THIRD
- -ROUND 81
- FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
- By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
-
Bubba Watson could become the 17th player to win multiple Masters titles on Sunday. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
MASTERS, RD 3: Scores | Tee times | Wrap-up | TOUR Report | Projected FedExCup | Leaders' Bags
PLAYER REPORTS: Miguel A. Jimenez | Lee Westwood | Jordan Spieth | Rickie Fowler | Matt Kuchar | Bubba Watson
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Jordan Spieth goes into Sunday's final round with a share of the lead and a chance to become the youngest winner in Masters history.
Miguel Angel Jimenez enters with a chance to become its oldest winner.
Jonas Blixt enters with a chance to duplicate Adam Scott's feat of a year ago and give his country -- Sweden -- its first Masters champion. Actually, make that its first major champion. Thomas Bjorn could do the same for Denmark.
Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood also are lurking, each one hoping to shed the label of best player never to win a major. Rickie Fowler's there, hoping his Sunday orange will go with a Green Jacket. And Jim Furyk could rid himself of some recent major demons.
Oh, and there's Bubba Watson, the 2012 Masters champ who brought the field back into the mix on Saturday with a 2-over 74 but might have gotten his worst round out of the way while still retaining part of the lead.
Does Augusta National know how to deliver storylines or what?
Of the top nine players on the leaderboard, the one likely to have the most attention entering Sunday is the 20-year-old Spieth, who seems incapable of being rattled under the Masters' intense pressure cooker.
"Not much bothers Jordan," said Fred Couples, who knows a thing or two about staying cool and calm. "Tomorrow, obviously, is going to be a really, really hard day to try to win this, but he's well qualified to do it."
Spieth will be in the final group tied with Watson, thanks to his third-round 70 that leaves him at 5 under. The other seven guys are within three shots or closer.
"Tomorrow is about seeing how I can control my game and emotions out on the golf course against guys that have even won here recently," Spieth said. "So they have been in the position I haven't. Doesn't necessarily mean ... that they have an advantage in any way.
"I think that I'm very confident in the way things are going, and really looking forward to tomorrow."
Conventional wisdom says Watson's experience and pedigree as a Masters champ will pay dividends down the stretch, but the big-hitting left-hander doesn't think Spieth will fold.
"He's young," Watson said. "Nerves are no big deal to him."
Still, Watson added, everyone knows what's at stake.
"We are all going to be nervous and we all know what it means to our career, for our status to move forward in the game," he said. "So it's going to be tough for everybody, not just guys that have never won one."
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Jordan Spieth goes into Sunday's final round with a share of the lead and a chance to become the youngest winner in Masters history.
Miguel Angel Jimenez enters with a chance to become its oldest winner.
Jonas Blixt enters with a chance to duplicate Adam Scott's feat of a year ago and give his country -- Sweden -- its first Masters champion. Actually, make that its first major champion. Thomas Bjorn could do the same for Denmark.
Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood also are lurking, each one hoping to shed the label of best player never to win a major. Rickie Fowler's there, hoping his Sunday orange will go with a Green Jacket. And Jim Furyk could rid himself of some recent major demons.
Oh, and there's Bubba Watson, the 2012 Masters champ who brought the field back into the mix on Saturday with a 2-over 74 but might have gotten his worst round out of the way while still retaining part of the lead.
Does Augusta National know how to deliver storylines or what?
Of the top nine players on the leaderboard, the one likely to have the most attention entering Sunday is the 20-year-old Spieth, who seems incapable of being rattled under the Masters' intense pressure cooker.
"Not much bothers Jordan," said Fred Couples, who knows a thing or two about staying cool and calm. "Tomorrow, obviously, is going to be a really, really hard day to try to win this, but he's well qualified to do it."
Spieth will be in the final group tied with Watson, thanks to his third-round 70 that leaves him at 5 under. The other seven guys are within three shots or closer.
"Tomorrow is about seeing how I can control my game and emotions out on the golf course against guys that have even won here recently," Spieth said. "So they have been in the position I haven't. Doesn't necessarily mean ... that they have an advantage in any way.
"I think that I'm very confident in the way things are going, and really looking forward to tomorrow."
Conventional wisdom says Watson's experience and pedigree as a Masters champ will pay dividends down the stretch, but the big-hitting left-hander doesn't think Spieth will fold.
"He's young," Watson said. "Nerves are no big deal to him."
Still, Watson added, everyone knows what's at stake.
"We are all going to be nervous and we all know what it means to our career, for our status to move forward in the game," he said. "So it's going to be tough for everybody, not just guys that have never won one."
PHIL'S PRESENCE FELT: Phil Mickelson missed his first Masters cut in 17 years. Yet just because he's absent this weekend doesn't mean the three-time champ isn't having an impact.
On Tuesday, Mickelson and Rickie Fowler teammed up in a practice round against Dustin Johnson and Jason Dufner. Yes, there was money involved (gasp!) and the Phil-Rickie duo came out on top -- with Fowler actually carrying his partner.
Hanging out with Mickelson put Fowler in a relaxed mood, and his game showed up. Swinging well and gaining confidence, Fowler had an epiphany at Augusta National. He finally figured something out.
It showed on Saturday.
Fowler's 5-under 67 was his lowest round at the Masters, and tied for his lowest round at any major. It left him at 3 under for the tournament, just two shots behind entering Sunday's final round.
"Probably the first time I really put up a solid round of golf here, whether it was in competition or not," Fowler said of that Tuesday practice round. "To have that happen and get some birdies going really kind of opened my eyes and let me know that I can win here and I can play well here at Augusta."
Fowler said Mickelson was playing some mind games with him that day, trying to get in his head. Fowler just brushes it off. But he knows Mickelson is just trying to get his buddy prepared for the pressure situation that comes with golf's biggest tournaments.
"I think he's always excited when one of us plays well, or him and I end up on the good side of the Tuesday games," Fowler said. "I know he was excited, and we had fun and it was a good way to start the week."
LOW ROUNDS THIS WEEK
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ODDS AND ENDS
What happened to Adam Scott? Entering Saturday, the defending champ was tied for third, four shots off the lead. But he had two bogeys and a double bogey in his first five holes en route to a 4-over 76. That leaves him at 1 over for the tournament, six shots back. If Scott is to make a run in the final round, he'll need to regain his putting stroke -- he needed 35 putts in the third round. ...
First-time Masters participants Jordan Spieth (71-70-70) and Jonas Blixt (70-71-71) have started with three sub-par rounds. The only other players to start their Masters careers with three sub-par rounds are Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 (win), Larry Mize in 1984 (T11), Brian Henninger in 1995 (T10) and Tom Sherrer in 2001 (25th). Mize, of course, won the Masters four years later. ...
Justin Rose made two eagles on Saturday or as he puts it, "Couple bits of crystal coming my way." Rose shot a 3-under 69 despite four-putting the par-5 second hole and will start at 1 under on Sunday. Rose now has three total eagles, which tied the most at the Masters through 54 holes in the last 15 years. ...
Thomas Bjorn is one of three players since 2000 to have three runner-up finishes in majors. Jason Day and Chris DiMarco are the others. Bjorn fell off the pace a little with a 1-over 73 and is tied for seventh. ...
Two players celebrated their birthdays Saturday -- PGA TOUR pro Russell Henley, who turned 25, and Australian amateur Oliver Goss, who turned 20. Goss is the only amateur to make the cut this week. ...
MORE: McIlroy outdueled by his marker | Woodland ties front-nine record | Crenshaw's next Masters start to be last
STATS LEADERS
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THEY SAID IT
"Just because it'll mess with him." -- Jordan Spieth, on why he plans to call Bubba Watson "Mr. Watson" on Sunday
"That's fine -- when I'm hitting it past him." -- Bubba Watson's reply when asked about being called "Mr. Watson."
"Not for Jimenez." -- Sandy Lyle, when asked if it was a tough day Saturday
"Green and orange go together." -- Rickie Fowler, who will be wearing his usual Oklahoma State colors in the final round
"I watched arguably the best putter in the world today five-putt the fourth hole within 5 feet. That's the kind of thing we're dealing with out there." -- Lee Westwood on the misfortune of his playing partner Brandt Snedeker
"I'm disgusted with my round of golf." -- Ian Poulter, who thought his 70 should've been much lower
"I was thinking of maybe getting him to read a few of my putts." -- Rory McIlroy discussing his marker, Jeff Knox, an Augusta National member who bested McIlroy by one stroke
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
Players from USA unless stated
211 Jordan Spieth 71 70 70, Bubba Watson 69 68 74
212 Matt Kuchar 73 71 68, Jonas Blixt (Sweden) 70 71 71
213 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 71 76 66, Rickie Fowler 71 75 67
214 Lee Westwood (England) 73 71 70, Jim Furyk 74 68 72, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 73 68 73
215 Justin Rose (England) 76 70 69, Kevin Stadler 70 73 72, Fred Couples 71 71 73, John Senden (Australia) 72 68 75
SELECTED SCORES
216 Ian Poulter (England) 76 70 70 (T14)
217 Adam Scott (Australia) 69 72 76 (T16)
218 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 71 71 71 (T24)
219 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 73 72 74, Bernhard Langer (Germany) 72 74 73, Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 73 70 76 (T24)
221 Darren Clarke (N Ireland) 74 74 73
224 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 71 72 81 (T46)
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND LIVE SCORING SUNDAY EVENING
CLICK HERE
"Just because it'll mess with him." -- Jordan Spieth, on why he plans to call Bubba Watson "Mr. Watson" on Sunday
"That's fine -- when I'm hitting it past him." -- Bubba Watson's reply when asked about being called "Mr. Watson."
"Not for Jimenez." -- Sandy Lyle, when asked if it was a tough day Saturday
"Green and orange go together." -- Rickie Fowler, who will be wearing his usual Oklahoma State colors in the final round
"I watched arguably the best putter in the world today five-putt the fourth hole within 5 feet. That's the kind of thing we're dealing with out there." -- Lee Westwood on the misfortune of his playing partner Brandt Snedeker
"I'm disgusted with my round of golf." -- Ian Poulter, who thought his 70 should've been much lower
"I was thinking of maybe getting him to read a few of my putts." -- Rory McIlroy discussing his marker, Jeff Knox, an Augusta National member who bested McIlroy by one stroke
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3x72)
Players from USA unless stated
211 Jordan Spieth 71 70 70, Bubba Watson 69 68 74
212 Matt Kuchar 73 71 68, Jonas Blixt (Sweden) 70 71 71
213 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 71 76 66, Rickie Fowler 71 75 67
214 Lee Westwood (England) 73 71 70, Jim Furyk 74 68 72, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 73 68 73
215 Justin Rose (England) 76 70 69, Kevin Stadler 70 73 72, Fred Couples 71 71 73, John Senden (Australia) 72 68 75
SELECTED SCORES
216 Ian Poulter (England) 76 70 70 (T14)
217 Adam Scott (Australia) 69 72 76 (T16)
218 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 71 71 71 (T24)
219 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 73 72 74, Bernhard Langer (Germany) 72 74 73, Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 73 70 76 (T24)
221 Darren Clarke (N Ireland) 74 74 73
224 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 71 72 81 (T46)
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND LIVE SCORING SUNDAY EVENING
CLICK HERE
Labels: US MASTERS
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Sunday, April 13, 2014
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